Halloween 2020

We had a lot of fun choosing our Halloween theme this year.  Leah and I saw this hot dog costume a few months ago at the groomer and we couldn't resist, so we planned the kids' outfits around Millie's:

Ketchup and mustard were the perfect complements for our Hot Doodle Dog:

This dear pup has learned that her crazy family will find any excuse to dress her up, and she's following in her big sister, Winnie's pawprints:

Winnie in front of our Roanoke house (2005).

Millie's recreation, wearing the same costume (2020).

Here's a collage comparison of our devilish pups.  Millie looks too smiley and fluffy to be rotten, but don't let her innocent face fool you:

And in the spirit of capturing the real moment, this is what was going on behind the scenes of our photo shoot.  Note the surly pre-teen holding the leash, muttering, "Can we PLEASE be done?", Mommy with treats in hand, ready to pounce if devil dog moves from her position, and Leah behind the camera, snapping photos as quickly as possible, in hopes of getting just one good shot.

It was worth it, though, because we happen to think that this is cute beyond words:

Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, so we celebrated all day long.  In the morning, we played spooky music, carved jack o'lanterns, and put a festive scarf on Millie:

She seemed to like her Jack o' Doodle costume (another one of Winnie's), and humored us by wearing it while the kids carved their pumpkins:

Eventually, even the most tolerant jack o'doodles have had enough!

Leah chose a traditional design for her pumpkin this year, and it turned out very cute:

Someone perched on the back of the couch while pumpkins were being carved.

Luke is going through a phase where he refuses to comb his hair (which is very similar to teenaged Mark from stories I've heard).  We called it his Halloween "scare-do" (rhyming with "hairdo")... because the Dad jokes are strong in this house:

Luke's vision for his jack o'lantern was to have it barfing.  Sigh.  And what happened to my cute little toddler?

For comic relief, here's the pumpkin that Leah decorated for her school's contest.  She tied for first place among her grade level's submissions, and we got a kick out of her Pandemic Pumpkin:

The colt is the ORES school mascot!

Both kids had soccer games on Halloween afternoon.  Leah's team named themselves the Baconators this fall.  Several of these girls have been playing soccer together for years, which means that there's lots of team loyalty and a sense of family.  Leah proudly wore the team mascot/Bacon costume for the girls' Halloween team picture:

Here are the Halloween post-game treats/goodie bags for the Baconators that one of the moms brought for the team:

How ridiculously cute is that piece of bacon kicking a soccer ball?!

Due to COVID, we didn't know what trick or treating would look like this year.  Our neighborhood HOA proposed some ideas for families to safely participate (including individually bagged treats set out on driveways/porches), and the evening ended up being a success.  Since everything was up in the air until the last minute, we decided to use costumes that we already had.  Leah wore the penguin costume that Mimi made for me in elementary school, and she looked adorable: 

Luke chose to recycle the Darth Vader helmet/costume that we kept after our Star Wars Halloween, and the kids again declared how much they like posing for pictures with masks on so that they don't have to smile: 

Halloween was especially interesting this year because we had been out of power for 3 days and counting.  The high winds from Hurricane Zeta knocked out power on Thursday morning and by Halloween evening, it still hadn't been restored.  We were fine, as we purchased a generator this summer and therefore had water, lights, and our fridge running.  Mark and I kept telling each other how much we loved our generator, and how it may be one of our very favorite things about 2020!  Electricity was restored to our neighborhood later that night, and the kids declared that social distanced trick or treating was awesome! 

Leah's haul!

Halloween is a great example of how in 2020, traditions are a bit different due to the pandemic.  However, we continue to be amazed and reminded at how the simple things at home are the very best!

Happy Halloween!