Happy November!  It’s no secret that I’m glad it’s here – while I’m still busy at work, at least my crazy October is over.  We all have months where it’s especially hectic, but it made me really sad that my turn happened to fall in October, which is my favorite month.  A lot of the fall fun that I was hoping for didn’t happen – no apple-picking, no pumpkin patch – and that was largely because of my work schedule, complicated by fall colds for the kiddos.  So I was really looking forward to Halloween, even more than I usually do, because it meant my ridiculous month would be behind me – finally.

Halloween started as they always have in recent years – with the adorable costume parade and class festivities at the kids’ school.  Only the early childhood hallway actually parades, so this was the first year I only had one in costume and walking.  My parents were in town to see the fun this year – yay! – so I met them at the school and we watched Nugget and his buddies strut through the school hallways.  Then my parents headed off to do their own thing, while I hung around to help first with the junior kindergarten class party, and then with Peanut’s class “pumpkin day.”  (Which involved estimating and then taking size measurements and then counting the seeds in a few pumpkins that the parents had donated to the class.)

While I’d have loved to stay at the school all day, I eventually had to drift off back to my computer and do some work.  I picked the kids up promptly at the end of the school day – no aftercare for them – and we headed home to get ready for trick-or-treating.

Ever since we moved back to NoVA, we’ve been celebrating Halloween on a particular street in Old Town.  The street closes to traffic and becomes a big, wild block party.  The residents go all out – dressed to the nines in their costumes, and with elaborate decorations on every house.

The scene was as happening as it always is, and the kids were extra excited this year, because they finally got to share it with their grandparents.

They were really into going from house to house and collecting candy this year.  I followed along behind, snapping pictures of all the over-the-top decorations (as I always do).

Spiders were big this year – literally and figuratively.

Skeletons, too.

While most of the houses went all-in on crazy Halloween kitsch, a few were more understated.

The kids made out like little bandits.  This was their biggest haul ever – they hit every house and more than half filled their (large) treat bags.

This Halloween was especially fun, because everyone was in the mood to celebrate our World Series-winning Nationals!  I spotted nods to the Nats all over town.

This dinosaur with a Nats flag was the hero we all needed.

Also this guy with a “City of Champions” sign taped to his Washington Capitals jersey, with recent championships recited on it.  I appreciated that he was celebrating D.C. women’s sports, like the Mystics, too!

The Bryce Harper skeleton made me feel very seen.

Our family pumpkin celebrated the Nats too, of course.  (Victory parade tomorrow!)

Happy Halloween!  I hope you had a fun, safe night with lots of treats and not too many tricks.