Halloween & Pumpkins

As both a mum and a photographer I think that Halloween would have to be my favorite time of year, the costumes, the excitement of the children, it is almost too cute to handle. Capturing the adorable cuteness of these children in their Halloween costumes was one of the best experiences  I had working as a photographer all year. I can't believe that it has been a month since the fun crazy times of Halloween. This was my second North American Halloween, a tradition, that I hope stays with my family wherever in the world we might find ourselves in the future. Getting my little guy ready absolutely loved getting ready my little guy for Halloween this year, planing his outfit, practicing what to say, watching him parade around the neighborhood in his outfits with all of his friends.  I know that next year (as he gets older) I will have very little say about what he chooses to wear on the day so I made sure that this year I got my way.

We don't have forests like North America, Australia has rain forests, beaches, deserts and the bush, so therefore we don't have the same animals.  No chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, bears, moose, wolves, coyotes, skunks or any of other creatures featured in most animated afternoon children's television programming can be found in the Land Down Under unless you head to a zoo.  So with that in mind, it was decided that he would have two Halloween creature costumes, a hedgehog, and a skunk. 

Growing up in Australia Halloween wasn't a huge celebration, although it was acknowledged but unless your neighborhood was full of parents creating the magic behind the scenes the celebration was usually centered around school activities.  However was lucky enough to have a lovely Canadian lady living on the same street with her young family, and her enthusiasm for the Halloween tradition spread through all the houses in our street.  Being here in Canada during the festive October months has been wonderful. It seems like everyone is willing to dress up and embrace the tradition. If only you could do it everyday.

My parents arrived in Canada on Thanksgiving Day, and it seemed as if all of the celebrations during the month of October centered around the humble pumpkin. They are everywhere, tiny little ornamental gourds in amazing shapes and sizes, in pies, in most baked goods, in lattes, in tins, out the front of every grocery and convenience store, outside peoples houses and even a lot of front stoops, both real and fake. So much so that we were awestruck when we came across endless pumpkin patches while driving through Prince Edward County on our way to Bloomfield.  Aside from the agricultural show every year I had never seen so many pumpkins of that size, all grown for the purpose of carving the famous Jaco Lanton. This iconic Halloween tradition of the carved pumpkin faces has made it to Australia, our pumpkins are slightly different is carved but never on the scale of these massive orange bulbs. It was magical to see a pumpkin patch on such a large scale

Anybody who knows me well knows I am not a fan of the glorious pumpkin. Many hours were spent by my family not allowing me to leave the table and no dessert would be served until I had eaten the small amount of pumpkin on my plate. It was always a standoff and I was always the winner, not a fan of dessert. Although I have been known to eat an odd pumpkin scone, because sometimes pastries have their own rules, and I did indulge and enjoy the North American classic Pumpkin Pie.