Journeys›Photograph

Halloween Weekend of Pumpkins and Costumes

·Walnut Creek, California·#bay area#family#autumn#trick-or-treating#halloween#costumes
A child carves a large pumpkin, surrounded by other pumpkins and carving tools on a plastic sheet outdoors.

Halloween ran the whole weekend this year. Saturday afternoon was pumpkins out on the patio, a plastic sheet down under two big ones and a little white one that never got touched. Our daughter kneeled next to the biggest and worked at the top with an orange plastic saw while the guts piled up in the corner. Getting the lid off the second one took an adult, but she claimed the scooping.

The party in the evening was mostly people we know with kids, so the costumes skewed small: a baby dressed as a carrot riding in a front carrier, its parents in white on either side of it, and a toddler gnome in a red felt hat weaving through the living room.

The gnome came trick-or-treating with us too, alongside a pilot in a full airline uniform with cardboard-and-duct-tape wings strapped to his back. Our girl carried a pink bag nearly as big as she was and held it open at every door like she'd been doing this for years. The pilot kept a flashlight going the whole route. The gnome had an Elmo basket.

A child in a red dress carves a pumpkin on an outdoor patio, with two other pumpkins and carving tools visible.A child in a red dress carves a pumpkin outdoors on a sunny day, with another pumpkin and a toy bat nearby.A smiling man in a white shirt carries a baby dressed as sushi, with another man and a child in a red hat in the background.A man dressed as a sushi chef holds a baby as a sushi roll, next to a woman in a karate uniform, indoors.Three children in Halloween costumes stand outdoors at night: a pilot, a child holding a pink bag, and a gnome with an Elmo bag.Three children in costumes stand outside at night: a pilot, a girl, and a gnome holding an Elmo basket.Two young children in Halloween costumes stand by a wooden door, each holding a trick-or-treat bag.Two costumed children stand outdoors at night, with a brightly lit tree and white columns in the background.

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