Halloween 2020

I tried to do some Halloween crafts with Perry this month, since he's not going to preschool any time soon. I just copied the ones his brothers did previous years.

He also helped me decorate the house. He's such a magical age for holidays.

He decided to be a Jedi like Scott and Jonah, so he tried on Jonah's old Luke costume and just wore it on and off.

Jonah helped with the letter order for the window clings.

The school put on a Trick or Treat trail that was so great.

We had the same time slot as Jonah's friend and they had spontaneously coordinated costumes.

The stations were spread out and the kids got candy and a pumpkin and books.

I didn't expect much, but the home and school club went all out with decorations and it was really fun.

It gave us an excuse to all dress up, which I don't think John and I would have done otherwise.

It was less than a half hour, but it made us feel a semblance of normalcy getting in costumes and going out together and seeing a few people from a distance.

(John and I wore our Han and Leia costumes we used 10 years ago)

I wanted to get Jane a bigger cold weather suit for playing outside easily and going for walks, so when I saw this Chewbacca one, we had her Halloween set.

Perry changed his mind a dozen times, but ultimately wanted to be like his brothers. So I wrapped some linen over their shirts and belted it, added a cloak and called it a day.

Every picture of Jane from that day has a lollipop.

The school did some fun Halloween-themed activities, like Jonah's literary pumpkin.

We carved pumpkins on the Friday before because they had off from school.

I gave them control, which was great for me, and they did a great job.

On Halloween morning, we drove through a church trunk or treat where we stopped for a few games and activities from the car.

I just wanted to do something fun in case trick or treating was a bust. They definitely got a ton of candy, even though it was just a few stops.

We made some mummies for lunch.

Then as it got dark we took the kids to a couple friends' houses in the neighborhood who we knew were putting out a candy for pickup.

I checked a map a parent made to see what covid-safe houses would be participating and there were a few on one street where our friends live, so we went to check them out.

We did not expect to see so many along the way, though.

Everyone came up with creative and fun ways to distribute treats from a distance. 

Pumpkin patches, tables and walls of candy pinned up, remote control cars, people throwing them at us with gloves and masks on

lots of clever things.

It made me so proud of everyone for coming together to make it special and grateful that our kids could still experience a fun tradition safely.

At our friend's house the kids were watching the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown movie projected on their garage and Jane helped herself to the snacks she picked up in their patch.

I couldn't believe how much effort people put into their decorations, too. I think we all felt that need to go the extra mile this year. The candy chute was a big hit.

Most people had their candy bagged up and they isolated it for a few days before Halloween just to be cautious. Consequently, the kids had bagfuls of candy, pounds each, from just a few houses.

Jane is my favorite little age for trick or treating and I'm so glad she was able to get a taste of it.

It was a great Halloween, as evidenced by her crashing hard on the floor before the night was up.