Happy Halloween!
November 1st, 2010 by ariana
Halloween this year was so much fun for Jasper.. this morning he woke up and said “I wanna be a cowboy, more Halloween!”
It all started with some expert pumpkin carving by daddy several weeks ago.. a bit too early as it turns out. Well, actually, it started with a trip to a local farm to pick OUT the pumkin.. Gotta give props to Secor farms in Mahwah NJ, they REALLY have a great set up – free hay rides, animals to feed, those vintage looking stand up thingies you put your faces into.. a GIANT corn field maze – pretty much everything as you are about to see:
feeding the animals
Walking through the nursery to the hayride
Hayride to the Pumpkin Patch
Looking for the Perfect Pumpkin..
Oooh, I found one!
Peek-a-boo
Look, a pumpkin...
No really, a PUMPKIN!!!!
Mazes are for RUNNING
..and dancing with corn
That was our day at the pumpkin patch, way back at the beginning of October. Jasper was soooo excited about the jackolantern that Daddy was making him:
And now you can see why!
GEORGE!
Jasper LOVED his George pumpkin. We put it by our front door, so every day on the way to daycare and back in the evening he would say “hi George!” or “Goodnight George!” and tell him things about his day and even give him kisses.
Well, apparently carved pumpkins have a bit of a shorter shelf life than we had imagined because eventually poor George got a pretty bad case of mold and his face started collapsing.. the first casualty was his mouth, which did NOT go unnoticed by Jasper who said one day “George, you’ve got no mouth George!”
The pumpkin wasting disease progressed rather agressively to the point that George needed to be taken to the trash can Doctor. Jasper seemed to be satisfied with that explanation, particularly once I reminded him that George had indeed had something wrong with his mouth, so naturally he needed to go to the Doctor’s office.
(Given that his beloved George pumpkin was now MIA, Jasper was PARTICULARLY pleased with his trick or treat pumpkin/bucket! )
Because our neighborhood is a bit lame, (ok a lot lame) we decided to hang out with my parents, Janaki, Kevin and 5 month old Bodhi at our friend Sharada’s appartment in Nyack NY. Nyack is a mere 10 minute drive from Nanuet, but is WORLDS different in many respects. While the rest of Rockland can feel downright rural/ towny, Nyack is a like a little bit of brooklyn broke off and floated away settling on the Hudson River. Actually, the architecture is even better than that, it’s loaded with giant porch lined victorian houses that look amazing all decked out for Halloween.. it was SO much fun for Jasper, and a lot of fun for us adults too as we got a peek into these incredible houses and the people lucky enough to inhabit them!
As you can imagine, Jasper was a little shy with the whole “trick or treating” bit, but after a few houses he had it DOWN! I don’t think he could have enjoyed himself anymore, he was having the time of his life despite the chilly weather (poor guy had to wear a coat over his costume which made him look more Park Ranger/Mounty than Cowboy!)
Here is a bit of the evening in pictures:
The whole event culminated in some drinks and snacks at Sharada’s apartment and a bite of chocolate bar for Jasper.. I don’t know if it was the chocolate or the excitement of the whole evening but Jasper was LITERALLY bouncing off the walls. He had so much excess energy he was shaking! Last night he came into our bed in the middle of the night and tossed and turned like a maniac ALL NIGHT. I’m thinking no more chocolate for a long, long time. Maybe until next Halloween.
Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween weekend too!
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That George pumpkin is amazing – and Mommy’s going to have to keep Secor Farms in mind for next year… We went to DePiero’s in Montvale, which is pretty nice as well.
Mommy and Daddy had their first date, got engaged, and got married in Nyack – Daddy even tried to convince Mommy to name me Hudson… I was born in Nyack, too!
Jackson looks like such a big kid in these pics!
You should link up to my Halloween Parade :)
Love the pictures! Happy Day After Halloween to all. And hide the candy!
jbhat
Curious George Pumpkin is such a great idea. I wish that carved pumpkins lasted a bit longer – ours only stayed with us for a week before the lopsided looks became a little too creepy and they needed to visit the ‘doctor’.
Hi
Superb pumpkin…..amazing.
I was wondering if you could tell me something about the third photo down in your blog post. I notice it has green spots on it. I have some photos with this on from when I have taken photos with the sun behind the subject. Would you say these are desirable or not? Do you know why they occur?
Thanks,
Fiona.
Hi,
First, I love your work. I’ve enjoyed some of your tutorials and have seen some of your posts over on ILP. A question about one in particular — you were looking for a local meetup group (I think this was a while ago). Did you ever have any luck? I’m in Southern Westchester and think a meetup be a fun way to learn a lot. I also was wondering if you’ve ever found good local workshops. Doesn’t it seem like they’re all in Texas? ;-)
Thanks,
Jaye
Fiona, sun flare is very subjective.. I personally don’t mind it, particularly in personal photos. I actually like it, but the placement is not really great in this photo.. if it were for a client I might edit it, but I don’t mind it at all for myself :)
Jaye, thanks so much! Where in westchester are you? I recently found a great group of people that meet about once a month at lightbox nyack, it’s run by Chris Carroll who owns LBN and is a really great guy.. I’ve already started to callaborate with him on some stuff and it’s just been a really nice thing to connect with other photographers!
Let me know if you would like to attend the next one, I believe it’s Dec 3rd.. it would be fun to meet you!
I haven’t found any good local workshops, I’m planning on going to Imaging USA in January!
Awweee – the Halloween photos are perfect! That neighborhood is amazing, such a great place to take your little cowboy!
I can’t believe Halloween is over (for this year) and now… on to the next big holiday. Speaking of holiday – it would be awesome to hear your thoughts/tips/style guide suggestions on holiday photos. Some tips for getting that perfect shot for the holiday card. (love the one of jasper!)
Your pictures are always so amazing. You guys looked like you had a great halloween and the pumpkin pics are adorable. Where ever did you find those pieces for Jasper’s halloween outfit and the stick pony from a previous post???? My hubby wanted T to be a cowboy, but I just couldn’t find one that didn’t look like Toy Story so we went with a lil’ lion. He was a cutie just the same.
Kari, you mean what to wear? I’ll see if I can help :) LOVED your halloween post BTW.
Gillian, I have to say it sort of all fell together! First of all, my friend Sara gave Jasper REAL cowboy boots as a gift back in the spring. They are a size 8.5 and this was the first time he could wear them without them coming off, so that was just pure luck! The hat and blue bandana we had left over from his cowboy birthday party in August and the stick horse was a gift from his b’day!
yeah, i think the “what to wear” would be great – and how to incorporate holiday props without being cheesy.
and maybe some great locations suggestions that are more holiday and warm than christmas threw up on santas house at the mall – you know?
do you think Liam had enough costume changes? ;) xo
Looks like so much fun! I have fantasies about Autumns and Halloweens up north; this season in South Florida just has NO magic, and although we went to Lincoln Road on Halloween night, it was humid and way too crowded. Finn still had fun, though… and that’s what matters most!
Oh Sarah – I know EXACTLY what you mean! The only thing less “festive” than Halloween in S. Fl is Christmas LOL!