Cold Spaghetti

Will’s second Halloween was a busy, full day.

This morning, Paul and I joined Will at school. He wore his bumblebee costume from last year (it was 80 today, too warm for the alligator) and joined his classmates: a fisherman, some pirates, a few witches, butterfly, ladybug, cow, and a lion. We played with the kids, watched as they “trick-or-treated” with the older kids (“older” as in more than 3 years old), who distributed homemade cookies, candies, bubbles, and other little toys into the 2-year old kids’ bags. Paul couldn’t resist and gave in to Will’s asking for candy (this is because Paul reasoned he should eat at least half of whatever Will was to have) and once we were sure we had the kids all hyped up on sugar, we parents left. It was fun! (We are embarrassed to report that we forgot both the camera and Paul’s juggling supplies. *sigh*)

Tonight, after dinner at Reginelli’s compliments of Grandpa George, we took Will to Avenger Field, which lies between Children’s Hospital and Audubon Zoo. This is usually where the Zoo holds “Boo-in-the-Zoo,” an annual event held on Halloween that is very popular. The Zoo teamed up with the Hospital to provide an event there this year, totally free! There was a ton of fun things: a long stream of “houses” where kindly folks handed out candy to trick-or-treaters from tiny holes carved into the facades; hot dogs, hamburgers, frostys, and drinks; baseball and football tosses; live music; a haystack with scarecrow; kick-ball field; face painting; and about a dozen different games with prizes for kids.

Will was tired from his long day (starting at 5am!) but still had a great time. He ran around the kick-ball field with other toddlers, danced a bit to the music, played a ball-toss game, and trick-or-treated. Trick-or-treating is going to take some practice. Will couldn’t resist wanting to stop after every score and eat his loot. We would point to our wrists and say “we’ll have a treat in 5 minutes!” which was enough to distract him until we got to the next station. We ran into one of my professors with his family, which was also a fun surprise! It was nice to see so many kids and families back in the city.

It is really good to be home and we are so happy we were here to enjoy Halloween!