Our halloween event... ... was significant. And now I will bore you with the details! :D The boys are 9 and 6. Santa is still a real dude and halloween is still the most amazing event on earth... I mean... to all the houses on the street and everyone gives you candy. Deal! This year, more than others though. Geo wanted to decorate the front of the house... ...not to compete with the crazed folks down the street that BUILD additional temporary structures on their house to accommodate the halloween freakout. But enough to get them involved in stringing cob webs... and painting tomb stones, etc. We made a great cd of scary music and sounds (thanks btw!!) and we had a rip roaring scary "house front". But the thing is... the kids were celebrating all week long. Not with candy but with activity... and excitement. Our street was AN ENDLESS SEA OF CHILDREN AT 6:10pm and it went on solid till 7:15... then it stopped dead. (kids to bed!) About 90% of the houses on our street participate... and several of those go to town with big scary decorations. There were glorious costumes on little kids and loads of simple costumes on adolescents... But all of it was lovely. In fact... one of my neighbors is Allanis Morisette's brother... (she grew up in Ottawa) and she comes every year to take his kids out for Halloween... and nobody bugs her... We all just get busy making a night for the kids. (and she's a huge star in these parts). (she was at our door just a few hours ago! :D cool 'eh?) And in some number of years... our street will be, I suppose, like my parents street. Devoid of kids and quiet on Halloween. Halloween is a commercial success for the candy makers and the wallmarts... I know that's a terrible thing... Fine. But on my street... it's all about kids and kids having a really great time. What a fun and fulfilling social event. :D