Ragamuffins

As you know, Hurricane Sandy hit us just two days before Halloween. On Halloween proper, we were still without power and parts of Hoboken were still underwater. Needless to say, Halloween did not happen on October 31 for the children of Hoboken.

However, not wanting to deprive the kids of their Halloween fun, Hoboken rescheduled its celebration. It actually took a couple of tries to get the date nailed down, thanks to our snowstorm that came right on Sandy's heels. Ultimately, however, it was decided that Hoboken Halloween would take place on Monday, November 12.

So, on Monday, I dressed Ellie up in her little Halloween outfit, including festive leggings made by yours truly (and I had matching socks for myself, too!). We didn't get to wear our festive attire on actual Halloween, of course, because it was too chilly for cute outfits. We needed layers and fleece pajamas. But on Monday, it was a rather warm day, and regardless, we had heat at our disposal.

My Halloween baby, including the cutest ruffled butt to ever stick up into the air

Sock twins!

That afternoon, in addition to trick-or-treating, Hoboken held its annual Ragamuffin Parade, in which all the children parade down Washington Street in their costumed finery. The parade concludes at the Little League field right by our apartment where they hold a costume contest. We had so much fun (and contest success!) at the Baby Parade in May, so we figured this kids' parade would also be a great time. Ellie and I got all costumed-up and Eric left work early to meet us at the starting line uptown.

Snow White and the Evil Queen, ready to march!

The parade got started shortly before 4:00, and was led by crazy cars, a clown band, and the high school marching band. After that, the children of Hoboken just filed in and paraded on down the street.

Here comes the Ragamuffin Parade!

Clown band

Crazy car (it even spits water!)

High school marching band

Watching the start of the parade

Ragamuffins marching down Washington Street!

It was really great fun. There were children of all ages, and some of the costumes were great. Particularly notable were the Wizard of Oz family, the astronaut complete with space ship, the Pirate family with strollers and wagons decked out to look like pirate ships, and all the adorable babies in general (and ours in particular, of course).

When we got to the Little League field, they had us line up by age group or by family costume. We were in the family costume category, of course. One by one, each group took turns parading around in front of the judges' table, and then the emcee, Polka Dot, handed out the wide variety of prizes in each category. 

Unfortunately, Family Group was the last one to have their turn, so we had some time to kill. Ellie was a good sport about it, though!

Pictures while we wait!

Ellie and her daddy, killing time

She passed some of the time by eating her sleeves.

At long last, it was our turn to strut our stuff for the judges. We all paraded around for a few laps, and then lined up to hear the results.

Parading!

They had many prizes to hand out in each category, although they weren't prizes named for anything in particular (so no "Prettiest Costume" or "Scariest Costume" or anything like that), just general prizes with goodies donated by local business. To our delight, our number was the second number called for a prize in our category! And, not only did we win a super fancy medal, but also a $25 gift certificate to Grimaldi's Pizza. Hooray!

Ellie is super excited about her new medal.

The sweet taste of victory!

I'm pretty pleased that my adorable baby won something at both Hoboken parades she has marched in so far: the "Best Dressed" trophy at the Baby Parade, and a medal/gift certificate at the Ragamuffin Parade. I mean, can somebody just get the girl a modeling contract already? Am I right?

After we collected our winnings, we posed for a couple of quick photos with the Halloween paraphernalia they had adorning the field. And of course, given that it is a baseball field, Ellie had to get her first taste of what it feels like to stand at home plate. I think her daddy was very proud.

Ellie and Eric amongst the Halloween

Posing with Pooh Bear (of course) and standing at home plate!

I couldn't help but think as we took part in this parade that last year, Eric stopped by the Little League Field to check out the ragamuffins while my tired, pregnant self probably sat lazily on the couch while chowing down on carbs. As of Halloween last year, we didn't yet know if our little ragamuffin would be a boy or a girl. Now, a year later, our sweet baby participated in that parade, dressed as the fairest Snow White I personally have ever seen. I couldn't help but feel so grateful for all the blessings of this past year.

Of course, as are most things these days as we head into our last three weeks here, I was also a bit sad. Hoboken is such a fun place to be a young family with a baby, and this community is so wonderful. It's going to be hard to say good-bye. But for now, we'll just enjoy every last second!

Happy belated Halloween, everyone!