Harlem Halloween

Happy Halloween from a spooky stoop in Harlem!

She is so excited for the treats... look at those eyes?

Waving Hi before the party gets started...

Fam at the ward Halloween Party... she was not a big fan and it was hot!

A giraffe is loose on Lenox!

My baby got BACK!

At the ward party... she hated all the scary painted faces and any masks wigged her out.

This was the closest we could get to Africa with the Wildlife Photographer and his subject, the Giraffe! (it's in our lobby!)

Being such a sport with a 102 temperature... teething sucks! But at least animal crackers and chocolate help ease the pain!

We talked about going to New Mexico, but we were there last year. We talked about going to CT, but I wanted to stay in the city. Today we started our own Halloween tradition... Trick-or-Treating on Lenox Avenue! All the businesses are open and hand out candy to all the little ones (and big ones too!). It was a great family event where we could ooh and ahh over each other's little creations... everything from power rangers, princesses and witches to lions and giraffes. Our favorite stop was at Grandma's Place. It's a cute mom n' pop toyshop that I highly recommend on 120th right around the corner from Settepanni's. They had a huge panda outside welcoming all the kids into the store, treats for the kids and then Tonnie's bitesize cupcakes for the adults. It was so good, Tage took me for a real size cupcake after Kajsia fell asleep. I'll blog about that shop another day, so delish!

Kajsia was a giraffe, thanks in part to Nana. She loved it and was the cutest one on the block! She had so much junk in her trunk that it almost made walking difficult and it was just a little big, so she couldn't really see when her head was on. With a temperature of 102, teething and on a 30 minute nap we went to the ward halloween party and then took her trick-or-treating. WE've been practicing saying "treat", but had yet to get it out. So, Boo was the next best thing with blowing kisses as her thank you's to each vendor.

Tage's first attempt was to be a wildlife hunter, but hindsight is 20/20. Perhaps running around in Harlem with a fake gun on his back would have caused a disturbance. Hence, the PC and gentler decision of being a wildlife photographer. Only problem is most of the pictures taken were with my camera, so he didn't have one around his neck. He was the most handsome photographer today!

I decided a few days ago to be a little irreverent. I bought a nun costume and thought my 7 1/2 month belly could be an ironic, but hilarious addition. When I brought it home, Tage was leary. However, after some encouragement from friends I donned the outfit and was pleasantly surprised by the huge fan fare. Random people stopped us to take pics all afternoon, many asked for blessings and the barbershop around the corner the guys on the stoop started saying, "In the name of the father, and the son..." while making the sign of the cross. I blessed them all with a good haircut and a Happy Halloween~ They all got a kick out of it and then as we were leaving, he said, it's a new generation of nuns, huh? I think it was my best costume yet, thanks lil' guy for helpin' mom out this Halloween!