And Halloween Happening makes three...

Who said Halloween was a minor holiday?  Perhaps it pales in comparison with the month-long secular celebration known as "pre-Christmas Shopping," but walk into any store now and be enveloped by displays of candy, harvest decorations, and costumes and you might agree with us when we say that it has most certainly come into it's own.  Already this year we have attended celebrations at two different zoos, and tonight found us joining in a costume parade, pot-luck dinner, and round of crafts and activities at Halloween Happening at our church.  The church you say?  Sure, Halloween technically grew from pagan roots celebrating the harvest and promoting preparations for the coming of winter, but we can thank Pope Gregory numbers III and IV for moving All Saints Day to November 1st (from some time in May) thereby taking advantage of (or downplaying) this pagan celebration during which the Celts believed that the barrier between the dead and the living was blurred.  In fact, the pagans weren't the ones who named it, since Halloween was Hallowe'en was All-Hallow-even, or "the eve of All Hallows' Day," that being the eve of All Saint's Day, get it?  And that's an over-simplification if we've ever heard one, but you catch the gist of it, and so tonight found us celebrating Hallowe'en with our fellow church members by making creepy crawlies out of pipe-cleaners, masks out of paper plates, and ghosts out of lollipops, in-between which we did haunted calisthenics, and tested our bravery by reaching into dark holes to feel such things as goblin eyeballs and warlock hearts - both of which Calvin immediately tried to eat (hey, a tomato by any other name...), and Calvin got a third opportunity to wear his costume, so we will get our money's worth after all.

Second time's a charm

No, you're not seeing things, we really did go to another zoo Halloween party this afternoon.  We couldn't resist.  It's not like we've had a pint sized candy excuse before.  Besides, we spent all that money on his costume (resale's a miracle, but shhhh!  Don't tell!) and have to get as many uses out of it as possible, so today we made the trek to our second favorite zoo down in Toledo to enjoy their Little Boo at the Zoo party.  Sure it was cold and windy, and sure most of the animals were somewhere off exhibit, but the trip had it's merits:  we got a great look at the baby polar bear twins and one of the baby cheetahs, Calvin got a chance to "ride" one of the metal turtle sculptures that are usually too hot to touch, and we came home with four pieces of candy - 2 pieces for each of us, since Calvin is too young, of course.   The only down side to the day was our visit to Africa where Calvin was devastated to learn that the giraffes at this particular zoo are not feed-able or touchable the way that they are at both Binder Park and now Detroit, as well.  Instead of his customary "giraffe" smile, we were treated to a heart meltingly cute "giraffe" pout. 

Pictures.  In the Oct 20-26 album. 

These must be the halcyon days of fall

Fall is here: the leaves started changing, the nights started cooling, the days turned rainy and grey... and then came a return to the sun and warmth of the previous season.  Some would call it an Indian Summer, but we think a more appropriate term might be "paradise."  Sure it's hot, but we try to remind ourselves that instead of complaining about the heat we could be breaking out the hats and mittens like this time last year, and who wants that already?  So we took advantage of the hand mother nature dealt and made today a hiking day.  There's something a little odd about sweating through your shorts and t-shirt while shuffling through richly colored fallen leaves, but we didn't complain back in July or August so why should we now?  Not to mention that when we went on hikes back in July Calvin was a very different kind of hiking partner.  Back in July he enjoyed looking at the things we pointed out but was basically just along for the ride in his backpack carrier.  Today Calvin seemed to be doing most of the pointing, followed by that babbling noise that sounds suspiciously like a well posed question that we just can't understand.  He spent half of the hike in the backpack and the other half pushing his own little feet through the downed leaves.  He found a squirrel, a cat (inappropriately out of doors), a spider, and even a wee little frog, and he made sure to point them out for our own viewing pleasure.  He amazes us.  We love watching him discover the natural world we love so much, and we are thankful for these halcyon days of fall.

Pick a good one

When the temperatures cool, and the late day shadows lengthen, we find ourselves hungering for the traditional colors, smells, and flavors of fall.  Last Wednesday, well after the sun had gone for the night, we sat bundled up on our deck, huddled around a smoky fire drinking hot cider.  On Friday we went through our recipe box, moving all those warm weather recipes to the back and replacing them with those rich and spicy fall recipes, like squash dishes, and stews.  Then today we made that oh so cherished seasonal trek to the apple orchard down the road.  It was the opening weekend of their annual Country Fair, complete with petting farm, pony rides, play areas, apple and pumpkin picking, haunted outbuildings, and, of course, fresh cider and doughnuts.  The trees and grass might still be green, and the warmer days of Indian Summer still ahead of us, but we just couldn't wait any longer to enjoy that wonderful grocery list of fall pleasures.  For some reason Calvin doesn't seem to remember having been there last year, and he greeted the occasion with wonder and excitement.  He loved the llamas and the swings, was flabbergasted by the corn, and was perhaps a little too enthusiastic about the apple picking (it was hard to explain to him that we were supposed to wait until later before eating apples we picked).  An orchard, particularly this orchard, is a very pleasant place to be during the changing of the seasons, and this visit will certainly not be our last. 

The classic apple picking pictures are in our Sept 15-21 photo album. 

 

Not exactly twinkle toes yet

Calvin started dance class today, and what a riot that was!  We really had no idea what to expect but it should not have surprised us to find out that, even though the class is open to anyone ages 1-3 years of age, Calvin is the youngest by about a year and is the only boy.  All those girls thought he was just the cutest thing since My Little Pony and just wanted to love him to death, but Calvin thought that was a rotten idea and spent most of his time in a constant state of forward motion.  The objective of the class is to learn "purposeful movement" so we figure this gives him a head start.  That and it gives us a preview of all those elementary school years that are yet to come.  Can anyone say Cooties?

And we are really pleased with the class itself, girls and all.  The teacher was calm and patient, the music was lively and fun, and the activities were varied.  The best part about it was the relaxed atmosphere: there was a definite structure to the class but there was no circle to have to stay in, and the kids were encouraged, but never forced, to take part in the activities.  While the moms danced around to a Simon Says kind of song some kids took part, Calvin marched around the room laughing.  We played with hula hoops for a while, sitting in them, jumping in and out of them, and pushing them around the room.  Calvin just watched with rapt attention, until it came time to walk through the hoops like a tunnel, then he decided to join in.  His favorite part of the morning was the parachute:  he loved walking on it, he loved walking around it, and he really loved walking under it.  It was clear throughout the class that he was enjoying himself.  He was engaged the whole time, sometimes just watching, sometimes joining in, and almost always smiling or laughing.  We are looking forward to watching his progress throughout the year long class.

 Since dad was at work and mom was busy dancing there are no pictures from this momentous occasion, but there are some cute new ones in the Sept 9/8-14 album.