Before we left, the mailman showed up with a HUGE box. My mother had sent us all kinds of Halloween goodies. The baby fell in love with this mechanical dancing ghost doll that sings "I want candy." The older kids got Pez dispensers and glow sticks and a huge selection of Halloween themed candy. Mom also sent a mug shaped like a witch's belly and feet that says, "Witch's Brew," on the side. I might use that year-round.
We stopped at Party City to pick up the baby's costume. He's going to be a monkey. We picked that because of his love for bananas. Not just the food - banana songs. No matter how cranky he is, he perks up to hear the Harry Belafonte song that starts, "day-oh, me say day-ay-ay-oh . . . " He also loves to dance to the Tally Hall song, Banana Man. And then there's the bananas in pajamas song. When the baby tries to sing, he says, "bababababananananananana." The monkey costume at Party City has a split banana upside down on the top of the hood with ears. It's horribly adorable.
Then we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a dinner to eat in the corn maze: local brewed root beer, apple doughnuts and other rare goodies. While Brett drove, I read the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. It was the condensed version, more a replay of the facts than a developed story. But it was the only version I could grab at the last minute when I thought of it.
By the time we arrived at this little farm, it was dusk. We drove into a big mud puddle and parked, soaked our pants and shoes getting to the hayride. Bear slipped one of his mittens between the slats of the wagon and shrieked in grief as it disappeared behind us.
By now it was so dark that we put glow sticks on the children so we would know where they were. We watched little lines of neon bob in front of us, slipping and sliding in the mud. We used the terribly scientific method of "your turn to pick!" when we came to every crossroads. Somehow this worked, and we only hit one dead end. We came out cold and hungry and very, very muddy.
There was a bonfire next to a picnic table at the exit. We sat down and pigged out. It was really a horrible non-nutritious dinner. But those are pretty rare for us. And this holiday is pretty big for us. I'm glad we can take the time to make it special. I'm especially glad for a partner that shares the same values.
There's a festival on Sunday with another corn maze. I think I might give the kids a compass for it. What a great lesson in directions, right?
