Carnival of Mirth

A gypsy fire is on the hearth,
Sign of the carnival of mirth;
Through the dun fields and from the glade
Flash merry folk in masquerade,
For this is Hallowe'en!
(Unknown Author)

I haven't always loved Halloween as I do now. Have I become both more imaginative and less fearful?

As I tell Miles, we do not have to fear those that have died. And I do not know if they are more present with us on Halloween than on any other night. But if they are, I tell him, won't they have a laugh at our funny costumes?

Meet: The Owl and the Pussycat. Miles really wanted me to be a Piggywig and Papa, the Turkey who lives on the hill. Alas, I was too tired from fashioning these to make a costume for the adults. Maybe next year I'll start work in August or something. :-)

Miles recites (with help) the first verse. He knows the whole thing, but lacks the self-discipline to stay still to recite all three verses. I particularly love the end of this clip where he asks if we can teach him to play the small guitar.

Adele loved her reflection especially while he was representing her favorite animal, and the second word she learned to say. "Tat! TAT!"

The weather, as many of you know, has been rotten. We are not close enough to the coast to have been more than inconvenienced by Sandy. We did not lose power. Our local public schools were out due to high winds and a bit of snow on Tuesday, but only for the one day. Miles missed one day of preschool and I got my boots and winter coat out of the attic at 6:30 am when I realized the snow was, in fact, sticking. But that's about all. Still, it's not been particularly fun weather to wander in. Temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s; some kind of precipitation has been almost constant and the winds have been uncomfortably strong.

This, then, is the first of our two indoor Halloween events. On Saturday, Boo Do at First & Main:

There was a performance by an a capella group from Tech

Crafts and Games

And a juggler!

The mesmerized audience

This volunteer kid was so brave!

At home this weekend, we did the ritual gourd carving.

Miles was totally into it this year! He scooped and scooped; there was no sign of his daintiness from last year.

We set up the jumparoo outside so Adele could participate and I could make soup in peace. I haven't yet learned the art of cooking and minding a child at the same time; my head would electrocute.

Cold? what cold?

Another masterful job by Papa.

"Hooray! All done!"

Classic.

On Halloween, we were too late for Downtown Trick Or Treating. I had class till 5:15. Besides, it was about 37 degrees, windy, and sleeting. I understand it was an underattended event anyway.
So Miles didn't get to exactly go Trick Or Treating on Halloween, but we did hit up the community kiddy carnival!

Games set up around the room gave kids the chance to earn prizes (small toys). So our candy haul is modest this year, being composed of the little we got at Boo Do and the bag he got at daycare. BUT he got a bucket of plastic toys and, being Miles at age three, he has no regrets.

Look! It's not exactly pea green, but it is a beautiful boat! Owl & Pussycat FTW

The Hokie Bird showed up to the carnival!!....

...And Adele cowers and cries. Look how dejected HB looks. Miles was suspicious of him too, and told him off soundly when he stole our stroller as a joke.

A craft station. We made a monster hand!

They even had a bouncy castle. We were all too exhilarated to take pictures.

The evening ended with a movie party for M. with The Great Pumpkin. The soundtrack is still in my head, which tells me, we did Halloween right.