Another Halloween in Northern Ireland

Well, Halloween here in N Ireland is over for another year, the treat buckets are full, and I will be glad to banish the cobwebs and fake spiders back to the box in the garage. The poem above is what the kids recite at the doors when trick or treating – do you have the same poem wherever you are?

We had the usual pumpkin carving (we used to use large turnips when we were kids) although now an ipad helps with the inspiration!

The kids  and their friends dressed up as usual.

My son was a bat

And my daughters don’t dress up as characters, just an excuse to wear some extravagant outfit and more makeup and hairproduct than ever before!

The kids just visited a some of the houses in our own street and the nearby streets, trick or treating. Mostly they received sweets, with an odd orange and some coins (£1.08 to be exact!)

Here were the treats handed out at our door, with some plastic bugs and skeletons too.

I then took my son and a couple of his friends down to our church to Fall Fest. This is the 3rd year we have hosted the festival, a free event for the local community. I think we had nearly 200 kids and their associated adults. There was bouncy castle, a photographer, some resuced animals, craft, puppet show, fancy dress and pumpkin carving competitions.

There were the two winning pumpkins, both worthy winners.

I asked on Facebook if many decorated for Halloween, as I was surprised in Atlanta, when driving through residential areas how much decor I saw – huge spiders, toomb stones in the front garden etc. Jamee from A New Kind of Normal shared that she tends to decorate more for Fall than Halloween.

I have a box of “stuff” which comes out every year, which includes some plastic bugs, cats, pumpkins etc. However, it is always a relief to pack it away again, I much prefer Christmas decor. Here are a few snaps of this year’s mantlepiece.

So what did you do on Halloween Night? Please share!

I’m joining in with JDaniel4’s Mom Blog (who I met in person at SITS Atlanta!) so check out her blog for lots more traditions, recipes and crafts.