Well.

It's a good thing I don't blog for a living, 'cause I'd be broke right about now.

Yesterday was what I think of as our family's celebration of Halloween. Every year the kids' therapy group takes a trip to a really cool pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay. There are A LOT of pumpkin patches in Half Moon Bay, which is a lovely fishing/farming town on the coast. But this particular patch is nice because it's a little bit off the beaten path, so it's not as crowded as the others. It's also bigger, and has a HUGE hay maze. Which we've never done, 'cause it takes at least 30 minutes to do, and my sense of direction is pretty rotten.
But they also have hay rides, pony rides, train rides, a (not-so) haunted house, and a play area with a bouncy house. AND, all the kids get free pumpkins.
So we dressed our kids up (LG as Spider Man, WG as a leopard) and went to the Patch.
And had a GREAT time!
LG loves his costume. He even wore he gloves and mask, which we didn't think he'd do. And he ran to the mirror and started posing; it was so cute! (We took the mask off so he could play. And, y'know, see.) And WG looked SO ADORABLE in hers! One of her therapists said "It's the perfect costume; you just want to pet her!!!"
Last year we couldn't get LG on the pony. This year he rode by himself, with a perfect seat and a HUGE smile on his face! And WG laughed and giggled the whole time we were there. No a single tear. (We have a photo of her, from the first trip 3 years ago, dressed as an elephant and sitting on a stack of pumpkins, crying. It's awfully cute but kinda sad, too.)
On actual Halloween night, we'll go to SIL's house for a potluck and to pass out candy to all the adorable munchkins who come by. LG will help pass out candy ( and hopefully refrain from stealing other kids' lollipops, like he did last year). WG will jump on the couch for a few hours.

I must say, I LOVE Halloween! Sure, I have some issues with it. Mainly the slutty costumes. I mean, OK, fine, if you're in college and you wanna dress like a slutty pirate, a slutty nurse, a slutty witch, whatever, FINE. Just don't get so drunk that you don't know who you are, where you are, or who you're with.
But does EVERY costume designed for a woman, or worse, a GIRL, have to be slutty? Not all of us want to let it all hang out. Most of us don't want our YOUNG DAUGHTERS to let it all hang out! And some of us would actually like to be WARM.
And that's all I'm gonna say on the subject, 'cause I can feel my blood pressure rising.
I'm just going to enjoy seeing all the kids in their CUTE costumes.
Then we'll start planning Thanksgiving!