Happy Halloween!

Growing up we always celebrated Halloween. Even though it is not really a holiday that is celebrated much in England. However, it does seem to be getting more popular and the shops are certainly decked out in style and I guess it is a nod to how Americanised we are becoming as a country. Just like most teens now talk about going to see a 'movie' or how 'awesome' everything is as they eat a pop tart for breakfast.

My mom (not copying Americans this is the South African way to spell it too) always took us trick or treating and we really enjoyed it. What six year old wouldn't love copious amounts of sweets and going out in the dark dressed up? We mostly went to neighbours' that we knew and we had some funny responses with one lady trying to give us money (and we were most put out when mom refused), someone gave us us a whole packet of biscuits as this is all that they had and a particularly stern neighbour sent us away telling us he didn't believe in Halloween!

We also had some great parties at church and I particularly remember spook alley one year where we had to put our hands into eyeballs (grapes) and brains (spaghetti) and it was terrifying and funny all at the same time. When I first moved to Leeds we met a Halloween enthusiast who threw great parties and went so far as to get actual pigs brains from the butchers and aimed to make all the girls (and some of the bys) cry in his truly terrifying spook alley which also involved strobe lights and life sized corpses hanging from the ceiling.

Now I have my own little boy and I wonder which of these traditions we will follow. I know that last year we celebrated the holiday in two ways:

1) We attended a Halloween themed baby sensory where the little babies had to dress up and the lovely Nicola, who ran it, created an amazing Halloween themed backdrop. They also got to have tummy time on some inflatable pumpkins and feel autumn items like leaves and pine ones. I definitely made the most of it and got lots of good snaps on my big camera.

2) My sister visited from London and we took the Baby to a pumpkin patch in Pontefract. It was amazing with lots of gorgeous pumpkins, a carving station, story time with a huge pumpkin and a yummy cafe were we stocked up on steaming bowls of pumpkin soup. We went again this year and feel that it was even more of an adventure now he can race around amongst the pumpkins rather than lol around on the floor for a photo shoot...although getting a photo of him standing still was tricky. We just about managed with this one:-

We have just been to my friends Halloween party / cake sale for McMillan cancer. Instead of a pumpkin we opted for a little devil this year...

What Halloween traditions do you celebrate in your families?