Halloween!

Out of all the holidays, Halloween has shifted the most in the way we celebrate it with our family.  Gone are the days of holding hands (and costume props) and slowing navigating our block with tiny kiddos.  And the days of taking bigger ones to gather allll the candy at Coventreat. And the days of meticulous handmade family themed costumes, and even the days of posing the kids on the porch before they head out to trick or treat in our neighborhood on their own. Now we have teenagers and they make their own costumes and then disappear to friends' houses...

Time is wild.  And I am so grateful to have experienced each of these Halloween iterations, each one charming and magical and busy and challenging and perfect in its own way. 

I miss my tinies... and all those photo op... but it turns out that teenage Halloween can be pretty great, too.

Holly and I took Ivy and TaShiya to Fright Night at Majestic Meadows and it was everything. Alpacas and capybaras and goats and snakes, and genuinely scary clowns, and a very effective haunted barn (where everyone made ME go first and Ivy screamed the entire time in my ear...).  And it was such a great moment, to be there in one of my favorite places, watching two of my loves have such fun together.  

Pumpkin carving is different with teens too.. but we have established a strong sense of tradition in these young ones and the made it happen.  Year two for Jack having his friends to carve pumpkins on the porch...

... and the girls joined in on the fun after Fright Night...

Halloween horse show at Hope's Haven.  Ivy rode one of her less preferred horses so didn't have the very best day.. but I love watching her ride, regardless.

Look at these girls, doing the jump set up and clean up...

The first annual Halloween party at Crestland went off without a hitch.  We had so much fun decorating- spiderweb everywhere!

And everyone came in costume and almost everyone played along with our musical theater theme and even did the guessing game, good sports.

The skeleton charcuterie stole the show, though.

I can't beleive how glorious the foliage still was by Halloween...

Costume night at COC.  Our Hamilton costume got an honorable mention even without our "bullet" in attendance. 

 

 Celebrations at school!  the literal cutest day of the year at Lewis.

Our SPED team won the costume contest with our hilarious ride-on ducks...

On Halloween itself I saw Ivy off to her "Alvin and the Chipmunks" themed trick  or treating, enjoyed Nat's newest creation, the creepiest deer... and then Holly and I passed out candy over at our friend CJ's house, where Alice stole the show even without her witch costume that she refused to keep on...