Shane was sad when his Wild Kratts costume didn't get any applause at the costume parade. He didn't know that we had something else in the works. I asked Shane earlier on if he wanted to be anything for Halloween. His first request had been "Zombie Pikachu," but Harry Potter was a close (and more feasible) second.
Mom made it happen!
Carrie had the reveal and dress up on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, Shane wanted to wear it to school.
"Are you sure?" I asked. "Are other kids going to wear costumes?"
Shane insisted. He wanted to go out in full gear! The thing was, he had second thoughts when we pulled up to school and he didn't see any other costumes. I heard him say that he didn't know why, but his mommy had dressed him up!
You threw Mom right under the bus, kid. It was your idea from the get-go! I heard Shane draw some compliments on the way in from the teachers.
He was ecstatic when I picked him up. Two other kids in his class had dressed up and he'd had a ball. Mom wasn't happy about Shane's initial reaction, but was glad to hear he loved the costume.
I took Shane to UVA to trick or treat on the lawn. I made the mistake of looking for closer parking. We killed twenty minutes stuck in traffic to loop back to my initial plan. The lawn's a popular spot!
It was a challenge to find a spot to join the line!
It annoyed me that other kids would totally bypass the line while others waited,
We tried to make friends, but mainly played "I spy" and people-watched.
Shane was a big hit reciting Harry Potter spells. He knows a few like "Alohomora!"
He tried to get the attention of anyone and everyone!
Which is in the spirit of Halloween. We got a grocery bag full of candy.
There weren't many trick or treaters this year. We only did the circle ourselves. It felt like everyone was at UVA and not out in the neighborhoods.
Shane and I spent nearly three hours out in costume with driving and walking, so he was fine with staying in after a short stint in the neighborhood. If there were other kids out, I would have been out for another couple of hours. Maybe I'll try driving him to a larger neighborhood or somewhere out of Charlottesville next year.
Bonus Story: The Jack-O'-Lantern
Some sort of critter attacked our jack. It actually enhanced it.
The critter came back a later night and Carrie used ketchup to make it look more intentional.
Bonus Story: The Haunted Library
There was a haunted house at the library the Saturday before Halloween.
Free activity? Library? You know Shane and I went there!
There were a lot of people, too! We were in group 16. There were about 10 people in our group, so imagine the others were similar.
A fairly long one where Shane started to run and play hide and go seek squeezing between the stacks.
Shane saw a kid with a Harry Potter costume and walked up to say how cool it was. He didn't know that Carrie was working on a HP costume for him!
Shane switched to reading graphic novels and I switched to a card game while we waited.
It took an hour or so, but we were finally on standby.
The kids were excited!
We waited a chunk more. Shane was using his brain, but his mouth wouldn't stop either. He was talking over and to everyone about everything and about what would happen we went in.
Shane didn't pick up on my covert hints or my overt ones. I actually put my hand over his mouth as he tried to explain and yell how the volunteers were crawling behind sheets before they could spook people!
Honestly, it would have been a better experience if Shane was younger. I appreciated what the volunteers were trying to do, but he was out of the age range it would have been a home run for.
At least there were some free comics at the end! Shane was disappointed it wasn't candy, but he's spent longer looking at the comics than he would have spent chewing.
Bonus-Bonus-Bonus Story: Nightmare Before Christmas.
Since we don't watch broadcast TV, there's not really any sort of holiday spirit anywhere unless we seek it out. It can get lost in the routine and it can be fun. We decided to watch a Halloween movie as a family one night. The Nightmare Before Christmas was the winner. I'm not a huge fan, but it had singing and Carrie likes singing.
Since we don't watch broadcast TV, there's not really any sort of holiday spirit anywhere unless we seek it out. It can get lost in the routine and it can be fun. We decided to watch a Halloween movie as a family one night. The Nightmare Before Christmas was the winner. I'm not a huge fan, but it had singing and Carrie likes singing.
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