Halloween in Hyde Park, 2025: Plinko Board
We were pretty busy all night, with a constant stream of kids. This was one of the few moments where I stopped to take out my camera, and record one of the interactions.
Posts Tagged "halloween"
Halloween Plinko Prep
I was never very good with electronics. And it took a tremendous amount of trial and error, to get our Plinko board working, back when we first made it in 2022.
I took a lot of notes, before we put this thing away in storage. And tonight, I set about seeing if this thing would still fire up after being tucked away for three years.
Halloween Candy Prep, 2025
The nice thing about this blog – I have a handy reference to some random info. Like how much Halloween candy we’ve gone through, in years prior.
Last year, we went through about 551 pieces of candy. This year, in preparation, I went a bit higher, and added a bit of a buffer.
Plinko Retrieval
Today was a big errand day for me. Of the many stops, one of the big ones was dropping by our storage unit to pick up our custom Plinko board for Halloween.
Overall, I knew the structure was pretty safe and solid. But the last I remember, all the wires powering the LED lights were still kind of loosely attached. That particularly delicate part… no idea how well it’s held up.
Hanging Out in Wicker Park
Got to hang out with family for an afternoon, in Wicker Park. Didn’t end up taking photos, which was a shame… but we mostly just walked around Damen/Milwaukee/North, had some cocktails over lunch, and then some ice cream.
Candy Accounting
All told, here’s the tally:
Rice Krispies Treats (32)
Hersheys/KitKat miniatures (185)
Twix (32)
Dots (18)
Welch’s Fruit Snacks (60)
Nerds Variety (90)
Reese’s Variety (65)
Ring Pops (22) x 2
Oreos (25)
Halloween in Hyde Park, 2024
This year, we dusted off the Operation game for Halloween. I’ve been making some variation of this costume for, oh… over two decades now. That’s a little crazy to say out loud.
I did my first version a long while ago, when I was a grad student at OSU. I think the first documented version I have of the costume is from 2004, which was a wearable/portable version.
Halloween Eve Prep
Back home, Liz prepping for tomorrow. Our Halloween “game” involves sticking small pieces of velcro on every single piece of candy we give out. So it’s definitely time-consuming.
Some Operation Surgery
I pulled out the old Operation Candy Dispenser several days ago, and was saddened by the fact that things weren’t quite working. I couldn’t figure out what the issue was, and couldn’t get the door buzzer to go off, despite trying every variation I could think of.
The Red Skeleton House
Liz spotted it initially, but I missed it driving by. On our way home, Liz insisted I slow down… and on seeing it, I just had to pull the car over.
Reader, I was in awe. And got out to take photos, because of just how magnificent the whole thing was.
Halloween Candy Prep, 2024
Out shopping this weekend, and one of our main tasks was to get candy for Halloween. We tend to get a lot of kids in the area (especially if the weather holds up), so we always stock up.
Signs of Halloween
Our neighbors put up some decorations, and it reminded me how close Halloween really is. On seeing this, I had a good chuckle… and was glad I didn’t see it for the first time at night, in the dark.
Halloween Realization
Sadly, I realized today that the time has come and gone for anything new. I haven’t been able to find anything exciting I wanted to build, and just looking at the remaining time… I don’t see enough days to actually put something new together.
The Candy Grabber: Halloween in Hyde Park, 2023
We got some screams, which was fantastic. And we even got several folks who outright refused to put their hands in, and said “It’s not worth it.”
Halloween 2023: Using AI for Signage
After getting a pretty gruesome example (left), I asked DALL-E to make something a bit more family friendly. And it produced the image on the right. I’m honestly not sure which image is more terrifying.