Friday, October 31, 2014

A Visit to WNY and a Halloween Parade (oh, and a Waterfall too)

Last week we made a flying visit to see a favourite niece and her family in West New York. Our visit happened to coincide with the neighbourhood Halloween party, so L and I had the fun of making costumes for her two girls. After a few days of intense planning and sketching and snipping and sewing, the costumes were finished.

Little E was a gumball machine (her idea, and it took a bit of doing):



And yes, those are real gumballs. :)

Small C was a ladybug (with boughten wings, though we did make the skirt and headpiece):



Littlest A wore a hand-me-down Elmo costume which required no work at all (whew!). Together they made a cheery trio in red:


In addition to the annual party, L's neighbourhood has a charming decades-old tradition of a Halloween parade.

At 4:00 in the afternoon, after a few streets have been blocked off (with the city's permission), the families walk up to the end of the neighbourhood.


The children gather in the road, while the parents greet each other and admire each others' kids' costumes. (Wow - two plural possessives in a row. Or do I mean possessive plurals?)


The parade is a very casual affair - everyone just walks back down the street to wherever the host house may be, while non-parading neighbours look out of their front doors to enjoy the spectacle.


Each year a different family hosts the party and takes charge of the arrangements, but all the participating families contribute towards the food and merriment.This year the party happened to be at L and M's house. No photos I'm afraid - but there were plenty of games and snacks and pizza. And candy, of course.

A good time was had by all.

~ ~ ~

The afternoon before the party, L took us to see a waterfall.

First we drove to an historic city with a famous name.


There we parked, and walked along a leafy trail. There were frequent pauses to pick up fascinating things:


...and to admire the wildly rushing river.



Downriver there seemed to be a good deal of mist, then the river itself disappeared abruptly. We followed the trail to where the river disappeared....


...and found Niagara Falls.


This is the view from the American side. In the foreground are the American falls; the Horseshoe Falls can be glimpsed in the upper left center (looking like a misty white wall). Those buildings in the background are in Canada - if we'd brought passports we'd have been able to cross over and take photos from there. We didn't bring passports. :)

After gazing our fill at one of North America's great wonders, we headed back up the leafy trail...

Mr. M and the little ones

...then hit the road for home.

Bridge over the Niagara River

Many thanks to L and her family for a wonderful visit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

17 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your Halloween with me, since here in The Netherlands it still isn't much of a celebration. And The Falls are as beautiful as ever! Have a great week-end! Linda@Wetcreek Blog

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  2. Awesome pictures. All the little ones look so cute! Loved seeing all those colorful leaves on the ground. Ahhh Fall....she came so fast and now she's gone. We were a high of 45 today, snow later tonight. Wasn't it just summer like last week or something? :) ((hugs))

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  3. Wow, what a fun time you had with those adorable kids! I've never seen Niagara Falls.. I'd love to some day.

    BooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
    *H*A*P*P*Y* *H*A*L*L*O*W*E*E*N*!*
    BooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo

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  4. Aww, the kids look so cute in their costumes (I'm deeply impressed by the gumball machine) - it's evening here now so we're just getting the guisers at the door. Nearly run out of sweets though!

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  5. Oh, those costumes are brilliant....well done on the gumball machine!
    Your pictures of Niagra falls are wonderful....thank you for sharing.
    Jacquie x

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  6. what cute costumes. Great idea to have a neighborhood parade and party. safe and fun for everyone.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Really is there anything cuter than a Halloween parade?
    Hugs to you and glad you had a great trip.
    Meredith

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  8. For Heaven's sake, but those are adorable kids and such great costumes. I am so glad that you both were able to spend time with such special people. And all of you photos are just gorgeous. I've never been to that part of the country.

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  9. Looks like a great visit. I had no idea the falls were located in such an urban setting. I love the idea of the Halloween parade, it seems like a really gentle traditional way to celebrate.....we could do with introducing something similar. Juliex

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  10. What fun red costumes for all the children. What lovely waterfalls to visit too. I can hear the noise of the rushing water!

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  11. Oh my gosh I liked the gumball costume!

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  12. Those costumes are so cute! The gumball machine is very clever and I love that real gum was used. I haven't been to Niagara Falls in a long time but I enjoyed it a lot. It was great to see your trip.

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  13. Love seeing Niagra falls. The water looks so blue
    Your trick or treaters are adorable. Love the gum ball in her tummy

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  14. THAT is the kind of thing that I miss from our days "up north". Looks like a great weekend of fun. Your pictures of the Niagra River are beautiful! Isn't it AMAZING how quickly the water rushes by?

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  15. What a wonderful post, Sue! Your nieces were adorable in their costumes, and what a wonderful tradition the parade is. I haven't been to NF in forever, so the photos of the falls were fun to se. Have a good one!

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  16. How fun to see such a national treasure from the perspective of little ones! What a treat to enjoy a Halloween parade in daylight! Boy, that was one super vacation! I'm so glad you got to go!

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  17. Nice pics, I would like to visit Niagara Falls some day. I like the gumball machine outfit too.

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