Hallowe'en in Sunset Park

Thanks to the weather, there were loads of kids (and adults) out trick or treating all over 5th Avenue on Hallowe'en. I saw the first few walking down my street at about Noon. A little early, I say. We attended a most excellent kiddie party at 4 PM and did a little 5th Avenue trick-or-treating on the way and a little door-to-door trick or treating afterward. I didn't get a ton of good photos, but some houses really had great set-ups. (If you have any, feel free to send them along or add them to the BViB photo pool on flickr.) Here are a couple.

Love the little Charlie Brown.

Excellent use of autumnal resources.

This collection was even more fun in person. There is a spider crawling out of the right-hand pumpkin. And I love the simplicity of the left-hand exhibit.

There were some pretty impressive costumes floating around. I saw a few of that scary guy who wears the potato sack head. I think it's from some horror movie. Freddy K. showed up a couple of times. That Scream ghost thing hasn't gotten old yet. Lots of princesses and witches and pirates looking wonderful as always. I also saw a Sesame Street Yip Yip BRRRIINNNGGG alien in hot pink walking down 47th Street. That was really cool. It stopped my toddler cold in his tracks. I couldn't grab the camera fast enough and away s/he went. *

*Thanks to Josh and Janet; they managed to snap a photo of this one!

We also saw the most adorable mustached family. So fun. The toddler looked just like the baby in the Addams Family.

Now, bought costumes are fun - and they save parents like me from the last minute idea to throw a pumpkin bag over the kid's head and call her dressed. Yes, I saw this. And whatever, at least there was some effort. Whether you got your costume off Amazon, in Target, from Mapi's, at Party Party, or from the PSP list, it's done for you. And the results can be very cute.

However, there are also those parents (and we saw a lot of them this year!) who put in the extra effort. Here are two of my favorites.

This young man is a robot, and he even has his own (recycled) remote control. His talented dad made this costume from various materials, and it came out pretty darn nicely.

Look! Turbo boosters! I mean, c'mon. How awesome are Poland Spring bottles (I think that's what they are) spray-painted silver as turbo boosters? Very.

This young lady is a lovely mushroom (Amanita Muscaria, if you must know). These types show up frequently in European fairy tales - usually with some animal waiting out the rain under them. But they also show up in Mario Brothers. Or Super Mario. One of the ones I didn't play because I was still working on Ms. Pacman or Frogger. The cap is homemade and quite sturdy. It came off once or twice, but it still looked amazing.

I asked these two if they were going to a party, but they said no. They were just taking a child trick-or-treating and wanted to get dressed up. Don't they look great?

Happy Hallowe'en!