Learning a new trick.

This may not have been Calvin's first Halloween, but it was his first attempt at trick-or-treating, and he took well to the new skill.  Before we could get out of the house our bell rang and we found ourselves giving candy to a frog about the same age as Calvin.  After that flurry of activity Calvin remained glued to the screen door, and his excitement grew exponentially as he watched other kids moving up and down the sidewalk just outside.  It was great fun for us to see him really take interest in the holiday, understanding at least that something was special about the day.  We had some difficulty trying to get him to move at a decent pace because he was too busy looking around, taking everything in.  It only took two houses for Calvin to catch on to the game:  he would toddle up the driveway in his puffy pumpkin costume, sign please to whatever person or creature met him at the door, and then took the candy and added it to his bag.  He was very good at taking only one piece, but wasn't very good at leaving once the transaction was over, especially if there was music.  We visited most of the houses on our block, complete with masked werewolves, spooky lighting and sounds, and seemingly still figures coming to life.  Surprisingly, only his parents seemed slightly spooked while Calvin laughed at every fright.  We ended our evening by handing out candy from our own driveway (including the pieces Calvin had brought home), then reading through our Halloween library books one last time before returning to the shelf until next year.

Just for kicks, does anybody remember this little giraffe from last year?

 

Put them back!

On Sunday we took part in that well known, tried and true Halloween ritual of carving pumpkins.  After dozens of years of partaking in this activity ourselves you'd think we'd have been prepared for the slimy mess it can produce, but our memories go back only so far, and clearly they didn't include visions of toddlers up to their shoulders in pumpkin guts.  Well, now they do.  Unlike our friends' children, who'd we had heard were, at best, "uncertain" of the cold wet stuff inside the big orange balls, Calvin had no such qualms about charting this unknown territory.  It was all we could do to keep him from grabbing the (safety) knife and helping us cut out the lid, and there was only a brief moment of questioning wonder before he reached right in.  He loved the fact that spoons were involved, but did not quite grasp the concepts of emptying and sorting and spent a lot of his time trying to put the goop back in (here, Mr. Pumpkin, you need this!).  When all was said and done (read: all three pumpkinds empty) the newspapers were scattered, the floor slippery, and the laundry promising to be interesting.  Calvin was bored by the actual carving part of the evening, but was clearly pleased with the results.  After his bath we lined them up on the coffee table, dimmed the room lights, and brought them to life with tiny candles, and he was absolutely thrilled.  We have to admit that we are pretty pleased with our handiwork, too. 

The 2007 Ophoff Jack-o-lanterns:

 Want to see more?  Visit the Oct 27-Nov 2 album... there are also pictures from our Sunday visit to two different farms and pumpkin patches.  

???

And where did they want the people to enter?

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.