I told Mike last night that we should nominate ourselves for David Letterman’s ‘stupid family tricks’ after last night.

Kate had a recital at a local museum last night. I’ve described it before – but it’s a huge outdoor museum with old historic houses and buildings (hotels, saloons, jails, dental offices, etc.) that have been restored and filled with real antiques and old equipment, furniture and things that would have been used during that time period. The grounds are gorgeous with pathways, grassy areas, roses, and trees. Mike and I were married there…

Last night (and tonight) the museum held their ‘Safe Trick-or-Treat’ you had to buy tickets to attend and there were almost 40 “treat stations” set up on the porches and in the doorways of the different buildings. Sounds lovely, right?

Kate’s recital was held in the old Bandstand (a very old, beautiful, white gazebo). She had to be there at 5pm and we had to deliver her through the vendor’s entrance. Had we been just 15 more minutes late… we’d never have gotten a parking spot. (My mom tried to get in a little after it started and not only could she not get a parking spot but there was an accident due to STUPID DRIVERS right in front of her. She changed her mind and drove home!)

The museum was expecting about 2000 people last night and I’m pretty sure they got them… and then some. There were HUGE lines just to get up to each of the doors. We watched Kate play at the recital… took Maggie around a bit (she was dressed as a frog and my camera was messing up so I didn’t get any pictures… AUUUGH!) and then we bailed as fast as we could.

While attempting to find our way out of the museum we got stuck in a crowd of people. After several minutes Kate looks up at me and says, “Are we in a line?” I replied, “No, at least I hope we aren’t in a line… it’s not my intention to BE in a LINE!” and as if I had spoken the magic words… the sea of people parted and I heard several weary looking moms say, “She doesn’t mean to be in a line – let her through!!!”

We had been IN a line.

And, all we wanted to do was get back to our car.

Once we got home we realized that we had indeed had a very nice evening… we did see some very funny costumes and we did enjoy ourselves in spite of the fact that the crowds were annoying and they weren’t selling candied or caramel apples anywhere. We made do with fresh, hot Kettle corn and cotton candy.

But, I think next year we’ll stick to our neighborhood and enjoy a nice, traditional Halloween. ;o)

Tonight… I’m buying candy at Target, Mike is picking up pizzas on the way home, we are blacking out the house and settling in to watch the conclusion of “Most Haunted Live! The Hunt for Jack The Ripper” on the Travel Channel.