My birthday is in July and I love July, probably for that reason. But, it pales in comparison to October. Most months do. I LOVE October. It’s the perfect temperature, I can wear sweatshirts with sandals, mellow creme pumpkins hit the candy shelves, the leaves are peak color, and Halloween. Those are all good reasons to love the month, am I right?! I’ve never been one to dress up for Halloween as an adult, but I revel in the joy it brings to children. Especially mine when they were little. It’s pure in all its forms.  Even when one goes as a dead tree (a costume they dreamed up themselves and we got to make together) and the other goes as a nightmare ghoul with a costume from Party City.

Some of my favorite memories of my kids growing up are from Halloween. The aforementioned dead tree costume was SO COOL. One year, Kate went as Nike, the Goddess of Victory. He had on wings, a sheet toga with the swoosh symbol emblazoned on it, and a headband that said “Just Do It.” His face beamed with pride every time someone got it. That was maybe seven people, which was somehow even better. Or the first year Will went off to trick or treat with a friend and they came back to our house and traded candy. The one year Will was a monkey and the two years Kate was the same monkey. Preschool Halloween parades were the best. And, I was so sad when we had our last Halloween together. These are core memories that I hope I never forget.

At our stores that’s what we like to do. Help our customers make these core memories with their families and friends. From dress up at Pippin Toy Co. to cards at Penny Post to pumpkin spice goodness at Red Barn Mercantile, we want you to have a spooky October where you create connections and lasting memories with the people you love.  Below are a few things that can help make that possible!

SEE ALSO: Yesterday’s Pen Pal, Your BFF. Today’s Pen Pal: Your Undecided Neighbor?