Halloween Hullabaloo

It's finally over, and I must say I'm glad.  We've been celebrating since Friday, so I was over it by the time the actual day rolled around.  Lessons learned*: 1) Avoid headpieces, unless they are attached to the rest of the costume.  2) Do not give lollipops to satiate a grumpy toddler, since pink slobber tends to stick on everything; try "cleaner" candy, a la Sweetarts, or no candy at all (not sure how to do that once candy is spotted). 3) Select only one or two festivities to attend, preferably the least popular ones.  More on the lessons below.  Now to the pictures, starting with his free Scary Face Pancake!

Mom's group Halloween party - beautiful day for a bouncy house, 2 weeks before Halloween

Kindermusik Dress-up day - Friday morning, he seemed to be more receptive to wearing the ears when all the other kids had their ears on, too.

Trick or Treat Street - Friday afternoon, we waited for about 20 minutes before deciding that the line wasn't moving fast enough.  Another friend near us waited for 2 hours to get in!  Are you kidding me?  We got some warm drinks from the coffee shop and let the boys (Jacob the tiger, Owen the Ewok, and Carson the lion) run around the grassy field next to the line.  It was good enough for them this year!  :)

Boo at the Zoo - Saturday evening, very crowded, but manageable.  Owen had just woken up from a late nap and was a little lethargic.  He did like the wandering giraffe though!  And this is where he started to understand that people would put candy in his bucket.  They had lights and decorations all over the zoo, but it's probably more impressive in the dark.

Stroller Bootcamp class - Monday morning, all the kids got dressed up and the moms had to run back and forth to deliver their candy piece by piece.  Owen also was more apt to keep his ears on if he was distracted by candy.  He's at the left end below.

Library Parade - Monday morning, didn't get any good pictures from the parade because I was chasing after Owen too much, but the librarians did do some stories and songs to start out.  Then the kids paraded all around the library picking up candy from costumed librarians.  About halfway though, he cut in front of 5 families, put his bucket down in front of the candy-giver with his hand out, and took off for the next one once he had candy in hand, leaving his bucket behind.  Terms like patience and stay here don't really mesh well with the Under 2 crowd when candy is involved.  

Trick or Treating - Monday night, Mom was done, but Dad was nice enough to take Owen up and down the street where he apparently got the whole routine down pretty well!  The skeleton PJs were a back-up under his Ewok costume.  After his trip down the block, he was a pretty good assistant handing out candy to other kids and telling them "buh-bye" as he shut the door.  His face lit up every time another group of kids showed up.  I think he liked Halloween!

*1) Although it was nice to get lots of use out of his costume, it was pretty exhausting to trudge around to the various events this town has set up for the kids.  Half of the effort was probably attributed to me continually trying to get him to wear his "ears".  He would keep them on for about 30 seconds at a time before ripping them off and handing them back to me.  It would have been nice if his costume was more recognizable sans ears.  


*2&3) He was grumpy because all of the events were overcrowded, chaotic, and thus slow.