Happy Hallowe'en!

Our two chicks had another night out tonight. If Rai had had his way, he'd have worn his chick costume all week long but we made sure to save those cute, furry, yellow outfits just for tonight, Hallowe'en night. With Ko sick this past weekend, we missed on 3 of our standard Hallowe'en events -- the Scaregrove at Stern Grove, the Golden Gate Mother's party, and Ashe couldn't get the boys to Galileo High School for the annual costume contest this afternoon. With that string of disappointments, this evening was our very last chance to get out there and celebrate.
After about thirty photos on our deck, we drove over to El Polin Springs on the other side of the Presidio. We had seen an advertisement for what sounded like a great community event. The ad read: "Scary storytime for toddlers read to them by the queen of witches, apples to bob for, a haunted tunnel, bat cave and our ever-popular flying ghost. After dark, a really scary trail through the woods to Quarry Street will open for the older kids, featuring frightful figures, a size-your-own-coffin, skeletons and other surprises." Wow -- this was an event not to be missed!
We made it to El Polin Springs only to find it quiet, deserted. Not a trick or treater in sight. Down the street, a group of families sat on a lawn eating pizza. We wandered over to them to enquire about the big Hallowe'en party. "This is it!" What?! Three or four families eating pizza on two blankets on a lawn? This is it? Where was the storytime, the apples, the bat cave, the creepy trail, the ever-popular flying ghost... Oh, wait, the ghost was there; a white sheet moved across the street along a line connecting houses on opposite sides of the street. "The lady who organized the event is sick. She likes to think 'big'", they said.
We did what we could to mask our disappointment, got in the car and pointed it towards Seacliff, a neighborhood that is a guaranteed good time on Hallowe'en night. Hundreds of kids were out. After getting some glow sticks from Robin Williams' place, Rai had his first trick or treating experience as we visited about a dozen homes. Rai is not one to let food sit, so we ended up with a handful of open wrappers, each treat missing one bite. During the drive home, the rest of that quarter eaten candy mysteriously disappeared.