Every year, for the past ten years, I’ve taken a picture on this rock in our neighborhood for Halloween. When I told my kids that this was the first stop on our schedule because it was “tradition,” I got, “Mom, you say that about everything. The photo with the cousins for July 4th. First day of school. Last day of school.”
Which is when I told them that they’re lucky my biggest pleasures in life come from taking pictures of my kids.
A few previous years on the same rock (and there are more at the bottom of this post:
Madeline kept going back and forth about what she wanted to be for Halloween, and by the time she finally landed on being a bunny, it was a bit of a hunt to find the right pieces. Which was mostly fine by me because I’m not a huge fan of off-the-rack costumes. I may or may not have already started saving ideas of costumes she can pull together for next year.
Her school had their Halloween parade first thing in the morning, and luckily a friend managed to get awesome shot above of Madeline before she saw me in the audience. Every time she sees me, she breaks out of the line and comes to tackle me with a hug, so I can never get a good picture.
As we did last year, we trick-or-treated in a neighboring town. We started going to Mt. Tabor last year because it’s such a cute little village, with every house more adorable than the next. The residents seriously go all out for Halloween, and it’s just so much fun going there.
When she found out her BFFs were going as a raccoon and a fox, she was so excited that they were all woodland animals for Halloween.
Her brother actually had two exams the next day (poor planning on the part of the high school, if you ask me), so the only part that he got to enjoy was raiding her stash when she came home. We trick-or-treated for about two hours and then finished the night at a local pizza place for dinner. Once home, she picked out her favorite candy from her haul, and the rest will be divided between our town’s food pantry and the Halloween Buy Back program. If you’re not familiar with it, you can type in your zip code here and find a participating dentist near you. They will buy your candy back for $1/pound and then send it to the troops overseas. We’ve been doing it for years, and it’s a great way to get the excess out of our home, and do some good at the same time.
If you celebrate, hope your Halloween was just as wonderful!
i love that buy back program. gotta look into that!