My son was showing off his newly acquired Halloween jokes in the car.

“What’s a ghost’s favorite movie?”

“Ghostbusters?”

“No, BOOty and the Beast!” Silly giggles. Then, “What’s a ghost’s favorite movie?”

“Uh, BOOty and the Beast?”

“No, Black BOOty!” Sillier giggles. Then we noticed the people in the car next to us were also laughing… and looking at us… how did they hear our jokes? Oh wait, they were laughing at the slice of bacon in my back seat.

We met Brandy, Spongebob, and Ella UnDead downtown for Harrisonburg’s annual Halloween on the Square, a fun, family-friendly, and more-safe-than-scary tradition. It’s a great idea: get the trick-or-treating done early so everyone’s sugar high will be over by bedtime. And parents won’t be freezing their butts off trick-or-treating in the dark. And those die-hard Halloween fans can still go trick-or-treating on actual Halloween in their own neighborhoods. Plus, Halloween on the Square offers face painting,  and arts and crafts, and music and dance performances, and carnival games, all from 10am to 2pm.

I have to say, I’ve never heard the word “bacon” so many times as I did that day. Someone a hundred yards behind us would scream, “Bacon!!!” just as someone passing us would say, “Hey, it’s bacon!” Bree whipped out her own joke: “Nice to MEAT you!” and to every shop owner handing out candy she said, “Trick or meat!” We even ran into the Bacon family–my friend Darcy and her girls–and felt compelled to say hello.

And then Bree found her soul mate — Deviled Egg. Dana’s actually a teacher from Bree’s former day care. Reunited!

Cal, feeling a little envious of all the attention she was getting, secretly wished his sister would get at least nibbled by all the many puppies and dogs strolling around town that day. And when we got to Blue Ridge Dog, our downtown dog boutique, Cal practically pushed her through the door with an evil laugh. They, by the way, were handing out Kit Kats. Ha!

We saw lots of awesome costumes that were not meat-related. Cal and Blake were easily recognized in their homemade Charlie Brown and Spongebob get-ups, and Ella was hands-down the prettiest zombie in the hood.

candy break.

And just get a load of these!!

Love this family!

Cutest. Scarecrow. EVER.

crime fighting team!

Many thanks to Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance for hosting the event and to all the businesses and volunteers who were so, so kind to so many monsters!

We have a whole lot more pictures, so stay tuned all week! You might see someone you know!

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