Halloween & Procrastination

synonyms: dithering, delaying tactics, dilatoriness, stalling, temporizing, hesitation,                                         vacillation;humming and hawing; informaldilly-dallying, shilly-shallying;                                    informal kicking the can down the road

          I like to think that we make the most out of our holiday season. Which for my family, begins mid-october for Halloween and runs until Little Christmas on January 6th. This year’s spooky festivities consisted of four days with parties spread over a little over two weeks.

A Witch in the Park!

          For both my wife’s and my family, trips to Six Flags: The Great Escape, were a staple event growing up. If anything it’s become more important now that we have kids, often using our yearly vacation fund to purchase season passes. Located in Queensbury, New York, it’s sort of a special kind of theme park. Despite the “Six Flags” tag, it has maintained a sort of quaintness that doesn’t exist in most other parks. Trading in the usual Warner Bros. cast for the park’s own set of woodland creatures. There’s less emphasis on huge rides with just three coasters, and more focus on children’s attractions like a little town themed around the wild west that kids can run around. It also boasts a wonderful hotel with indoor water park that we’ll be visiting in just a couple weeks to kick off our Christmas season! There are two other theme parks in a closer vicinity to us, and a Legoland opening next year about forty-five minutes away. However, they just don’t have the same nostalgic feeling that Tara and I are looking for.

Papa taking his granddaughter on the same ride he took his kids on!

          In October, as with other Six Flags parks, they switch to “Fright Fest”. Avari opted to dress as a witch to go trick-or-treating through the little village. It’s a small affair, but hey, candy’s candy! After that, we spent the days going on rides, only stopping to watch a magic show and enjoy some overpriced food. Most kids choose pizza or chicken tenders. My kid chooses a huge turkey leg!

Das a lot of Turkey!

           The real fun starts when the sun sets. A siren goes off and warns that the real spookiness is about to begin. If your child is easily scared, it’s time to leave. They don’t sugar coat it. Actors dressed in scary costumes, brandishing things like mallets and chainsaws enter the park. There are no safe zones. They may not chase a small child, in fact they’ll give high hives and take pictures with them. However, they’re not going to hold back scaring others just because a young kid is there. They scream and sprint after people with chainsaws running. Fortunately, Everli is too young and could care less, and Avari loves the commotion and screaming.

This bride has her eye on you…

The park from the skyride.

Nanny and Avi kicking some Foot Clan Butt!

          There’s really not too much to say about this one. My whole family usually dresses up. This is where we debuted this year’s actual Halloween costume. Avi went as Cruella de Vil, and naturally, the rest of us went as dalmatians. Really the event is kids running around a gym screaming. The only attraction of note is a haunted house set up in the hallway by the school’s eight graders. The students enjoy it, and that’s all that really matters.

Cruella with her dalmatians!

Puppy’s in the Mall!

     Dressed in full family costume again, we made our way to the local mall to get some early trick-or-treating done. Not many parents chose to go in costume with their children. We did, which created a nice and awkward moment for me. I was sent off to get some pretzels for the family by myself. It was only after I left the pack, that I realized that I was now a grown man in costume in a mall surrounded by children that were not mine. Sure, most, if not all people thought nothing of it, but in my mind I looked like a weird Dalmatian creep.

     The night of actual Halloween, we met up with family and friends to hit the neighborhood. Avari tried her best to keep up with the older kids, and for the most part had a decent showing, but pooped out eventually and hung back with us. It was Everli’s first time trick-or-treating, and honestly, she didn’t care much. She napped for most of it. However, that didn’t stop me from using her as an excuse to go get my own stash of candy!

Evi’s First Halloween!

          The kids had fun, but honestly I was disappointed. We’ve reached a point in our neighborhood where I would say we’re lucky if half the houses were passing out candy, and the trick-or-treaters on the street were few and far between. The weather was cold and wet, but the precipitation held off most of the evening. It’s sad that in a city so densely populated, the whole concept of trick-or-treating is an after thought. I think next year, there needs to be a discussion about heading out to another area, just so our children can experience the same kind of holiday I did when I was young. Costumed children tearing ass around the neighborhood with almost more candy than they can carry.

           The night ended with the older children watching a scary movie at the house while the younger ones generally created havoc, as they do. Running around the house playing one minute, arguing the next. You know, a standard affair.

          And despite what social media would have me believe, I was once again disappointed with no drug laced sweets. Oh well.

      From here, we have birthday parties, thanksgiving, a vacation, and multiple christmas events heading into the middle of December. Next week we’ll discuss my daughter’s obsession with music that’s probably considered too mature for a 7 year old, and why I don’t generally care. The majority of this post was written with Gorillaz blaring out of her bedroom in the background.

     The one even I didn’t mention was our ninth wedding anniversary. On October 30, 2010, I married the love of my life, my best friend, and I couldn’t be happier! We make it a point to share the day with our kids with our traditional, Japanese dinner picnic on the living room floor!

Anniversary Dinner and Movie on the Living Room Floor!

There’s no way to NOT make a mess…