Halloween 2009

As mentioned previously, we had an atypical Halloween this year, complete with a cold weather camp out that was attended by a portion of our family. In order to allow the girls a trick-or-treating experience and to give them a chance to use their costumes, I took them to the Children's Museum's trick-or-treating event on Thursday night. It was... fine. It was a long line of children moving from one teenager with candy to the next over two floors of the museum, then emptying into the basement floor to play. Of course, the basement floor got more and more packed as the night wore on, till it was well beyond anything I've ever witnessed on a visit during daytime hours (thank heavens!). The costumes of the employees/volunteers were uninspired and themes to go with the different sections of the museum were nonexistent or out of order. But the kids had a good time and came away with a pretty sweet bag of treats. I wish I had paid for Meg to have a trick-or-treat bag as well, because they gave away coupons for Noodles, Valentino's, Paint Yourself Silly and others. Lesson learned. We hung out and let the kids run wild around the prairie dog tunnels and theater area for nearly an hour, then headed to a coffee shop, where the kids ate their treats and Renee, her mother and I got treats for ourselves.
The mime school prepares for their big show; or, the girls preparing to don their costumes.
The spider and the pumpkin. My first foray into store bought costumes. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I just love being able to say, "Yes, actually, I did" to the "Did you make those?" inquiries. It's a pride issue. If you're a sewer, you know what I'm saying. I figured the time I'd spend creating these choices of costumes was worth way more than what the store was charging, though. Plus, the girls LOVE them, so it's win-win-win!
The ballerina-bumblebee, or something like that. I hadn't bothered getting Meg a costume but saw this one the weekend before Halloween. I couldn't resist. It has wings and antennae, but she's one. The chances of keeping those on? Right.
Our crew of costumed kids at the Museum. From left to right, Elliot, Ruth, Meg, Marianne, Henry, William and Simon (the son of my friend, Erin).
Ruth and Marianne slide into the big chair near prairie dog village at the Museum. The hats are, by far, my favorite part of these costumes. That pumpkin beret is top notch.
Meg playing in the same chair. I had to keep her a little closer than the other girls because I was afraid someone would trample her in the crowd. Luckily, the draw of a few stairs leading to a giant chair were enough to keep her entertained.
The coffee shop we descended upon got more than they bargained for with our troupe of sugared up kids! The college kids working the joint were extremely friendly, though, and even brought over a bowl of candy for the kids to pick from. NuVibe downtown. I recommend them if you need a coffee on your way into or out of the Children's Museum. And let's face it, you probably do.

*****

Nathaniel headed out Friday afternoon with the older two girls to join his family on their annual camp out. Right up to the line he was asking whether I was SURE I didn't want to come along. Really, no. I like camping, and I hope we can go next spring or summer. But I was very content to sit this one out. I spent Friday night cleaning out our basement storage room, assembling some new shelves and putting everything back away. It was a lot of work, but I was excited to have a quiet night to get it done! (Meg goes to bed at 7:15, so even with the quality time we spent together she took up very little of my night).

Saturday, Meg and I drove out to Indian Cave to join the campers. We spent a beautiful day exploring the park and visiting with family. By the time Meg and I got back home, it was well past trick-or-treating time in the neighborhood. I hadn't had any plans to participate in the festivities, but any guilt I might have felt for hiding in the house with the porch light off to avoid the local ghouls and goblins was removed.

We did let the girls dress up in their costumes again on Halloween night and trick-or-treat around the campsites. I was really surprised by the participation! There was only one other group of kids dressed up at the campground, but almost every campsite had a big bowl of candy sitting out, and the campers would come to the road to pass candy to the kids. They made a very impressive haul, given the circumstances.

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween with your own little princesses and wild things. My favorite moment this year has to be when I was driving the girls home from the Children's Museum outing and the older girls announced that they had decided "next year we're going to just trade costumes. Okay, Mom?" You betcha! I should make them sign something on that, so they don't forget...