Happy Halloween!

Halloween is obviously not a big thing here but it's a really fun reason for people to get together with friends!  We went to a big Halloween party the Saturday before the big day so it was time to break out this year's costumes.

Alex wanted to be a stick man Neptune (trident not pictured).  Not sure why exactly, but he's reading Percy Jackson and apparently loves Neptune?  Regardless, the costume cost $3 and an hour of time so I was on board.

Ben chose possibly the most appropriate thing ever...a t-shirt with a "costume not available" error message that he designed himself.

Since the party fell right on Matt's birthday, he went as the birthday boy!

And I, well, I decided to go as the hostess.  In her own house.  I even got dressed in her bathroom!  This is her daughter saying "You're my mom!!" when I walked downstairs.

Thankfully, Andrea thought it was hilarious, as did pretty much everyone else at the party because I won best female costume!

Tons of fun being Laur-Andrea for the night!  But a little confusing to her kids.  And her husband.  And her husband's boss.  All in good fun!

The rest of the night I had to go big so I could hang as Andrea!

This was no half-done deal...real Andrea knows how to throw a party! 

The little trunk or treated in the garage, which was fortunate because it was pouring most of the evening.

The older kids were going to hit the pinata but it wasn't quite as strong as the adults hoped! 

The kids hung out to watch movies while the adults enjoyed the band outside.

One of the best things about Jakarta - you can get almost anything done at your house.  Want to hire Mongolian barbecue for dinner?  No problem.  And really cheap.

Java Beats did their thing on the stage while we danced and sang along.  Always a great time.

In true Andrea fashion, I took a dip in the pool at the end of the night.  After all the dancing, it felt pretty amazing.  Perfect way to end the night!

On real Halloween, we joined our friends in Astoria/Executive Paradise compound for real trick or treating.  They had a few dozen families handing out candy and a lot of excited kids collecting it.

It kind of felt like home!  It was safe for the kids to run in the streets and we saw lots of friends.  It's so worth the effort to give the kids the memories they'd be making in Texas.