Our Halloween Traditions

I've really been having Halloween fever here lately. I just can't wait for it to come back around again. So since we have a little while till fall rolls back around again I wanted to share some of our Halloween traditions. Our son is 5 years old and we have started these traditions since he was a baby. He is obsessed with all things fall and Halloween just like his mommy. :) Here are some of our traditions we share as a family each year.

1. Pumpkin Patch (A pumpkin patch is a must for us each year and sometimes we go to more than one. We couldn't imagine not going to the Pumpkin Patch. Going to pick that special pumpkin and going through the neat corn maze is a must!)

2. Jack-o-lantern carving (Every year we carve a few pumpkins and make some really neat Jack-o-Lanterns. We really enjoy carving them and even pulling out the seeds. This is definitely a favorite.) 

3. My Son's Annual Halloween Party ( We actually started this particular tradition when my son turned 3 years old. We usually have the party at Cane Creek State Park. Its a beautiful place and they are really into Halloween and decorating for the season. We have snacks and we play games. We also have our annual Hayride. You have got to have a hayride during the Halloween season.)

4. Hayride ( We do a hayride at our son's annual Halloween Party that I just wrote about in #3)

5. Trick or Treating (Of course we go trick or treating! In our town at our State Park they do an annual Ghost Roast where you come and trick or treat and play games and go through a haunted house. It's really fun and very popular in our area. People come from a few towns over just to attend this event each year. Then of course we go trick or treating on Halloween night in our neighborhood.)

6. Decorate (This is one of our favorite things to do during this time of year. We actually start decorating in September! And even then it's not long enough! We decorate inside and outside each year.) 

7. Scary Baking ( We always make scary snacks and foods each year. We sit down and decorate scary cookies, cupcakes and make scary hot dogs and other fun things. 

8. Pick out our Costumes (The picking of the costume is a very special thing. We always go check out all the different stores and go on line and search for just the right one.) 

9. Scary Movie Night ( We actually do this one almost everynight, but we dedicate one night as a family and watch some of our favorite scary movies. Some of our favorites include... Halloween (original), Hocus Pocus, Night of The Demons(Original), Nightmare Before Christmas,It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Jack-O, Sleepy Hollow High, Ghost Busters, Sleepy Hollow, The Fear:Halloween Night that is just a few of the so many different ones we love dearly and watch each year. I could keep naming a million more)

10. Haunted House

11. Halloween shopping ( Each year we hit up all the stores looking for all the different Halloween finds we can come across. We buy cereals, candies, decorations, etc. We go find random things for the season. We even find Pizza and cakes for the season. It's like a fun game and we love it! It's so neat to find all the cool things that come out for the season.)

12. Scary Stories (We always cuddle up by a fire or just in bed with a flash light and tell spooky stories and we also listen to some stories from my Elementary school days, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. My son just loves "The Big Toe")

13.Halloween Story time ( Each night we have a halloween story time where we pick one of our Halloween books and read it. My son really loves this and so do I! We make so many good memories reading his books)

14. Halloween Lights and Decor Ride (Each year we like to ride around and see all the different homes and places that decorate for Halloween. This is one of our favorite things to do during this time.)

15. O.T.I.S. ( We are a huge fan of J.W. Ocker and his blog www.oddthingsiveseen.com We love keeping up with his annual Halloween blog. His Halloween blog is amazing and so much fun to read and follow. He visits all these neat places and it's one of our family traditions to follow his blog and enjoy all his halloween finds. We even take off and see some of these cool places he writes about when we can.)

16. Halloween crafts (We love  making Halloween crafts together.)

17. Halloween Board Games ( This is actually a new tradition we plan to add this year to our list of fun traditions. We recently got our son a few new board games that are Halloween themed. We plan to pick a family Halloween Game Night and play these. We got "Boooo-opoly" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Board Game" We can't wait to try these out and add them to our traditions.

As you can see Halloween is a very special time for us. It's one of our favorite holidays. We love Fall and everything that comes along with it. I think everyone should start their own traditions with their family. It makes great memories and your children will remember these memories forever and hopefully keep the traditions up in their families as well. But here are some of our special traditions we hold strong to each year and plan to keep doing forever. :) Happy Early Halloween to everyone! Have a Boo-tiful day! :)