Maddie and London's Costumes Have Arrived....Ready for the Bay Head Halloween Parade!

I know I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again…our family takes Halloween very very seriously. Even before London was a glimmer in our eyes, Rex and I would sit out on the porch of our beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey, on the Sunday before Halloween, and the crowds of ghosts, goblins, princesses, prom queens and football players would gather in front of the shops on Mount Street for the Bay Head Halloween Parade.


The year Maddie was born, my niece Candy sewed a homemade pumpkin costume for Baby Maddie and a farmer girl costume for London, and London pulled her sister along the parade route from Mount Street to the Bay Head Firehouse in a hay-filled (aaaahhchoo!) wagon. The girls won a trophy that year. The next year the girls chose a Wizard of Oz theme: London was Dorothy and Maddie was the Bad Witch...but London was afraid of the Bad Witch so she told Maddie the green make-up and black lipstick said "4 years and up" so Maddie ended up as the sweetest Bad Witch ever.

For several years running, we've competed as a family…sort of. We won a big trophy the year we did Little Red Riding Hood, starring Rex as the Big Bad Wolf, Roxy as Grandmom, Maddie as Little Red, and London as...the Mermaid Bride?  The next year, while you may be familiar with two Disney characters — Hannah Montana and Sleeping Beauty (Aurora) — you may not be aware that they were sisters. In 2007, London wanted to dress up as Hannah Montana, but Maddie had a theme picked out for our family…Maddie as Sleeping Beauty, Rex as her handsome prince, and Roxy as Maleficent, the thirteenth fairy who was not invited to princess Aurora’s christening. When Maddie saw her sister’s costume, she coveted the blonde wig and microphone and had to have one of her own, and the legend was born: Aurora Montana! The panel of judges smiled upon us and we won a family trophy in the Bay Head Halloween parade.

In 2008, the girls convinced me to be Barbie, and Rex was Ken, in our coordinating outfits from the Sixties. We rocked the parade route with not one but two Sharpays from High School Musical: Sharpay Golf and Sharpay End of the Year in gold hot pants. 

In 2009, Rex and I were pirates while the girls performed as their basement girl band the Butter Bites. Last year, Maddie, Peanut Butter, Rex and I dressed up as the Devil Dogs with London the Dark Angel.

This year, be on the lookout for London as a Nerd with Big Hair and Maddie as Sweet But Dangerous.  Rex and I have not been struck with any inspiration yet, but we still have a couple of weeks to change our minds and dress up....any suggestions?

This year's Bay Head Halloween Parade is scheduled for Sunday, October 30th.  Parade participants gather in front of the shops on Mount Street starting around 11:15am.  The parade begins at 11:45am with a firetruck followed by nerds, devils, goblins, ghosts, witches, princesses, superheroes and other creatures marching down Lake Avenue, left on Bridge Avenue to the Bay Head Firehouse.