Fall Fun: Halloween!!

What a great Halloween weekend!

Friday night was a party for kids at Mama's office, which we realized we've been attending since they were about 2 years old!  No more strollers for us.  In fact, they were some of the oldest kids there (though, we didn't see most of the revelers, staying in Mama's area.)  They got candy, played some games, and, best of all, got to see where Mama works and meet several of her friends.  And admire their toy collection!  Yep, Nerf guns, Star Wars Legos, balance boards, and puzzles.  Work hard, play hard.  We rounded off the evening with some Israeli food, including a delicious vegetarian chopped "liver" and a surprising Sesame halvah ice cream.

SATURDAY!!!  The countdown for trick-or-treating began not long after ice skating and kung fu.  It was so hard to wait for dusk.  In fact, we didn't manage to wait that long.  By 2:00, we were making additions to their candy bags, adding costumes we hadn't put on.  And this time, they drew the pictures themselves, adding a Tri-force symbol for Link and an Avengers symbol for Black Widow for 2015.  Just growing up . . .



But not too grown up not to be impatient for trick-or-treating to begin.  And so, after obligatory photos, we made our traditional visits to some previous teachers, Mrs S (preschool) and Mrs K (1st and 2nd), who welcome us so warmly.  I wonder if I came up with this great ritual all those years ago so that we could start the holiday earlier!

When we got home, we met up with our super, secret, surprise guest--Beloved Babysitter!!  She was in town from her big life in the city and had time to come over and even take them trick-or-treating for a bit.  They went to a new street, where her brother lives, and got lots of candy.  So special to have her join us after all of these years.  She's like that cool cousin or older sister or something.  They just beamed to see her.

Then, as she left for her own revels, the kids went trick-or-treating by themselves, ALL ALONE!  Okay, sure, we made sure they stayed in our neighborhood area AND we gave them walkie-talkies to keep in touch.  Still, big step.  And they were so excited and later so proud to have been allowed to do it.  They walked so much, for so long, that they didn't even do the last houses in the cul-de-sac near us.  Their feet hurt and they had enough candy.  Wow.  (Meanwhile, Mama joined me in passing out candy to all the visitors--I love to pass out the candy!  No particular common theme this year, not even Zombies.  A few princesses, but not a particular one.  It was kinda all over this year.  I'd say we had 50+ trick-or-treaters, some of them not from our little area, which is fine with me.  And only a handful or two of teenagers; I give handfuls of candy to all, costume or no, young and old.  I loved to trick-or-treat so who am I to judge?)

They did the traditional sorting--and passing along of nut candies to us (yay, Baby Ruth, Almond Joy, Snickers, Mr. Goodbar, Butterfinger, peanut M&Ms, and Reese's peanut butter cups!!)--and of course ate some for themselves.  Sis hoarded the plain Hershey bars, Twix, and Tootsie Rolls, while Bud kept hold of the Lifesaver gummies, Raisinettes, and Twizzlers.

We ordered pizza and watched the new "Doctor Who," glad to see the return of Osgood (I'm totally going to cosplay as Osgood next year!  As a BTS segment noted, that means I'd be cosplaying a cosplayer!)

Another great part?  We got to "fall back" and, for the first time in a decade, everyone understood the whole "sleeping in" part!!!

Just another great Halloween.

Fall Fun: A Mystical, Magical Weekend, Part I

What a weekend we had!  I'm going to post in two parts, as it is very dense with photos and texts and fun.

Friday:
On Friday evening, our school hosted it's annual Halloween festivities, this year outside as "Trunk or Treat."  Various parents volunteer to decorate their cars and pass out candy; there are also games and a bake sale.  We were there right at opening time--Sis as Black Widow and Bud as Link  (from videogame Zelda)--because experience has taught us that the check-in line gets long quickly.  The kids had 30 tickets for visiting the cars (this prevents multiple visits and un-registered visitors) and some tickets for games and such.  And I let them go . . . . they wandered around the school parking lot with friends, while I wandered around with the other adults.  It was chilly but not the worst we've had (one year it was cold AND so windy that we lasted about 15 minutes, enough time for the kids to make one circuit.)  There were lots of cool costumes--'50s waitresses, (too many) zombies, Katniss, various witches and princesses, a cute Barney, a chunky mouse, My Little Pony.   It was a great way to kick off our Halloween season.  Only one more year of this--I'm going to miss it.

Saturday, through the afternoon:
After our usual kung fu and ice skating, we took off for annual visit to the faerie houses at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme (see 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009.  We've gone every year (except when they took a hiatus for a scarecrow exhibition, 2010) since it began.  It's one of our favorite family traditions and permeates our fall and spring as we make our own faerie houses.  This year the theme was Whimsical Castles.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Merida's castle tower and standing stones, one of my favorites.

Hagrid's hut

Hobbit hole

Not a faerie house, obviously, just a colorful handprint on a tree from some other program.

As usual, I like doors and gateways, especially those set in trees.

  

  

And I preferred the more natural-looking houses to the ones made of painted plywood, found objects,  etc.  In fact, the bright green Oz and gold Thai palace, among others, seemed out of place.  

  

 As usual, the kids' favorite part was finding the hidden object in each castle--Merida's quiver (or was it her bow?), the Sword in the Stone, the little bear--some were much easier than others.  (But at least they were all there; one year, we looked and looked for a hidden object, only to learn later that i had been missing for days!)  It wasn't too crowded and the people there were friendly and well-behaved (one year, we kept coming across children who were touching and moving and even breaking things, without any hindrance from parents.  This drives me to distraction.)  It was another great faerie house year.

We had a little time before our dinner reservations so we took the kiddos to the Stonington Lighthouse Museum.  It's a mid-19th-century stone house light, with an easy 29-spiral step tower.  I think it was the kiddos first lighthouse climb!  And they really enjoyed the visit.  Besides the tower, we looked at the various exhibits, including the cistern uncovered below (visible through glass in the floor), antique doll's house, map of lights on Long Island Sound, and other local historical objects.    There was also a fourth-order Fresnel lens, like the one which would have been in the tower.  The kids were pretty amazed that the lighthouse keeper would've climbed the spiral steps and even gone out on the ledge around the light to clean the windows--it was high and narrow, without much of a rail.  Even though you can't even go out on the ledge anymore, I went downstairs before everyone else, a little nervous for the height.

After the museum, we headed for dinner in Mystic, to a seafood place on the river.   The view (nothing like fall colors and white houses lining the water, typical New England) was great, the food just as good.   We could even see the ship where we were having our Girl Scout overnight in the distance.  We supped on pumpkin soup, clam chowder, a seafood pasta, buttered fish, and oysters, with a delicious tres leche cake for dessert.  I was a little edgy--having been the person to organize the trip and the responsible person during the overnight--and kept checking the time (besides, I'm recognizing how anxious I am on a regular basis, but that's another post.)  I couldn't be late after I emailed the troop to be on time!  But we managed to finish dinner and even take a few pictures along the river before heading a few miles down the road to Mystic Seaport . . . .  and then it was time for the big part of our weekend to start.

Fall Fun: Halloween Begins

Tomorrow is the first of a few of our Halloween celebrations.

In a way, we started this evening by "BOOing" some friends.  The kids were BOO'd on Tuesday night--in fact, it scared a few of us.  Mama and I were downstairs, with the kids upstairs, when we heard a distant knock.  The cats all jumped and Albus even growled.  But when I went to check the porch, which door was locked, there was no one.  And Bud said he had been banging around.  But a  bit later, a friend beeped me on FB, hoping it hadn't been too late to leave something on the step.  And there it was--our BOO bag, with candy and such.  So, tonight, we returned the favor, packing bags of toys and candy for a few friends.  We delivered them to a few people this evening (we have a few left.)

Tomorrow is our school party, with lots of kids, costumes, and candy.  We donated about 10 lbs of candy (meant to give just 7 but accidentally sent our bag of candy into school, too.  C'est la vie.)

We still have a few preparations to make--need to get out our favorite Ghostie to hang in the tree and our big orange metal candy bucket, get pumpkins and mums, buy more candy, and catch up on the decorations on the kids' trick-or-treat bags.  See, each bag has little doodles representing their costumes each year, but I don't think we're all caught up.  Here's a list, as I recall it:

Sis (in order):

1. a black cat (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Baby Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. vet (2008)
5. Kenai, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. firefighter (2010)
7. Harry Potter (2011)
8. Pikachu, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Quidditch Harry Potter (2013)
10. Legolas (2014)
11. Black Widow (2015)

Bud (in order):

1. pumpkin (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Mama Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. Yankee baseball player (2008)
5. Denahi, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. knight/Jedi (2010)
7. Harry Potter/Hermione (2011)
8. Ash, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Percy Jackson (2013)
10. Frodo (2014)
11. Link (2015)

And as I was thinking of what they were for Halloween, I started recalling a lot of my costumes.  I'm missing some, but here are mine, in no particular order, except generally:

• Tinkerbell, with actual jingling bells 
• a pink princess, with bric-a-bac on my diaphanous gown
• Princess Leia, with a tinfoil necklace Gommie made, just like the one in the ceremony scene
• Col. Wilma Deering, of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," all in white
• Scarlet O'Hara, in one of Gommie's old prom dresses and Bammie's black fur stole
• Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, with a Moon headdress and a bow and arrow (5th grade?)
• Black cat
• medieval lady--I have vague memories of going in my Ren Faire outfit, with a flower garland
• Sherlock Holmes, with cape, Deerstalker, and pipe (high school)
• Belle, of Beauty and the Beast (freshman year of college)
• Clown in Black and White outfit
• Witch/Hogwarts professor, complete with scarf (church)
• Goody Bassett/colonial woman (church)

Trick or Treats

We beat the forecast and got our holiday in before the rain!

The kids were actually ready to go trick-or-treating as soon as they got off the bus at 4 p.m., but we managed to wait until 6 p.m.  They were in costume by 5:30, though, as soon as we finished dinner.  Sis was Legolas, with bow, cape, and Elven pin, but no long blonde wig.  Bud was Frodo, also with cape, pin, and a sword.  Yep, it was Lord of the Rings year.

While Mama and I were getting our acts together, they did go to the two next door neighbors.  And then we all headed out in the car.  See, for the last several years, we have started off our evening with visits to friends further away, including the pre-school director, their 1st and 2nd-grade teacher, and my friend Mama Teacher.  This year, Mama Teacher was at the movies, but we did see the former two, which is always special.

It was dark by the time we got home and they hit the sidewalk running while I took up my usual spot on the bench in the front yard, ready to pass out candy (none of this waiting inside for the doorbell to ring; I like to watch everyone coming and going, socializing with the neighbors, etc.)  Mama went with the kids but followed along behind.

Especially because, at first, they were with Neighbor Boy.  Soon, they switched to the little girl on their bus (the younger one, not the one in their class) and her family, along with Mama--everybody seems to have enjoyed that more.  The little girl was Cinderella; her sister, a pirate with squeaky shoes.

Believe it or not, we only had one Elsa (so, the Frozen drinking game wouldn't have worked here!)  We had an adorable dad dressed as a pirate with his little girl as his sidekick parrot--she did a great squawk.  There were also a Maleficent, Daniel Tiger, several random superheroes, and one teenager dressed up as the Tardis with a Bad Wolf cap!

But the rain started by 8 pm, putting a damper on both our kids' and others' trick or treating.  Soon, Sis and Bud were splayed out on the enclosed porch sorting their candy, swapping for favorites, and discarding the unwanteds in the buy-back box. (Sis likes plain Hersheys and also Kit Kats; Bud likes Crunch bars and chewy sweet things.) Then, turning off the porch lights, we headed inside to watch our traditional "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "The Simpson's The Raven" and "Garfield's Halloween Special."

I had posted on FB earlier in the evening that we had non-food treats and had hung the poster with the teal pumpkin which indicated as much in our window.  But we had no takers looking for allergy-free treats.  That is until a friend on FB posted late wondering if we were still open so her allergic son could have a non-food treat.  We turned the lights back on and waited.  A few minutes later the kid, with his mom and dad in tow in the rain, showed up and we gave him two bottles of bubbles.  He was excited and so were we.

And that was pretty much it--we ate more candy (I got all the peanut stuff!) and finished our shows and were actually in bed at a decent hour, another happy Halloween, albeit a wet one, duly celebrated.

Pondering Halloween

The rain held off so that it was a dark but not stormy night.  In fact, it was quite temperate for a New England Halloween and the kids didn't even need jackets or long sleeves as they wandered out into the night.  They trick or treated alone this year, in that they didn't join any neighbor groups but went door to door together as we stood at the curb.  They did all the neighborhood houses--including the three near us that have been dark and candyless for the decade we've lived in Connecticut but are now inhabited by young families and Halloween participants--after first driving to a special chosen few.  Interestingly, few people tonight, or last night at Mama's office Halloween party for kids, recognized Sis's Quidditch robes or Bud's Camp Half-Blood shirt as belonging to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson respectively.  The few who did know, however, were appropriately excited.  Sis and Bud in turn were excited to see a colleague of Mama's in a T.A.R.D.I.S. shirt and Sis proudly told him that she was going to be the Doctor next year, the Tenth Doctor.  He approved.

Of course, their favorite part, both last night and tonight, isn't so much the gathering of candy, which is merely a means to an end, namely the eating of candy.  First, they sort their haul by type, then they engage in the all-important swap whereby one gives all of his Hershey bars in exchange for all of her Skittles and the other gives up all of  her mini-Crunch bars for all of his Whoppers.  It is a family ritual.  So is giving all of the nutty candies--Snickers, Almond Joys, peanut M&Ms, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups--to Mama and me.  We let them eat til they'd had their fill tonight and will be generous with the eating of candy for the next few days, until Mama does a candy buy-back program this weekend, another ritual.

I asked the kids about family rituals and traditions, as I was cutting out rounds of Soul Cakes this evening.  The spiced cookies were pretty good, actually, thicker and more tender than shortbread with a lot more spice (plus we used balsamic vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, which we didn't have.)  Anyway, I realized that oftentimes I don't repeat activities like Soul Cakes.  This year it's Soul Cakes (we played the song all afternoon); a few years ago it was roasted pumpkin seeds.  Next year, who knows?  Sis said she liked that we did new things each year as long as we kept some of the same traditions, like the great candy swap and drawing their costume for the year on their trick or treat bags and hanging up "Ghostie" in our tree.  For Thanksgiving, she said, we had to have turkey and gravy but she didn't feel like we had to do the same gratitude activity every year.  Christmas, among many other things, means the sock Advent calendar.  I'm glad we're all on the same page about holidays, with something old and something new.

Today during my (awful) school tour (I wasn't awful; the kids were crazed, as I expected them to be--my own Sis was, in her own words, "hysterically happy" about Halloween and Bud was dancing everywhere), I realized (again) how even a relatively widely celebrated holiday like Halloween can be controversial.  We were talking about fall and its holidays when a girl raised her hand and said, "Halloween is the Devil's birthday.  Christmas is God's birthday."  Gulp.  Of course, both personally and intellectually, I believe this is completely unfounded (see our research on Samhain here) and untrue.  But school tours are no place for theological discussions, especially with eight-year-olds, so I merely said that I understood that some people believe that but that the people who lived in the house in the colonial times wouldn't have believed that and nor would they have celebrated either one.  (No wonder our kids can't wear Halloween costumes to school!)  And then, true to form, I asked Sis and Bud what they thought of that later.  Sis said outright that she didn't believe in the Devil.  So I asked her how she would talk to a friend who said such things (and there are a few who would, as they are not allowed to celebrate Halloween because it's not in the Bible.)  "I have a different religion," she decided.  I told her that sometimes it was hard to disagree with friends, but she raised her hand for a high-five and said, "I'm a strong girl."  We also talked about how you can agree to disagree, how different people can believe different things.  And that belief and truth are not always the same thing, not by a long shot, regardless of how firmly someone (including us) believes something to be true.

On a lighter note, another girl on the tour asked if I would wear my colonial costume that night to trick or treat.  No, I said, these were my work clothes.  And she looked at me incredulously and asked, "This is your job?"  She was so shocked, so earnest, even though I'd already answered the question of how I'd learned all this stuff (years and years in school and then more studying afterwards!)  I do feel lucky to dress up in costumes for my day "job."  And in truth, my colonial outfit does make a great costume, but I leave the trick or treating to the kids.

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day and then All Souls' Day for some, Samhain for others.  And we'll be eating Soul Cakes and candy, singing a song used for both All Souls' and Christmas, planning our rituals and traditions (to express our beliefs, to overburden this wrap-up!) as we get ready for the trio of big winter holidays.  I love this time of year.

Happy Halloween!

Best. Halloween. Ever.

This morning, Sis and Bud, with the help of our young neighbor/babysitter M, distributed upwards of 60 pumpkin flyers to our three-block area announcing "Trick-Or-Treat Tuesday" in lieu of the town-appointed celebration day tomorrow, for which forecasters now predict a Nor'easter.  And tonight, their efforts paid off!  Sis and Bud went trick-or-treating with 16 neighborhood kids, some of whom they had just met for the first time (as we all shivered in the 34F!!!).  We just kept picking up kids as we went along.  Everyone was extra-thrilled to be out trick-or-treating after the storm last week and the postponement--it was like a bonus!  It was great to spend time with the neighbors, to talk to the ones I usually only see driving by and to meet a few new ones on the blocks further down (we don't all go to the same schools so we don't all know each other).  Best of all, almost half of the houses hung out their pumpkin flyers and welcomed our kids with candy!  Some bars were even regular sized, not mini!  (And there was the usual toothpaste/toothbrush house.)  There were even a few other groups who rang our bell after our kids started sorting their hauls at home, kids who got into the spirit after seeing that Halloween was really happening a day earlier than a week later!   I'm so proud of my kiddos for helping to make it happen for themselves and their new friends.  And I'm tickled with myself that it actually worked a thousand times better than I expected.   A great community-spirited night! 

Frankenstorm: Without Frankenstein

It was oddly quiet last night and I almost completely forgot it was Halloween.  Indeed, I was surprised at first to see a few posts of family and friends in costume!  And even though our Halloween was delayed, Target was replacing pumpkins with snowmen and ghosts with Christmas trees right on schedule.  After the initial disappointment, I think the kids forgot, too, and we had a very normal night.  Even with power and phone/internet out all over, everyone seemed to have gotten the message about the postponement; we didn't hear a single ghost or goblin.

We have a party Friday night, possibly, and our own Halloween next week, so we still get to celebrate.

Halloween Fun 2010: Halloween (At Last!)

After more than a week of celebrations, it was finally Halloween last night.

And we almost missed it!

See, after church, we had lunch, played with the neighbor boy (more on that next!), and then carved pumpkins. Bud and Sis had chosen their own pumpkins last week and got to carve them this week. They each designed the faces, helped sketch it in crayon on the pumpkins, were grossed out by removing the seeds and strings (though Sis did all of hers all by herself!), and then actually got to use the little serrated saw to cut the incisions (child-friendly saw with lots of adult supervision). They were so proud.

We had a Star Wars rest time and realized at 5 pm that we needed to eat dinner before "tricker treating" at 5:45 with said neighbor boy and friends. Oops, too much rest. Mama rushed to pick up burgers and we raced to locate warm underthings to wear with the costumes, as we were under a freeze warning for the night and it was windy. We packed water and flashlights in a backpack that would also be used to carry the candy that no longer fit in the pumpkins and raced at the door, barely taking pictures. Thankfully, Gommie let us call her on Skype later, after we'd gone tricker treating. I did manage the safety talk, mainly about watching for cars, since I've read in several places that poisoned candy is mainly an urban legend (or in-family, as it was when a man tried to kill his son with a Pixie Stix when I was a kid. We were not allowed to have those for years) and that child molestations are no more frequent on Halloween than any other day. Still, I doubt we'll be letting them out alone anytime soon . . . and we still check the candy.

And what fun we had! The kids are getting good--not shy at all--about accosting strangers for treats! Though, at several houses, ours included, there was only a bucket outside from which to grab some candy--because now, both parents go tricker treating unlike when and where I was a kid. I did return to the house when the kids' itinerary took them up hills, which are still too much for me to manage comfortably. And I enjoyed passing out some candy (and lying on the couch in between!). With 360 lollipops in the bag Mama bought, I urged everyone to take large handfuls. But we still have a ton leftover. Which I'm hoping to send to the troops once I find an address.

The kids were done tricker treating with their friends--Sis's favorite girl, Cleopatra, in flip-flops!, the neighbor boy as Darth Vader (luckily, he and Obi never got into it), and a few other miscellaneous current tv or video characters I didn't recognize--by about 7:30 and came home to examine literally pounds and pounds of candy. They traded back some of it for tickets, mostly the stuff with peanuts, which we then recycled in our own candy basket out on the front steps. We saw Gommie and Pop on the computer, talked to Ma and Gong, Goo, and wished Aunt Banana, busy at work, "happy Halloween." They ate a few pieces of candy, hopped around jovially, and crashed in bed by 8:30 something.

Whew. Thank heavens it's finally November!

Except Sis is ready to start celebrating Thanksgiving today . . . .

Halloween, Part 1

We've already had two Halloween parties--DP's office bash and our annual church potluck. The kiddos are really getting into trick or treating this year. DD especially understands the concept. She particularly understands that she has two hands so don't just give her one piece of candy. She also knows that she is not limited by the number of pieces she can hold in her two hands--this is why she has a bag--so don't try to give her just two pieces. Nope, she'll stand there saying "candy" until satisfied that's she's been treated.

Now mind you, we practiced. The kiddo says "trick or treat," and then the adult gives them something (we practiced with cat toys, socks, Fisher Price animals, whatever was on the floor nearby). Then they say "thank you." DD never got this part; she would say "trick or treat" again. Go figure.

They can't have most of the candy being distributed. It either has questionable ingredients or is a choking hazard. But that doesn't seem to matter. They don't actually care if they eat them. DS would choose the "brown" ones, even though he's never had chocolate; apparently, brown wrappers just caught his fancy. As I mentioned, DD is just interested in quantity. The exception to the rule is lollipops. Both are crazy about lollipops. Any Dum-dum will do. DS tried a Tootsie pop but he kept biting off pieces and handing them to me. DD just likes to hold the things and wave them like scepters; I'm not sure she actually tastes them.

The other questionable aspect of Halloween is the costume. Now, when they were just three months old or so, we dressed them in romper costumes--a pumpkin for DS and a black cat for DD, straight off Target's shelves--and we were good to go (though we didn't actually trick or treat, that being way past our bedtime). The second year, I had the crazy idea that they should be gnomes. With hats. Somehow I missed the cardinal rule that kids don't like to wear things on their heads (unless singing a Laurie Berkner song, A Pig on Her Head, and then it's great fun). And the key to the gnome costumes were the green and red felt-covered birthday hats. Otherwise, the little cream shirts with brown belts didn't make much sense. Why a gnome? We'd spent the summer enjoying our garden gnome and our book about gnomes. And the kids were short and cute and a pair, so why not a pair of garden gnomes? Oh, well. We didn't even get a good picture. But I still have those hats here somewhere.

About a month ago, they decided that they wanted to be jaguars. As in Mama and Baby Jaguar from, you guessed it, Diego. I waited until about a week ago to start the costumes in case they changed their minds, but they didn't. DS was going to be Mama Jaguar. DD was Baby. I don't know how they decided--and it seems backwards to me--but it is set in stone. And I was supposed to be Rescue Pack. A tan terrycloth towel, some felt spots, and a headband with ears and yarn made the costume. Easy, peasy, stinky. The glue gives off this toxic smell.

Which doesn't really matter. Because they don't wear the costumes long enough. And the only time they have, they did it without the ears and everyone thought they were chocolate chip cookies.

Does that make me the Cookie Monster?