St. Paul's is Spooktacular!

Where can you find Superman, a Sumo wrestler, a skeleton, and a giant walking cupcake not to mention hundreds of other costume clad children? Why, the St. Paul's Lower School Halloween Parade of course!

This morning Bret, Gillian, and I made the short walk to St. Paul's for the annual Halloween Parade. Each year all the students, pre-k through second grade, don their finest Halloween garb for a short parade from the Lower School campus to the Main campus just a few blocks away. The ominous gray skies, blustery wind, and uncomfortably warm temperatures were quickly forgotten upon our arrival at the parade route where we were greeted by many familiar faces. Showing she could roll with the punches, Gillian was in a good mood despite being awakened early from a nap by the marching band. Having been reluctant to haul her up to school with the H1N1 mess floating about, many of my friends had yet to meet GG. Of course it was no surprise that she was a big hit! In fact, Miss Gillian Grace was so popular we caused a parade bottleneck, not once but twice, as people slowed and veered off the path just to sneak a peek and give our Gillybean a squeeze.

Keeping with the tradition, many of the teachers and staff put aside their pride and "for the kids" blew the dust off that old costume that if not for this event, would never see the light of day. The kids' costumes are always the real treat. There were still your plastic, off the rack, mass produced get ups, but we noticed creative, unique, and homemade costumes were making a resurgence. Perhaps it's the economy and people are getting more creative with what they have at home; or maybe, it's that most of the SPS kids have stay-at-home moms that have perfected the role of domestic diva. Whatever the reason behind this newest trend in Halloween couture, all three of us enjoyed ourselves immensely. And, it brought me to my newest revelation---I must learn to sew now. After all, with Gillian Grace's preschool debut just four years away and the SPS Halloween costume bar set sky high, there's little time to waste!

For last year's parade, I was a SPS student. What a difference a year makes!

My friend, Kim and I before the parade.

Clearly being a student was a popular idea! My friend, Liza and I borrowed bits and pieces of her daughter's SPS wardrobe to complete our costumes.

A few of my favorites from this year's parade:

Move over Nick Saban, Bear Bryant is back! Love, love, love the Houndstooth hat. Only in Alabama...

Look closely...see the little girl in her cupcake costume? Too cute!

Little Sumo man...looks like someone hasn't missed many meals.

Date Mates---Daddy and Gillian Grace in their matching orange.

Ready for our first Halloween Parade as a family of three!

Digging the marching band!

Liza stopped for a quick hug and picture.

Happy Halloween Eve!