Halloween 2005

**Don't forget to read my tenant's Halloween adventures. After you are done here, of course!**

Since today is Halloween, a day filled with fun, fabulous costumes and sugar highs, I wanted to share with you my cousin and nephew's first Halloween.

This is my cousin, Suzanne. Why is she so excited about the hair place, Hot Cuts? Apparently, it is a very dirty thing in Holland, and she couldn't believe we had a business named after that part of the female body. And I had to convince her that wasn't the type of hair they cut! (Ok, not really.) Suzanne kind of has double jeopardy. See, she is my dad's sister's daughter. (Got that?) And well, my dad is a bit crazy. And so is her dad. So, Suzanne is totally nuts!

Last year, Suzanne and Calem both had their first Halloween. Suzanne came all the way from Holland to be there for my mom and dad. She is almost like another sister, except for that extra few levels of exuberance.

First we took her to a local open air shopping center. They were having a costume party for the kids. It was on the 28th instead of the 31st, because Halloween fell on a weekday. So, she sees these dogs, and these ladies dressed like their dogs.


She oooh'ed and aaaah'ed over the dog and human costumes, then later told me she didn't like it because the dogs didn't have a choice like the kids did.

Then we told Calem we were taking crazy cousin Suzanne trick or treating with us.


So, Cousin Suzanne, Tante Lynda, Cousin Kristie (who is normal cause she is from my mom's side) and Calem all set out to trick or treat with the neighbors. I insisted on holding Calem instead of putting him in the stroller. (Remember, he just lost his mom 9 days earlier.) We went to Mr. and Mrs. F-------- down the way. Mr. F-------- doesn't move as well as he use to, so Calem and I went inside. After chatting for a few minutes, I hear one of the nice neighbors Halloween decorations going off. Suzanne was looking at everything and didn't realize it was a motion detection thing. When I heard it, it gave me an out. I said, "I have to go see what kind of trouble my cousins are getting into!" The neighbors laughed and we were on our way.

We went to a few more houses without incident. Then we went down to some neighbors my mom asked us to go to. They had all kinds of decorations and this hangman. So, Suzanne asked that we take her picture, and she stuck her head between his legs.

And she shouted out something like, "It smells like he pissed himself." And Kristie and I looked at each other with a look that said, "She does realize we still have to live in this country, doesn't she?"

Then we went to the neighbors next door to my mom and Suzanne had to take a picture. So that neighbor kept putting candy into Calem's pumpkin "for the picture". And then we went home and ate some of Calem's candy, because at 4.5 months, he was too young for it.



After we got home, my mom suggested we take Suzanne to the mall. I wasn't sure I wanted to, but Kristie, Suzanne and I loaded into the car and ended up going. She saw a kid dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and asked his mom if she could take his picture. I was worried she was going to get arrested, so I said, "She is from The Netherlands and they don't have Halloween there."



Then she saw this guy. He had a great costume, by far one of my favorites. We were giggly, and Suzanne asked to take his picture and I said again she was from Holland, and he agreed. I think he was amused.



And the greatest thing was that she was able to go to Kmart the next day and get costumes for her kids at 75% off. And when she was getting ready to pack them, she modelled two of them.





And her kids loved them! (Oh, and that hand and eye in the corner is cousin Kristie.)