The wind was so crazy that day, we had to move the ninjas inside to finish the pumpkin carving... It was like a desert-storm, sand whisking our faces and all. The ninja costume was perfect!

Rocks were seriously flying from the top of the pillars. JF even got one in his mouth while climbing!

Some of the treats: witch's fingers, bat poo, cat turd...

As you might know, we celebrate Halloween with a pumpkin hunt instead of trick-or-treating. This tradition started a long time ago, when the children were little (2010 here, there was snow on the ground too!) and we would invite friends over to our farm house and have one parent hide in every room with a carved pumpkin and homemade treats (every family had to bring 2 carved pumpkins and 2 types of homemade treats - enough for all the children), and the children would knock on the doors and then would have to answer a riddle to get the treat.

In 2011, we moved the pumpkin hunt outside, at my friend Nini's. In 2012, we raised the bar by celebrating in Arches National Park. It was a memorable year! 2013 was again at Nini's. Last year, we were in San Francisco and decided to go trick or treating for the first time. The girls wanted to go back to the bus after one street. They simply didn't like it. However, we went to see the Dia de los Muertos procession the next day and it was incredible.

But this year was really something! JF and I each had a pumpkin to hide in this wonderful playground that are The Feathers. The kids would finally spot one of the two in the dark, head towards it, then realize that JF wasn't beside it and knew he would surprise them by coming out of a bush somewhere (or down from a cliff!)! Kids love to be scared! Then, they huddled together in the dark, singing a song so as to not hear us go to our next hiding spot and we would start making scary witch laughs to let them know we were ready...

Waiting for them, hidden between these amazing rock pillars, in complete darkness, I looked up and tried to spot as many constellations as I could. I would finally hear their steps, their nervous laughter and surprise them with a screech! We had found some more complex riddles this year and we honestly all had a blast! We will never forget the year we celebrated Halloween at The Feathers!