October 31, 2013

Somehow, this year, our Halloween morphed into three whole full-blown Halloweens. We had Spooktacular. Then we had Sayre Halloween. Then, yesterday, we had actual Halloween. Halloween 2013 was the year that Halloween just kept going and going and going. The hype level was high. The candy kept a’ flowing. We got a lot of use out of those Halloween costumes. There was much chaos, of both the controlled and uncontrolled variety.

By the morning of actual Halloween, we were struggling to rally any genuine excitement for it. But rally we did. Actual Halloween was the last hurrah of never-ending-Halloween-2013. Here are my favorite photos from October 31, 2013:

9:20am. In preparation for that night’s trick-or-treating, I brought our mother-load of already-received candy to class with me and offered it to my students. (Well, actually, to tell the truth: In my firmest voice possible I informed them: “Anyone whose backpack is not stuffed with candy will receive an F in this course.”) Photo courtesy of one of my students, Derek Knott.

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1:30pm. Halloween parade at the bambinos’ school. Our kindergartner proudly and confidently chose her own costume this year without even an ounce of hesitation. There’s something funky and awesome happening with our 5-year-old girl. She’s turning some corner from princess-to-superhero, and her mother and father could not be more happy about this.

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6:15pm. Ready for trick-or-treating. We got together with two other families for the afternoon/evening: after-school playdate (kids played, mommies drank wine), dinner (pizza delivery), and trick-or-treating (in our friends’ very Halloween-friendly neighborhood). Photo courtesy of the hostess-with-the-mostest Traci Carrion.

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8:50pm. Lehigh Halloween party at President Gast’s House. I must admit: this was the high of the day for the bambinos. They thought their mother was crazy when, driving home from trick-or-treating, I informed them that we were now going to a party at President Gast’s house. But when we got out of the car, and they heard the music blaring from the backyard of the president’s house, the three of them lit right up. Oh yes, this is their kind of party. Over 1,000 students and staff showed up; our friend Karl was DJ’ing; there were hot dogs and chicken wings; and there was dancing dancing dancing. We were the only faculty family there, but K-O-and-M could not care less about that. They were in their element, rockin-out, in their glory, dancing up a storm, as our Halloween 2013 came to a close. (A few more pics from the party below.)