All Hallows' Eve 2013

Gone are the days of trying to fit your costume over your snowsuit. [This was a common conundrum growing up in Canada!] This year, we were lucky to have perfect trick-or-treating weather.

Indio was super excited in the weeks leading up to the big night, having picked his costume in September and his pumpkins in early October.

The night before Halloween we carved our largest pumpkin, which wasn't very large. Indio loved planning our Jack O'Lantern's face, but wasn't enthralled with pulling out the guts.

gross guts!

flexing with his mini-pumpkins

We met up with one of Indio's best friends from class before heading over to Ginna's and Henry's stoop to help them give out candy, our tradition for the last few years.

ninja + annie

All in all, a fantastic night, even if one 4-year old boy was over-sugared and extra tired the next day!

How was your Halloween? Did you dress up?

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Pumpkin patch: then and now

It's hard to believe we've already racked up 5 years worth of pumpkin photos of Indio. Looking back, I couldn't help but compare my boy from his very first pumpkin patch [really just the display at the Amish market in Tribeca, New York, 2009] to the latest installation from a *real* pumpkin patch in Valatie, NY on our way home from Lake Placid.

Have you chosen your Halloween pumpkins yet? What will you carve yours into?

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Shark attack!

It's daylight savings time for those of you in my part of the world. Did you remember to "fall back" an hour? I thought I'd use the extra hour to finally finish my Halloween post.

pretty pumpkins

This was the first year [of 3] that Indio actually had some idea of what was going on. He was super-excited the days before because he knew he would get to wear a costume, though he kept changing his mind about what he wanted to be. In the end I picked up a cozy shark costume from Old Navy, which was perfect since Indy has been studying oceans at school and promptly told me he was going to be a "predator" when he saw his getup!

On Monday afternoon we set out to visit Louly's house -- my traditional Halloween stoop hangout pre-Indio and a perfect perch to watch all the costumes in the neighbourhood parade by.

Indy joins the gang on Louly and Bill's stoop

You cannot imagine Indio's delight when he realized that not only did he get to wear a costume, but he also got candy from complete strangers! After almost 3 years candy-free, my boy was delirious with excitement and an overdose of sugar! Lucky for us, he has no idea where his stash is now and doesn't seem to care. Phew!

After what felt like hours of trick-or-treating, we settled in on Ginna and Henry's stoop for a glass of vino with cheese and crackers. Thankfully, Indy ate some of the crackers and cheese and finally stopped with the candy only because Henry put him up to the task of handing out candy. Now I know what to do next year!

treats from Henry

the loot!

sugar overload

And a few from the previous weekend's parties:

pumpkin rings are the tastiest

snow in october? didn't anyone get the memo: we aren't in Canada anymore!

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All Hallows Even

Indy has been obsessed with pumpkins ever since the first orange squash was on display for the season, so the build-up to Sunday night was exciting, to say the least.

We carved a pumpkin for our porch and walked around the 'hood in search of ghouls and ghosts. E wouldn't let Indy trick-or-treat because he didn't want him to feel bad about not being able to eat the candy. I was hoping to distract Indy and eat it all myself. Oh well. At least E saved a few mini Coffee Crisps for me.

modeling their costumes before the big day. cassius wasn't thrilled that his was so small.

scooping out pumpkin guts.

waiting for trick-or-treaters

our first family jack-0.

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