Halloween Hayride Extravaganza Episode III, Episode IV, and Episode V, or, a Ward Family Halloween Tradition

For the past 5 years, we have hosted a Halloween hayride and party at our house.  This idea was born by my desire to dress Jones in a cute Halloween costume when he was really little (I do so love the Pottery Barn Kids Halloween catalogue), so I invented a party to service that desire.  And now here we are, 5 years later, and what started as a small-ish get together with one trailer of hay has grown to three trailers of hay, filled to the brim with people and kiddos and fun!

In 2014, Jones requested to be a pumpkin - cute and easy!

In 2015, I will admit I planted the seed about Jones' costume (I'm telling you, that Pottery Barn Kids Halloween catalogue is a menace ... but so cute at the same time), but of course, I would've gone with whatever he wanted... lucky for me, he liked my suggestion and went with it.  He was Max from Where the Wild Things Are.  That is one of his favorite books, and the costume is to die for cute.  2015 is also, apparently, the year I did not take very many pictures at Halloween ...

Making Halloween bark (sans pants)!

In 2016, we were not sure whether or not we would be able to keep the tradition alive.  I mean, we knew well in advance that we would have a less-than-one-month-old baby at Halloween.  Is that really the time to throw a Halloween party?  But we'd done it for so long, and had everything down as far as what it took to throw that kind of party, and it was the 5 year anniversary ... we just couldn't not do it, you know?  Lucky for me, Jones wanted to be Max again, so I was saved from having to find another costume and we got to relive the cuteness of the previous year.  We had a great time, and I think it was totally worth it to keep the tradition alive!

First up, we carved a pumpkin!  Jones' only request was that it be a happy pumpkin.

5 years old is, I think, optimal trick-or-treating age.  They were all SO EXCITED, and cute!

Do you think these people peeked through their windows and gave some serious thought to turning off their lights and not opening the door?!  That's A LOT of trick-or-treaters, right?!  But so cute, and so excited!

Tiger did great for his first Halloween - slept through the whole night like a champ!