Halloween Night 2019
One of my favorite holidays of the year came around again: HALLOWEEN! After summer is over and school begins, I live for all things Fall. (Except for pumpkin spice. You crazy folks can keep that nasty flavor.) There's something about the crispness in the air, the colorful leaves spread all over the ground, and the anticipation of all things spooky and fun that just gets me excited.
This year, Jed had his heart set on becoming a creepy vampire for a night. (Don't you love his makeup?? I'm pleasantly surprised with myself.) Levi found his kick butt ninja costume for $2 at Once Upon a Child. And Conrad, well, he wouldn't let me sway his decision to be a pumpkin on Halloween night one bit. His mind was set in stone. It was so funny and cute! Ever since we carved Jack-o-lanterns last season, Conrad's intrigue in pumpkins has only heightened.
We've been living in our neighborhood eight years now and we've developed a tradition with our neighbors on Halloween night that I think we've all come to love. It's super simple really. First, everyone gathers in our front yard for pictures. (Yup, you guessed it, I'm the official photographer.) And then we all head out together as one giant group of friends to trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. Some years the turnout is bigger than others, but the invite is always there and my boys love, love, love the tradition of going door to door with their friends. This year, we did just that again. Such sweet childhood memories! Halloween night would not be the same without our awesome neighbors.
^^Happy Halloween from a vampire, a ninja, and a jack-o-lantern!^^
^^Not sure what this black mark across Levi's face is all about, but he wanted it, so I did it!^^
^^Seriously, such a cute age! He turns three in eleven days.^^
^^I dressed up as a witch. It made all three boys so happy to have me dress up along with them. I'm delighted they still think it's cool.^^
^^Jed had so much fun getting into character.^^
^^The Sonderegger family as characters from The Princess Bride!^^
^^The Youngs owning Halloween once again as characters from the world of Harry Potter.^^
^^The Carlens making us laugh out loud as a pair of silly elderly folks. Ty had his lines down!^^
The full disclosure behind the scenes of these pictures: Conrad came to my bedside early Halloween morning around 3am. He whimpered that he didn't feel well and then promptly threw up all over the floor. (Praise my tile floors once again!) Bron wound up making the poor kid a makeshift bed in the bathroom. Then I was up in intervals helping Conrad puke in the toilet til somewhere around 6am. Needless to say, we were all a little short on sleep that night. And of course, Conrad felt pretty puny all day. Poor kid. I just wanted to hold him! He took a long afternoon nap and seemed to rally at dinner, but after trick-or-treating just two houses, Conrad asked to go home. He was done, but more than happy to watch cartoons and help Dad hand out treats. It actually worked out well.
^^Zoom in on Conrad's face if you can... he was so happy!^^
^^Dracula picking at his teeth.^^
^^I seriously could not get enough of this boy and his creepy costume this year! You nailed it, Jed.^^
^^Also, doesn't Dani make a really believable Professor McGonagall? Just something like 30 years younger, of course.^^
^^Running from house to house. We got so lucky with the most beautiful sunset.^^
It sure has been cold enough just to skip right to it.
The boys look fantastic.. great job on the make up.
ReplyDeleteYou captured some wonderful memories..