Our spooky trip to the woods {Halloween 2018}

I  don’t know what’s happened to me since becoming a Mum, but I’ve suddenly become obsessed with the passing of time… the general feeling being that it flies by far to quickly and if I don’t document every single moment, then I’ll somehow forget just how perfect these early years of motherhood are!

With that in mind, I think its safe to say that I’m a pretty compulsive photo taker!! I can’t really think of an occasion when I haven’t had a camera in my hand and I can’t see that changing in the future. Photography is such a passion of mine. I just love how you can re-capture the memories of a day by looking back through photographs and I think that’s why I’ve filled so many hard drives over the years!

Last year we took an impromptu visit to the woods for Halloween, with Ettie dressed in a little witches costume and I think the images I captured are some of my favourites photos ever. Not because they are particularly good photos, but because they capture the memories of a really special day, with some spooky magic thrown in. Because of that (and also because Halloween is one of my favourite holidays) I thought it would be nice to make our trip to the woods a little Halloween tradition (until Ettie thinks its no longer cool to run around the woods with her over excited Mum!)  I think it will be really special to return to the same place every year to see how our little family has changed and what better place than a beautiful woodland doused in lovely oranges and reds ready for autumn.

So Witches costume and pumpkins at the ready we picked a sunny day last week and headed down to Sheffield Park in Sussex to take some spooky photos.

I’m not sure whether its because I love autumn, halloween, fancy dress or because Ettie is so darn cute but I absolutely love these photos… I think even more so than last year. I just love the cheeky look on her face and the fact that the really got into the part of playing a witch.

I was actually a little nervous when we first arrived because Ettie had fallen asleep in the car on route and was a little grumpy when she woke up! I also had Ollie in the pram and wasn’t really sure how the logistics of a photoshoot with a grumpy toddler and a two month old baby would actually work! But it was fine, It’s amazing what some chocolate buttons can do. We headed straight for the area of woodland where I took my favourite photos last year and cast some magic spells which would you believe, made some chocolate buttons appear behind the trees! 😉

As soon as she knew there was a possibility of chocolate in the air, she really perked up and we were soon running around casting spells using sticks as our wands. One of her favourite cartoons at the moment is ‘Shimmer and Shine’ so whenever we thought we’d found a ‘chocolate tree’ she’d shout ‘Oooh Zara May, first wish of the day’ (which is what they say on the cartoon) and wave her finger in the air.

‘Oooh Zara May, first wish of the day’

Then when we’d look behind the trees, as if my magic chocolate buttons would be there. It was so much fun. It makes my heart all squishy looking back through these photos because I can see such happiness beaming out from her little face and I love how I contributed towards that. I really hope that one day she’ll be able to look back over these photos and smile in the same way I do looking at them now. I also hope she always thinks her old Mum’s this fun!

After the chocolate trees, we walked around to another area of woodland and went  in search of fairies. I love feeding her imagination and sometimes don’t know whether I want to believe all the things I’m telling her myself!! Imagine how wonderful it would be if we lived in a world where fairies were real?

On the way back to the car we found the same branch she used as a broomstick last year and so she hopped back on. Its so lovely to see how much she’s grown in twelve months, but also a little bittersweet. Last year she could barely hold on and I had my mum just out of shot ready to pounce in and catch her if she fell. This year she climbed up there all by herself! So independent.

I can’t tell you how much I love these photos and I know I’ve included way too many for one blog post. But I also know I’m going to get so much enjoyment from them looking over them in the year ahead and I’ll probably want to share them all again next Halloween before I take next years set. We did try to include Ollie this time, but he was a little too little and kept getting annoyed when we’d try to sit him on her lap! I’m really looking forward to seeing if he enjoys the spooky fun next year.

My favourite part about the whole day was bedime, as I was putting her to bed that evening she gave me a big cuddle & said ‘Love you so much Mummy’. 🧡 I know she’s only copying what we say to her all the time but it made my heart skip a beat!! Days like these are the ones I will cherish forever xx

Our little Ollie not really getting into the Halloween fun

Here are a couple of Ollie in his Halloween costumes too because I wouldn’t want him to miss out on the fun x