More Halloween Doings

Quick, before Frankenstorm knocks out our power (and possibly rains out Halloween), I will post some pictures of sunnier times this weekend.

We picked out pumpkins at our favorite orchard.  Andrew insisted that he and daddy select big pumpkins because "we are big."  In the end, he went with the one in my lap since he could lift it. 

The orchard also has a petting zoo, featuring these freaky orange-eyed emus that Andrew wasn't too crazy about.

Back at home, Andrew was somewhat interested in carving a jack-o'-lantern, but refused to touch the inside of the pumpkin because he "didn't want to get his hands gooey."  Not sure where these fastidious standards are the other 364 days of the year...

Boo at the Zoo

Yesterday I took Andrew to a Halloween event at the zoo, where kids wore their costumes and could trick or treat and do crafts at stations throughout the zoo.  There were jack 'o laterns in the animals' cages, some of which fared better than others (the jaguar's seemed like it had been batted around a few times).

Here is Andrew the doggie (yes, we finally settled on a costume), riding a flamingo on the zoo's merry-go-round:

And here he is with a gorilla, wearing the pumpkin button he made.  For the record, the animals rated a distant second to the candy tables in terms of Andrew's interest. 

Liberty State Park

We spent Saturday just outside NYC visiting Andrew's Uncle Ricky and Aunt Kate.  The weather was perfect and city views were amazing.  Andrew was delighted to see his aunt and uncle and had a grand time picking up microscopic pebbles along the river walkway and visiting an "old fashioned train" on the park property.  Lately Andrew points out a lot of things he deems "old fashioned," sometimes accurately, sometimes not.  Ricky and Kate's iMac was proclaimed old fashioned, but apparently that was just because they were wisely hiding the keyboard from him.

 

Gluing

After Andrew took such an interest in decorating his "princess pumpkin" a few weeks back, I stocked up on similar art supplies. As a result, we have been churning out masterpieces like the ones below at a rate of 1-2 per day.  Googly eyes and puffballs are heavily favored.

Halloween prep

We visited one of those Halloween superstores and purchased this UPS man costume in an attempt to get Andrew to start finalizing some of his Halloween costume ambitions.  Over the past several weeks he has expressed interest in being Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, a fireman, Humpty Dumpty, a construction worker, a princess, a dog (because he wants to be able to lick his ice cream bowl clean and I told him only dogs lick their bowls), and an M&M.  Yesterday I was informed that the UPS costume can go back to the store.

Maybe some early trick or treating with his grandparents will inspire him to settle on a choice.  Clearly he is enthusiastic about his upcoming Halloween bounty. 

Future Firefighter

Last week a fireman visited Andrew's school and let the kids take turns with the hose.

Parade

Andrew attended his first parade this weekend.  It was unsurprisingly a hit, given that many of his favorite things were featured: fire trucks, old fashioned cars, musical instruments, M&Ms (many parade participants threw candy to the crowds), and Minnie Mouse.

Below Andrew timidly greets this feathered and spangled fireman/musician.

There were a lot of local politicians shaking hands.  Most gave out candy, but one gave Andrew a flag.  We also have some giveaway bottled water in our refrigerator featuring the face of a policitican we won't vote for...but I am not one to throw away a handy bottle of water.

I thought these antique bikes were just plain cool:

And here is the highlight, a hug from Minnie:

Fall Fair

This weekend we went to a fair at a nearby historic house museum.  Andrew took his first pony ride on Peanut Butter,

practiced his archery

(just kidding), and decorated a pumpkin.  This latter activity occupied his attention for an impressive 20+ minutes.

His favorite decoration was by far the feathers, which he attached to most surfaces of the pumpkin with liberal doses of glitter glue.

Here is the end result:

Andrew proudly explained that his pumpkin was dressed up as a princess.  Every time he walks by it in our house he exclaims, "What a beautiful pumpkin!"  It has been an ample source of amusement to Greg and me over the past several days.