Halloween Recap

We started our Halloween morning with a trip to New Orleans. The main destination was the bug museum, but first, we made a stop by Café Degas. Who would want to go look at bugs without a belly full of jellied goose liver? In attendance were Mrs. theskinnyonbenny, Vanya, my two nephews Sam and Caleb, and my sister Sarah.

One thing I’ve noticed lately is that any time we go visit a restaurant, Vanya wants to be taken to the potty. I think it’s more a function of his inability to sit still than it is of bladder fullness, but it’s a request that a parent has to respect no matter what. I had taken him once – a real pain in the ass, as he pulled off his shoes in order to get his Spiderman costume off, and then we pretty much had to redress again.

	The touching of the maggots.

Later, he asked to go again. I gave him an okay, and in the course of climbing out from behind a table, he dumped over a glass of water. We did the thing where everyone’s napkin gets put into the pool in a futile effort to clean up, and we actually managed a pretty good job.

Then I turned around, and he was standing right behind me with the Spiderman outfit on the floor, just watching the proceedings from mid-restaurant while standing their in his little drawers. That’s my boy, I suppose.

The bug museum was as fun as I remembered it being, although the “touch for yourself� part was a bowl full of maggots rather than the hissing cockroaches this time. The spot where a huge spider comes out of the wall and scares people is always great fun, and I could have stood there and watched people startle all day long.

After the museum, we went back to Slidell, locked the kids in a closet, and went for a delightful sail. Velvet Elvis has been missing me. I need to get out there and give her some love. Hopefully, it will be a warm winter, and we’ll get to voyage a lot.

Evening trick-or-treating was nothing especially exciting. It was our first year with 100% comprehension of the process and of the rewards, and it was definitely fun seeing how excited the little ones got.

At one point my brother-in-law asked some young parents if their pint-sized wolverine had real knives attached to his fists. They gave him a serious and concerned “no,� and then he walked off saying, “those dummies thought I might really believe that they put knives on their kid’s fist,� while the dummies walked off saying, “He actually thought we would make knives a part of our kid’s costume.� I was in just the perfect place to see all of this, and it made me chuckle.

	Batman Trick or Treats at the zoo.

came back with a vengeance in costume popularity this year. I saw a number of little Buzzes with inflated wings on their back and at least one Woody, a tall skinny adult who never once said, “They poisoned the waterhole� or “You’re my favorite deputy.� But my favorite was the weenie dog who had a woody tucked into his collar, presumably to rescue the squeaky penguin from the yard sale.

Once I get the pics posted, you’re going to think I’ve mixed up different years, but in fact, Vanya started wearing Batman as soon as we got the costume, wearing it to Boo at the Zoo a week before, and then to a tailgate the following day, and although we had it with us on Halloween, he decided to change over to Spiderman for Halloween proper. It will be good training for double celebration of holidays for once he’s married and has to do them in more than one place.

And finally, if you were wondering, no, I didn't dress as a female at any point this year. If you're disappointed by that, invite me to a party next year.