Halloween

If you've been following along here for any length of time, then you already know we are pretty big on Halloween. Not in the sense that we go all out on the home decor, or yard props - in fact it's always quite the opposite with us being rather lack luster in that department. But more the sheer enthusiasm for the season.

I don't bake much on the whole, so the holiday isn't one to strike new motivation in me either, the way it does with others I know. Where I do invest a little extra energy though, is costumes. Talking about them well in advance to ensure we have a fully fleshed out idea of what each kid might want to be, come the end of October. With three hugely differing personalities, the choices, as you can imagine, tend to vary widely. 

This year though when Arlo decided on dressing up as Slash I realized quickly what a fun opportunity the rock stare genre could be for all three boys. The initial image of Leon as Vegas era Elvis sent my heart all a flutter when I first stumbled across the infamous red and white jumpsuit online. Just like Rex, seemingly destined to inhabit the skin of Kurt. A natural (sweetly ragged) comparison I already see on the daily. Took on a new level of "eerie" once he was fully done up. So that when I would catch a glimpse of him in the backseat, painted facial hair, piercing blue eyes on me like the revived ghost of Cobain, clinging to a navy backpack in perfectly sullen form, there in the small space of my sun splashed review mirror on the way to school. More than a couple times, seeing him try on various versions of his Idol, I felt legitimately freaked out by such an uncanny resemblance inherent on my five year old. 

As far as festivities go, we had the usual plethora of school parties, pumpkin carving nights, movie dates, plus one early morning parade where kindergarten through third grade make the rounds to show off costumes before the 6th graders take to the stage to perform their annual Halloween dance (please see the day's highlight - which made me laugh so hard I could barely hold the phone upright to record - here if you haven't already) Their school Trunk r' Treat is always something we look forward to if only because whatever old automobile we have parked in our drive way at the moment makes for a fast and easy backdrop. Though you would think, that in the four years we've participated, we might take to planning ahead and getting things prepared the week before, but this time came together just like all the rest. Mike, home from work a little later than expected, dry ice in hand, pulling all kinds of random items from the garage rafters and throwing together what always ends up looking like a fairly well thought, pre meditated addition to the event. This year's theme came about on a whim like some kind of "a Baja party nightmare," complete with old long boards and antique ice buckets and luggage in the rack, two skeletal heads wearing big sombreros that Mike attached to wood framed bodies he rigged up from split two by fours in less than 30 minutes.Which I thought was a genius alternative to how we typically create the bodies - by stuffing old levis and flannel jackets with dirty laundry. 

In way of trick r' treating, we stuck to the same routine of meeting up with a few local school families and following a trail of children weaving their way through the community before settling back for an after party at our friend's house up the street. I don't always dress up for the whole thing but when I realized late Saturday afternoon, how easily I could fill the shoes of my own favorite rock God Head, I made it happen by slicing up an old blazer into a vest, painting my face white and sticking plastic flowers in my hat in honor of "Rolling Thunder Bob," which - if forced to choose - might possibly be my favorite of all the Bobs. Sadly, there aren't many photos to document the full extent of my costume, but enough to prove that for half a night, it all came to be.

Mike, on the other hand has been temporarily excommunicated from the family for refusing to dress up like the Boss when all he needed (red bandanna, white shirt, blue jeans, and his matching Telecaster) was here stocked already in our possession. And Hayes, well, I kind of dropped the ball on him too. He was a monkey, in a suit too small. And then a skeleton in a suit too big. That I'm almost positive he already wore last year as well. But hey, he wasn't complaining. Or if he was, no one could hear it through the cheers Elvis was generating in gold aviators on the road up ahead.

Anyway, I'm glad it's over. Sunday found me utterly flat brained and exhausted at week's end. In which the only thing I accomplished, was moving a big mound of laundry from the stairwell to the closet, and watching Beetlejuice while eating stale pizza and "fun size" snicker bars next to the boys on the couch in pajamas.



Hope you all had a Happy, Fun filled, Holiday weekend too,
J

* also please forgive the weird arrangement of this post. I'm not sure why my look that way but I'm far too tired to figure out a way to correct it :)