Madness to the Nth degree. That's what last night was. You want to know the funniest part? I don't think either kid ate a single piece of candy. It's like the treats were secondary; tearing through the neighborhood after dark with their friends whilst wearing a superhero costume is all it took. We're talking bona fide frenzy.
So here are the boys, right before they completely lost their minds.
Ashton struck that pose on his own, by the way. Maybe that's how Captain America sits leisurely, I wouldn't know.
But let's back up. The Halloween prep this year was ridiculous. A week ago we went to our neighbor's party. Then last Saturday was the Natick Spooktacular, Sunday was Brae Burn's kids' Halloween, Monday was Ashton's school parade and wait, don't forget the pumpkins! I'd like to say we went to a pumpkin patch and cut them off the vine like true pioneers, but the truth is they were $4.99 at BJ's and it was too good of a deal.
On Sunday afternoon Kayleigh and her mom (our neighbors) came over and we all got to work scooping out the guts and drawing our faces.
Done! The dress rehearsal:
From left to right: Kayleigh's puppy, Alex's smiley one, my nervous nelly and Ashton's dental nightmare.
Now, let's get to the costumes. It started about a month ago when I began encouraging cute complementary ideas. I thought it would be nice to give Alex a day in the sun and have him go as Batman and Ashton go as Robin. No? Santa and an elf? How about Mario and Luigi? Woody and Buzz Lightyear? I mean, for Pete's sake, what good are kids if you can't dress them up on Halloween. Ashton warmed to the idea of coupling up with Alex only if he could be a pumpkin and Alex could be the seeds. Uh, next.
For awhile after that, Ashton wanted to be some kind of dragon/ghost combination. Specifically, a half of each. Then, he thought he could go as a lightbulb. After that, a witch (I corrected him, "You mean warlock" and he said "No, I mean witch."). Finally, they settled on the most original costumes ever in the history of little boys on Halloween: superheroes. Captain America and Spiderman, to be specific.
As an aside, superhero worship amongst kids is a real thing. The thought is that children sometimes struggle with their vulnerability and lack of strength and superheroes, by contrast, are extraordinary and powerful, they get the bad guy and they always win. Especially with boys, it is so easy to see why they love dressing up as these characters. People need them to "save the day" and they get to pretend to do so, which can really give their confidence a boost. The boys smiled so big every time they put on their costumes. They raced around striking poses and flexing their "muscles":
The night broke down as follows. We had our new awesome friends come over (Ashton and Elijah are both 5 (they met at camp) and Alex and Crosby are both 2) for round 1.
They were off like rockets as soon as we blew the whistle (metaphorically speaking). My pictures all look like this.
Round 1 was a blur. Perhaps because I had (hot cider + bourbon) in my travel mug :D But honestly, the boys ran around at full throttle. Ashton took off his mask at one point and said, "I can't wear this anymore Mommy, there's too much water in it." (Um it was sweat.)
Around 7:15 pm we regrouped at the house, our friends said goodbye and I tried to serve the boys some semblance of dinner (BAHAHAHA, as if they could focus on anything at all). 7:45 pm? Round 2 baby! We hit a different corner of the neighborhood and the decorations were pretty impressive.
It is FRIGGIN' CREEPY. For example, if your house is totally blacked out and you put this on one of your windows, people outside will see this:
But the figures are moving. Like you SWEAR they are real and trying to claw their way out. It's so lifelike that I was nervously laughing, wondering aloud if there weren't really paid actors in there. Right? Anyway, there are lots of other scenes too and they rotate (i.e. dancing skeletons, ALSO very realistic!). Can you tell I was thrown by this.
Anyway, a few random shots:
See Ashton's dazed look? Halloween wore him out good.
Same with Alex. On our way home from Round 2, he just stopped and laid down in the middle of someone's driveway. Really, he did.
Even Spiderman needs to rest sometimes.
Back at the ranch, last ones :)
Captain America and Spiderman costumes, may you rest in peace.
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