Find Out Why Our Portland Writers Love Halloween

I definitely love Halloween as much as my 9 year-old and typically, we start decorating the house and the yard the first weekend in October. My daughter gets really spooked by tombstones, skulls and creepy witches, so we lean towards the sillier, sparkly ones. Throughout the season, we also love heading to U-pick pumpkin patches, like The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, going on hay rides, painting tiny pumpkins and eating caramel apples at the Portland Nursery's Annual Apple Tasting Event. On Halloween night itself, she races around quickly so she can get home in time to hand out candy to other kids. She seems to love this part more than doing the trick-or-treating herself.

I also love making my own costumes. Can't tell what I am in the photo above? You're not alone. I'm supposed to be a voodoo doll. I don't recommend it. Those wooden skewers really do stab you when you're hugged!