Pumpkin Carving Party

This year I was ready to bring back the Halloween Party that I hope to do annually for the kids on our street. (We did the first one back in 2006, but then couldn’t muster up the energy to do it...or any social gathering of any kind for that matter in 2007 or 2008.  Anyone want to guess why? I’ll give you TWO guesses.) 

We held a Costume Parade/Pumpkin Carving Party the night before Halloween and we invited seven or so families that surround us on either side of our street. 

the costume parade:

After "parading" up and down the street, everyone headed over to our house for pumpkin carving and dessert.  It was really fun to see everyone's creativity come out with the pumpkins. For two of the families, no one in their family had ever carved a pumpkin before (Halloween is not celebrated in Mexico or India).  I think they enjoyed it the most – especially the moms!

some first-time carvers:

 

and a few seasoned carvers:

It was great to be together to share some traditions, enjoy each other’s company, and continue building community right here on our street.

And, of course, Jonah loved spending time with his buddy.  These two are ready to destroy all of the evil forces in the world!

It's fun to look back at the group photo from our first Halloween Party in 2006. Jonah, who was just a few months shy of his second birthday at the time, is screaming his head off in the picture because he is frightened of the boy on the left in the scary mask. The funny thing is that the same boy, now 3 years older, once again wore a scary mask to this year's party. But this time, Nicolas and Riley were the ones who were scared!

2006 (note: scary mask on the left)

2009 (note: scary mask on the right - same kid!)