A Twilight Zone Halloween

Wow. Where to begin...Halloween was really, really strange this year. We were joined by one of Madi's best friends, Ana, her baby sister Monica (aka Mo Mo) and the lovely Mrs. Carrie Socha. They arrived just before 5:00, and we decided to make an appearance down the street at a friend's house. They host a Halloween party every year, and daughter Mary is friends with Madi and Ana. Well, leave it to us to show up while the family is still getting dressed and preparing for the party! We felt so awkard--not because of them, of course--but because of our inappropriate timing. We visited for a few minutes, and then headed back to our house. It started to rain just as we pulled up to the house as timing would have it, but we were lucky enough to escape the major downpour.

Once the rain subsided, we decided to take the girls to a few houses, accompanied by Grandma Murphy. Out of the ten houses we hit, I think three of them were home. We started to wonder if we had the right day! The ones that were home commented that we were the first trick-or-treaters. We were starting to see a pattern here! The girls feet were getting sore, so we headed home. A few minutes later, we decided to pay our immediate neighbors a visit. Poor Ana tripped over a cord in our neighbor's yard, and they weren't even home to give us a treat--guess that means we got 'tricked'. Our second 'trick' came when we walked two doors down and a vicious dog emerged from the house, beyond the control of the girl who answered the door. It sent this poor girl into a panic, and I was frozen--I mean frozen. So was Madi. The dog tore right past us and went for Ana, who was trying to move out of the way. Thank God for Carrie's instinct, because she scooped that child up faster than anything I've ever seen. The dog bit her dress, but thankfully no one was hurt. The girls were stunned. We were stunned. I don't think they were even sure what happened! As a friend quoted, "It sounded very Disney-like"! And they didn't even get any candy!!! We decided that trick-or-treating was clearly over for the night. We walked back to the house in shock and couldn't wait to have a cocktail! (We needed one after that debacle.)

Shortly thereafter, the first group of kids arrived with frightening costumes, and that was it. The girls were done. They opted to go inside and watch a movie. The night was full of rain, so most of the evening was spent with friends piled up inside our garage. Despite the chaos, the kids ended up having a fun Halloween. I wonder if the Socha's will ever want to spend Halloween "Murphy style" again???!!! I am still giggling today when I think about the bizarre events of the evening...and then the real kicker....our van got egged last night! (maybe it was the Socha's?)