I love all holidays. The hubby not so much. I would decorate so much more if we had the space and the hubby was into holidays more. So for us Halloween has always been low key. We aren't ones to go to parties (not big with our group of friends) or out bar hopping. So for us Halloween wasn't that different but I did do a few new things we don't normally do.
1. We bought pumpkins for the first time in years.
And then due to the lack of entries in the virtual pumpkin contest at work, I quickly painted it last. I was going to go with a book theme and use stencils from Brenda Novak's Book Group but I was not really keen on any of the designs. I didn't think they would look good painted. After a quick google search, I found the Timber Rattlers stencils but I couldn't find any Brewer ones. I am impressed how it turned out.
2. We always go for a Christmas light ride and like the dancing Christmas lights. I saw that there was a house on Gruenwald Ave in Neenah that was having dancing Halloween lights. I mentioned this to the hubby on the way to DQ one night that I would check them out later in the week. He decided that we should check them out. For all the good things I heard about the light display, I found it kind of lame. It might have been that we parked on the "wrong" side of the road (in front of the house versus across from it) and could only see a portion of it. It could be that I like Christmas music better than Halloween music. I am glad we checked it out. I was hoping to get to another in Darboy this week but that never happened. Definitely check it out next year if they do it again. Great (safe) family activity that is not too spooky for little ones.
3. Instead of a regular Brenda Novak book club meeting, we had a Halloween party on Facebook live. I discovered Brenda Novak book group back in April and enjoy our monthly Facebook meetings. There was a customer contest, giveaways, and Brenda read us a scary story. It was a very entertaining evening.
4. When we are in the office at work, we always have a costume contest and in office trick or treating. This year it was virtual. I dressed up and submitted my photo but no candy this year. I think I miss the interoffice trick or treating the most (and the Halloween cookies). It is fun to see how creative my coworkers can be.
5. Last night, I went on a (virtual) haunted boat ride down the Chicago river. This was put on by Mysterious Chicago via Facebook. I discovered Mysterious Chicago early on in the pandemic and occasionally will check out their history events. This one I really did not miss so much so I was an hour early. As we virtually cruised down the Chicago River like we were on the architectural boat tour, we learned about ghosts that would haunt certain areas of the city and other creepy tidbits form the city's past. I learned some interesting things especially about some of the less known characters of Chicago history. Just don't ask me to remember who they are. I recommend checking out Mysterious Chicago if you every want to learn about some of the weird past of Chicago.
6. One Halloween tradition that will survive any pandemic is pumpkin cookies. Even growing up, the hubby and I both had pumpkin cut out cookies. The first year we were dating, I made him some and nearly killed him. Not knowing he was allergic to almonds, I followed mom's recipe which called for almond extract. He only got a rash but it might have been nice to know beforehand. Now I use grandma's recipe which requires copious amounts of flour to roll the out. I had the lovely job at baking the cookies will the hubby was at football. When he got home, I frosted and he added the faces.
So it's a typical low key Halloween for us. Maybe one year I will do a party... and maybe cows will fly. In the meantime, I will watch some football, listen to the Opry, and read a book.
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