Halloween 2023

We had a low-key Halloween since it fell on a Tuesday. Serafina and her school friend Sydney dressed up like Sully and Mike from Monsters Inc. in these silly onesies.  They hit the neighborhood for trick-or-treating but not before I forced them to take pictures. 

Leo didn't go out but he did have a little photo shoot with this amazing clown outfit and glasses I picked up at the Goodwill last week.  

Mousse is handsome as always in his Halloween bandana. 

Serafina had quite the candy haul! 

 

Halloween 2023

Halloween is and will probably always be my favorite holiday.  The vibe has definitely changed now that my kids are older and COVID  has changed the dynamics of my friend group, but we still just love it.  

Leo's friend Vivian, who moved away during the summer, was back for a visit this weekend.  Her dad and stepmom hosted a Halloween party Saturday night.  I didn't know anyone, but I wanted a chance to dress up.  I wore a jumpsuit I already own and added a headscarf for a gypsy/fortune teller/witchy/70s vibe.  I was happy with the look even though I didn't have an easily identifiable costume.  

My kids were in charge of my photo shoot and they honestly did a crap job.  This is the only decent picture and it still has Leo's finger in it.  Oof.  

Leo rummaged through our Halloween costume box and came up with this outfit.  He said he's "Bad to the Bone".  

Serafina wore her elephant onesie from last year.  

Vivian dressed as her dad right down to his Google ID badge.  

Tom wore his Vinz Clortho from Ghostbusters costume.  He upgraded the headpiece with some cool LED lights.  

No one at this party knew who he was, which meant it wasn't the right party for us.  Plus, we both had other plans.  

Tom headed to San Francisco to see some live music.  I went to Downtown San Jose with some friends to a tiki bar.  It was super fun.  There were tons of people out and about in all kinds of costumes, and the drinks were delicious. 

Sunday was the dance team Halloween party.  I made his tray of cookies with some gummy spiders added for fun.  

She was part of a group costume with her dance friends.  They were "modern day Disney princesses". She was Jasmine from Aladdin and looked fantastic.  

Here she is with Becca as Rapunzel and Mathilde as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. 

Flying on a magic carpet in the dance studio 

There were a ton of dance team kids there and the studio posted this cute group shot on their Instagram account. 

Monday both kids wore costumes to school  Serafina dug into the costume box to create this look.  

Leo was "Bad to the Bone" again.  He didn't win the costume contest at the pep rally.  Here he is at pick-up still wearing most of the costume.  

After school, we carved pumpkins.  Serafina is a little frightening with a pumpkin knife. 

She made hers winking. 

No pictures of Leo carving because by the time he came out to do it, my hands were too slimy to touch my phone.  Here's his pumpkin.  I spaced them out along the path to our house in hopes of luring in more trick-or-treaters. 

Handsome Mousse won't wear a costume, but he'll wear his bandana.  

Serafina trick-or-treated in Becca's neighborhood.  They added Kiki to the group who was dressed as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.  

Leo was in charge of handing out candy and we watched Ghostbusters. 

Spooky season silliness

 

Spirit Halloween in August

Spooky season is upon us....

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  Ooooh I love Halloween, and this one felt almost normal.  Leo and I carved pumpkins; Serafina painted hers. 

Leo's is the one with severe eyebrows.  Mine has triangle eyes, which were a fix for a failed cookie cutter experiment. 

I made a double batch of Halloween M&M cookies.  

A platter full of cookies went with Serafina to her dance team party at the studio.  Here she is with her friend Linda.  They were getting ready for the dress up game. 

The game in progress.  They dressed up a member of the team in tin foil, toilet paper and random accessories they brought from home.  

They played several different games and ate lots of goodies.  She had an absolute blast.  

After that party, we all got ready to go to another party.  

Leo changed up his look for Halloween and went as "emo hipster guy".  

Tom returned to his epic Vinz Clortho costume from Ghostbusters. 

Headed to the party. It was held in the backyard of some new friends we've met through the kids' new school. 

Here's Leo with Maceo, who is also an 8th grader. 

And Serafina with Arya, both 6th graders. 

I borrowed Serafina's costume from two years ago.  She made sure to make it known that she wore it better.  

Family shot! 

We were told to make a funny face, and Tom and I made the same face.  Ha!

We didn't stay too long at the party.  Tom and I are pretty out of practice when it comes to socializing, so we both were ready to cut out and get the crew home.  That gave us time to get dinner in them before they headed out for trick-or-treating.  I took Leo to a school friend's house in a nice neighborhood in Los Altos,  Serafina and Sunny made their way through our neighborhood on their own, which they loved. 

Overall, it was a pretty great Halloween.  

 

Trunk or Treat

Today was costume dress up and Trunk or Treat at the kids' school.  Serafina wanted a onesie for Halloween this year.  I was a little disappointed that she didn't want to do something original and creative like in past years, but when it showed up it was so ridiculous and adorable, I was won over.  Here she is as the cutest elephant. 

Leo went as an 80s guy.  

 When we pulled up to school, there didn't seem to be too many kids in costume and I think a collective wave a silent panic flooded the car.  But then we saw a few more kids in costume, and my kids felt more comfortable so they headed into the building.  I stayed outside to help set up Trunk or Treat.  Over a dozen cars opened up their trunks, decorated, and passed out treats.  

Here's a handful of the trunks. 

Here are a few cute ones. 

This was the most mellow dog.  

After a lot of candy sorting and prep, all the kids came out to visit each trunk to play games and get treats.  This picture doesn't really capture the amount of chaos and energy in the parking lot.  It was clear these kids had missed out on a lot during the pandemic and needed big dose of fun and sugar. 

Here's Serafina and her friend Emma. 

Emma the dinosaur, Serafina the elephant and Mia an anime character. 

I spotted this trick or treater too.