Halloween 2021

 

Hazel and Juniper proclaimed this year's costumes the Best Ever!

Hazel continued a long-standing tradition of costumes in the Star Wars universe. Costume credit to Janet Brooks.

Juniper was radio host Cecil Palmer, from the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. Costume credit to Goodwill and Etsy; graphic design and makeup by Aaron Dill.

 

 "You are aware that plasma blades were outlawed by City Council a week ago, right?"

"We're not in Night Vale."

Agent Honeycutt-Dill

 

Halloween, 2019

Post Halloween Exhaustion

Sheriff Hazel fell asleep in the bathroom while waiting for Aaron to brush her teeth.

Happy Halloween!

 
Sheriff Hazel...

  
...and Luna Lovegood wish you a happy Halloween.
 
  
Spectrespecs, check. Butterbeer cork necklace, check. Radish earrings, check. This girl is ready to go and well protected from Dark Magic and other nefarious nonsense.

  
Tell us, Luna, about the Ministry's latest conspiracy!

  
Apprehended!

  
Bandits stand no chance when Sheriff Hazel is around.
 
  
Only just a little bit proud of a good day's work.

  
Westworld meets Hogwarts? That fan fiction probably already exists.


Our family was accompanied by two varieties of Death -- the Grim Reaper and Death of the Endless.


  
Ready to go! Let no mere mortal, Death Eater, or outlaw bandits get in the way of their candy.

  
Howdy pardner. Sally was happy to wear this hat when Hazel got too hot. (Not your typical Halloween weather when kids are dripping sweat in their costumes and complaining about the heat.)
 
  
Back at the ranch, the kids checked out their loot.

  
Next best thing to Honeydukes.

Lord Vader prepares for the ball

This is the last of our Darth Vader-themed posts, at least for a while.

Happy Halloween

Little Lamb and Pikachu set off on their Halloween adventures.

They join forces with their friend Blue Lightning, in search of fun and treasure.

 They find lots of both, especially the treasure.

We've heard lots of strategies and ideas for dealing with all the candy kids get on Halloween, and there are things we don't like about all of them. Clearly the only sane thing is not to allow this much candy into your house. That worked the first few years we went trick-or-treating, but the Halloween candy cat is out of the bag.

This year we gave the girls the option of trading in candy for toys. Hazel couldn't decide whether she wanted a flashlight or weapons, so we were delighted to find this "lightsaber dagger" (it glows red when turned on). She also got a pirate sword and accessories (thank you 50% off Halloween toys).

Juniper's current obsession is Pokemon, a collectible card game targeted at children. We offered to trade Pokemon cards one for one for candy. Juniper initially decided to trade 20 pieces of candy for two packs of Pokemon cards (10/pack). Once she got the cards, she was so excited that she decided to trade in even more candy. By the time she was done, Juniper had 51 new Pokemon cards. Then Hazel became jealous and decided to trade some more of her candy for Pokemon cards. All told, the girls wound up trading well over half of their Halloween candy and feeling absolutely delighted with their decisions.

Loot

The day after Halloween

Pumpkin carving

The Doctor and the Wizard

 Dr. Honeycutt-Dill and Harry Potter, reporting for duty.

 With spells!

And potions.

For trick-or-treating, they joined up with Tintin and Firefighter Luke.

 Juniper and Thomas had a new level of enthusiasm for trick-or-treating this year.

 Hazel was also excited, but she still needed a hand on some of the big steps.



She and Luke helped each other out.

Two adventurers setting off in search of treasure. When did they get to be so big and so independent?

Harry Potter in the Butterfly Garden

This year the girls got to wear their Halloween costumes twice; we attended a family costume party/potluck the Saturday before Halloween. Consider this a preview of the Halloween photos to come soon!

Happy Halloween

It would be hard to overstate Juniper's excitement about Halloween this year. 

 Office Thomas, Hazel the Duck, and Juniper the Friendly Witch all had a very good time trick or treating. (Though there was one wolf costume that made Hazel cry. She calls it a teddy bear and is still talking about it.)

Hazel was confused by mama's makeup, but she did describe it as "fancy."

Hazel stole the show this year. Lots of people commented that she was the cutest thing they'd seen all night, and at least one woman called her husband out to take a look at Hazel after we'd left their porch.

 Hazel enjoyed getting "presents" from all the houses we visited.

Toddlers with lollipops are gross.

Four-year-olds with  lollipops are also gross.

The witch leads the way.

Not pictured: Aaron, who as Peter Parker incorporated his camera into his costume.