Halloween in New Hampshire

Last weekend, Mike, Jeff, and I headed north to New Hampshire for a Halloween party thrown by Mike's aunt.




I will admit that living the single life in Boston, I'm not amid children all that often these days. There aren't that many kids in my extended family yet, and my career doesn't put me in front of youth all that much.




So going from zero to thirty screaming eight year olds is like skipping a season or two, and having a beach day after a snowfall.




Either way, it was a great way to spend the afternoon and evening. I'm not sure if Mike invited me for the company or for my photo snapping skills. Probably a bit of both :) Either way, I knew that I had a responsibility to capture the precious moments.





Mike's aunt goes all out for Halloween - nothing like I had even seen in a residential setting. Decorations EVERYWHERE, themed food, drinks, and games, and even a haunted house in the basement. The kids loved it. As they lined up to enter the haunted basement, an impromptu "you're gonna die" chant broke out (which I found a bit disturbing), but it soon died down as the first few kids emerged, thrilled expressions that they survived the underground darkness.




While Mike played with his nieces, Jeff and I surveyed the children and wondered where they resided in their cliques at school. Who were the cool kids? Who were the nerds? Who were the quiet ones? Who was popular? We picked out our favorite Halloween costumes of the bunch. I think he preferred the Chinese Take Out container to Paula Abdul (my favorite), but don't remember for sure. Actually, I don't know if she was supposed to be Paula, but that's what I called her behind her back.

Mike has a terrible sweet tooth - put him in a room with a bowl of candy, and it will be gone within minutes. Me, on the other hand...I can usually resist. However, in true Halloween fashion, I consumed far more candy than was necessary.