The Magic of Halloween

I used to love Halloween.  As a child, I remember the fervor and excitement in the week or so leading up to that magical holiday of sugar and spooks.  Halloween in Las Vegas, and the whole state of Nevada for that matter, is better than anywhere else.  Tricks and treats warrant a day off of school! (Actually, the 31st is Nevada Day and thus school is closed in celebration of statehood.  Though, when we moved I don't remember celebrating "Oregon Day" so I think it's just an excuse...one that I completely embraced with open arms!)

Each year I had to pay a candy tax to my parents for their chauffeuring services.  To this day I can't see an Almond Joy without thinking that it belongs to my dad.

And then I got older.  Too old to trick or treat I was told.  Halloween lost some of its magic and a lot of its sugar.  It became a holiday that I looked at as simply the gateway to the holiday season, something we had to get through to get to its far superior cousins, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  In college, Halloween is a contest to see who can be the most scantily clad while still maintaining "costume" status and thus my desire to dress up waned more and more each year.  

But, this year...oh this year, I discovered the key to making Halloween magical again.  The key is having a child or children of your own.  And, though Tate and Ainsley won't remember their first Halloween, their costumes were adorable and they were fawned over everywhere we went.  Matt and I came up with the idea and then enlisted my very talented mother to do the sewing for us.  

Lucky for us, the costumes were hand delivered and we got to enjoy her company for a whole week.  Wig making, face painting, picture taking, story time...yep the magic is back!  Now, if only we can convince my mom to join us for every Halloween...  

Our front room is now a gated play area.  The babies don't seem to mind at all and it has been dubbed Freedom Gate.

 Swinging, story time, and popsicles with Grandma...what's not to love?!

I may be biased but I think Tate and Ainsley had the cutest costumes around!  We had to bribe Tate with Puffs to get him to keep his wig on for a few pictures.  He was more interested in chewing on it than wearing it.  

On Saturday night we were joined by our friends Nick, Erin, and little Dylan dressed as a hungry caterpiller, as we partied it up at a church hosted Halloween party.  (My mom was there too, but I'm lame and didn't get any pictures of her.)

And then, two days before Halloween, we said good-by to my mom.  We don't love good-byes.

We had a great week and a magical Halloween.