being a parent is so fun in so many ways. one of the most fun bits about it for me is celebrating holidays with little ones. we had such a happy halloween this year.

after six months of insisting he really, really wanted to dress up as a bison, moses finally got to see that dream come to pass. gabriel, whose first word was “rawr,” got to dress up as a lion and was tickled as can be about that! both boys were so excited about every little “halloweeny” thing they saw around the city in late october, and got really into the idea of “spoooooky.” there was lots of anticipation leading up to the big day and trick-or-treating, and every one in our family had a blast on 31 october!

the day before halloween, i took the boys on a little adventure to pick out a “halloweeny” treat at the beautiful bakeries on elizabeth street in belgravia. just to prep their stomachs a little for all the sugar to come the next day, haha 😉
 
on our walk back to the tube, we came across amazing displays, some more halloweeny than others! i had to snap a picture at this flower shop though because it shares a name (adding a “y”) with my little boy! mo and gabe were thrilled to see this balloon amazingness, and a little scared of that huge spider!
 
we had a costume party at the church a couple of days before halloween and i took the opportunity to snap some pictures of the boys dressed up before the big day (so we wouldn’t have to worry about pictures on actual halloween!). i felt like i was herding real wild animals trying to get them to look at smile at the same time…!
 
 
 
 
 
on hallowen morning we met some friends and this is their building!! isn’t it amazing?! i love the colourful pumpkins. i think it’s such a shame that londoners don’t put up their halloween decorations until hallowen day (or maybe the day before sometimes) … i wish we could see more of them around the city, and enjoy them for longer!

ian worked from home on halloween, so i got to take moses on a fun mommy date to check out the halloween decorations just installed or in the process of going up in the neighbourhoods close to us that get into the holiday. this little outing was such a blast – moses and i both were so excited with each display that we spotted!
 
 
a non-scary, just beautiful and autumnal, scene along the way:
 
 
 

we went trick or treating with all the families from our joy school group. it was total chaos on the crowded streets herding bubbling, sugar-hyper children, but so much fun. moses and gabriel were so darling in their animal costumes carrying their little pumpkin bins. i only got these two blurry pictures!
 
all our friends came back to our flat afterwards. the kids dumped and sorted their candy and buzzed around our front room playing and laughing. it was wonderful! but somewhere amidst all the hullabaloo, i realised i had lost my keys. so i spent the evening after the kids were asleep retracing my steps from the day to try to find them – eek! at least i got to see lingering festivity and foliage along the way… (this mews house with the incredible red/orange climbing vines will always be one of my favourite spots in london!)
 
i did find my keys the next day … in gabriel’s coat pocket. haha! who knows how they got there.
it was a really great halloween. we’ll see if mo’s animal obsession (which he has handed down to his brother in great part) will continue into next year. which wild animals will the wright brothers dress up as next?!

(halloween 2016 here, 2017 here, 2018 here)