Halloween

Halloween kind of snuck up on me this year.



Maybe that's because October was warm. Or maybe it's because we spent the last two weekends having a Harry Potter marathon. Movie marathons were a big topic of conversation while we were hiking the Colorado Trail this summer, and the only one that appealed to me of the many suggested was HP, so I decided to make it happen. Somehow watching eight 2 1/2 hour movies in a single day seemed like a doable thing back when we were hiking in the mountains. It ended up being spread out over five days (there are certain members of this household who have suggested that it doesn't count as a "marathon"if the movies weren't watched contiguously. That member has been informed he's a party pooper). We started out strong and festive—with gold plates, pumpkin pasties, split pea soup, cauldron cakes, butter beer, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. I even wore my academic robe from grad school graduation and wielded a wand. By the end we were eating burritos and miso soup, two foods I'm pretty sure never showed up at Hogwarts.




Or maybe it's because I didn't do much to prepare for it ahead of time, although I did take E and Z to two stores to buy Halloween costumes a couple of weeks ago—a first ever—and, much to my relief, they only ended up choosing a package of vampire fangs and a set of Ninja weapons. The costumes they carry at Target really are hideous.



Sunday night, after we finished The Deathly Hallows, Part II, I realized we hadn't even carved a pumpkin yet.



So the boys got busy after school, with their best bud, carving pumpkins and assembling do-it-yourself costumes from stuff we already had in the house—a skeleton mask (hand-me-down) for Z, and the ninja weapons and several layers of clothes for E (fat ninja). I really am a do-it-yourself kid of mom, as in, "Go do it yourself." So kids that can carve a pumpkin and pull costumes out of the closet are right up my alley.



We took our usual haunted hay ride around the "block" (we determined that we visit 14 houses and it takes us almost 3 hours—because every single house is either a neighbor or a parent of the kids C grew up with 30 years ago, so there is a lot of catching up to do at each one; we came close to but avoided any political skirmishes along the way). For the first year ever, M didn't join us. He had a lot of homework and studying to do. But E and Z didn't show any inclination of slowing down.



I heard Halloween described as the foot on the accelerator that will speed us through Thanksgiving and Christmas and into the New Year, which seems about right. Hang on for the ride!

By the end of the night, E's costume turns into a blanket wrapped around him to keep him warm on the trailer.