It starts in about July with a phone call from BJ. "You know Halloween is only 4 months away...and I have this idea."
There is trepidation. Bins and bins of stuff to lower from the attic down the spiral stairs to what eventually will become the jail cell. It is not like we can just skip a year. We have a scary reputation to uphold. Three weeks before the big night the real preparation gets into gear. Don in full craftman mode is building false walls to conceal the real contents of the garage. For three weeks it is his jail. I should mention that we were including a Pirates of the Caribbean Jail theme.
BJ and Jenn braving roof top for prep
Day-grave pranksters
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Day-Fuzzy
Day-Tia the Stake Burner
Tia by Night
Day Cemetary & Night With Fog
Cauldren bubbles and steams
Cryptkeeper with coffin that opens and closes
All of our treats were dispersed from the pirate jail. We had soundtrack music from the movies and the Disney ride blaring which added to the ambiance. BJ and his friend Trevor were so into charactor they were phenominal- the language , the accents, the silly jigs. With the wee ones they toned everything down
( only two cryers this year) but the bigger trick or treaters were "fair game" having them reach behind bars to select a treat. Some of the younger ones were so taken that they hung around for twenty minutes at a time. One little five year old dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow told his dad he wanted to quit trick or treating and join BJ in the prison. He stayed on for a while until his father conjoled him out of there.
We served up pots of hot chocolate for everyone. That was a big hit with all. Instead of Paige carrying a Unicef collection envelope trick or treating we had a donation box at the haunt. She made far more that way.
It is all worth the stress when you hear all the feedback on Halloween night. Adults with no kids just stopping around to take pictures. The teenagers (very polite this year) proclaiming that we "had to be the coolest family".
We had families driving in because they had moved or because people had told them about our previous years attempts. While some of out neighbors only had 50-60 kids come by we had 187 trick or treaters and with them and their escorts served up much more hot chocolate.
Before the night was over we began planning next years event. Yeesh!
Setting the Scene
Roof Duellers
Deadmen tell no tales
Gizmo and smoking, strobing
homemade cannon- the younger ones loved this piece
Cage-O-Bones- the 1st prop Don and I built 10years ago
Hanging bad dude with kicking legs- tough break with that stool!
Don as "Davey Jones"
Myself as a pirate wench posing with "Charles the Guard"
BJ & Trevor "doing time"
Zoe the Bassett Hound pirate
doing time too!
Head Ripping Zombie and Roadkill the Cat
Niece Maggie got into the Pirate Spirit- Next year we will rope her parents too!
Paiges friend Monique holds Roadkill
Jennifer serves up delish hot chocolate that grandma is constantly brewing. Jenn once again created her costume
This year I pared down on the pumkin carvings. Carving eight last year sucked the fun right out of it. This year we got by with the four I carved- Pirate Galleon, Skull and Crossbones, Stitch ( From Lilo and Stitch) and a pair of swans. Paige added her creation- the boney fish. These pictures are blurry- I apologize
