a frog, a pirate, + a supersleuth

(note: Only the dogs' egos were harmed in capturing the above moment. They were only subjected to the humiliation for 60 seconds tops.)

First, my original post, before actually celebrating Halloween...

Now that I have a little one, it turns out (rather unexpectedly) that Halloween is the hardest holiday to celebrate away from the States. Sure Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter are hard, and being able to celebrate with family would be a huge bonus. But at least with those holidays you can make your own fun and start your own traditions.

Halloween, on the other hand, is different. It is completely dependent on all the people around you being on board and in the mood and just plain getting it. That's where the fun lies. In the trick or treating. In the festive decorations. In a stranger you pass along the way remarking on your cool costume. In all the neighbors being out and about and participating. In the candy corn. In the pumpkin carving. In the autumn smells and fall foilage. In the decision over what candy to pass out. In the visits from cute kids to your door. In the candy inventory and trades. In the awesome treats in your lunch box in the days after.

Without all of that, you're pretty much just left with a costume.

As a kid the Halloween anticipation lasts for a couple months. Choosing your costume feels like the hardest decision you'll ever have to make. How many houses will you make it to? Will you fill your pillow case? The first year you get to trick or treat without your parents, you feel like the coolest kid on the planet.

I hate that Quincy will miss out on all of that.

I hate that he won't get an annual trip to the pumpkin patch where he would surely take ages to select the perfect pumpkin and moan about all the pictures his mama would take.

No hay rides. No haunted hauses. No candy corn. (Did I mention candy corn already?) No hot apple cider.

I hate that he will miss out on wearing his costume to school for the Halloween party.

And most of all, I hate that he won't get to join in the family fun at my brother's house, where all the local cousins trick or treat together each year. And there is a big feed after. So so much fun.

At least we got to join in the festivities last year.

To view all the photos from last year, click here.

And now, after unexpectedly enjoying Halloween...

I still hate that Quincy won't have the same Halloween memeories I have. But we can make new memories. New traditions. And we can still have fun even without the candy corn. We proved it tonight. And here is one photo as evidence.

I'll write more tomorrow (and have way more photos to share than you'll surely care to see). For now, I'm tired. So until then, I hope you all have a blast trick or treating and I hope your weather was as stunning as ours was.