Halloween in Great Falls, VA

Ahhh, Halloween in Great Falls, VA.... There's nothing quite like it. Everyone gathers in the 'village' where the local vendors are dressed to the 9's and offering candy to the children, and some offer champagne or wine for the adults. Last year when we went to the 'village' we saw a dad walking around with a champagne glass and were like "man look at that lush!! I can't believe he's out here drinking champagne while his kids are trick or treating...." Then we saw more....then we got excited! ....hahaha! (btw, I do know that it's kind of lame to get excited about such things, but it's kind of like in college when churches would come on campus giving away food. Few things were more thrilling, even if it was something you didn't like......am I the only one that got excited about .....cold green bean casserole?! ...c'mon!)

I must say that Halloween is still a bit of a novelty for me. I grew up on a farm, in the middle of 55 acres. We never went trick-or-treating. Mom and Dad would always take the three of us to our church, dressed as bible characters, and we always had a great time. Years later (post college) Gavin and I were living in S. Hamilton, MA before I saw my first trick or treaters. I didn't even realize kids really still did that anymore. It was like watching a movie the first time I saw it. So, even though we get rid of most of the candy, I still really enjoy the efforts we take to redeem Halloween from something that celebrates something evil, to a time for safe, family fun.

It was great fun, as usual. We are not fans of candy and do not keep it in the house. So, the girls got to pick out one piece of candy for each day, for one week (seven pieces total). We gave the rest of it to a dentist's office that buys it back, which then allows you to donate the money to a local shelter. It's a great way to put all that junk to good use and NOT in our bodies. The girls were excited to give it all away.

Rae was dressed as Princess Jasmine.

Roo was supposed to be dressed as Jasmine, as well, but realized that night that her Jasmine costume had been demolished at Raegan's Little Gym birthday party. So she picked a Cinderella dress out of the dress up basket, that was still in good shape (many are not). She got very much into character!:)

Eliot was, as you can see, a Red Hot Chili Pepper! ...hahaha. She HATED it, but didn't protest too much. The ONLY time she smiled was in the picture I have above. The rest of the night she just kept this look of "I can't believe you have me in this". She got a lot of attention, but couldn't have cared less. ..It was hilarious!

Everyone in Great Falls comes out for the festivities and it was lots of fun to see many of Rae's friends from school. Elmo was there to pose with all the kids. There is a pet store that sends treats home for your pets. The gazebo in the middle of the courtyard is setup for professional pictures to be taken with special props, etc. And, as I've already said, most of the adults are following their children around with wine or champagne flute in hand.........ahhhh:)