Halloween Rundown

I began Halloween morning at Crew's preschool. His class went trick-or-treating at surrounding community buildings. 

I got to stay to help with crafts and snacks. I can't think of a better place to be than preschool on Halloween.

The boys were cooperative as always at my attempt to gather them all together for a photo...

The neighbor kids started coming out one by one and we prepared to go trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.

We always wait until the last minute to carve pumpkins because they don't last long in the California heat. 

Our street put together an awesome party with games and food.

The boys ended the night by comparing their lots with brothers and friends.

Crew sat by the door and waited until the very last trick-or-treater came to round out the night. Our holiday enthusiast stayed strong till the very end.

Trunk or Treat Carnival

We were astonished by our new church congregation's Halloween carnival. They turned the traditional trunk or treat activity into a full carnival and fundraiser for the youth. There was dinner, carnival game booths, cotton candy, sno cones, a haunted trailer, a silent auction and a petting zoo. We had over 100 youth in our ward volunteering, which made for a pretty elaborate celebration.

I couldn't get enough of Finn eating his cotton candy in the golden hour light. 

Nash and Blake scattered using their tickets to win carnival game prizes.

Crew loved the chicken coop.

Once the sun set, we lined up our trunks in the parking lot and the kids filled their buckets with candy. They typically collect more candy during trunk or treat than regular trick-or-treating because it's so quick to go from car to car. What they don't know is that we sneak back a lot of that candy to redistribute on Halloween...

Blake the Olympic Swimmer

Blake was my second child that stuck with the same costume he wore last year. Since we moved to a new neighborhood and a new ward over the summer and costumes aren't allowed at school, he figured no one had seen his Micheal Phelps costume yet. It was such a good costume that I was glad to see it get another use.

Nash the Zelda Hero

Nash always has a solid idea on what he wants to dress up as for Halloween and it usually involves some sort of fantasy character. This year he chose to be Link from The Legend of Zelda. I had no idea who that was but we looked it up and made it happen. He wasn't into the photo session but his costume was everything he imagined.

Crew the Pirate

Some costumes are too good to retire after one year and that's how Crew felt about the pirate costume. He wouldn't consider dressing up as anything else. That made my job easier too. Win win.

If only we had inflatables like some of our neighbors, then all of Crew's Halloween dreams would have come true.