We settled on a face and then Lila was supposed to help me with scooping out the pumpkin guts. She took one look inside, made a few half-hearted scoops, then said, "No thank you mommy, I don't want to touch it anymore."
I blame Josh for her aversion to texture.
So I stayed up till 11:30 carving the darn pumpkin. Lila came down at breakfast and approved.
On Friday I got the girls into their costumes (Sleeping Beauty and a Chinese Princess) in the afternoon and headed out to meet some friends. In Park Slope all the kids trick or treat at the stores on 7th Avenue starting at about 4. They shut down traffic at 6 and then at 6:30 all the kids - and parents in costumes - march in a really big, fun parade. After that, there is more trick or treating at people's houses and apartments.
The last two Halloweens have been very mild and clear and so everyone sits out on their stoops to hand out candy. As someone who never cared for the holiday, I have to say, this is definitely as good as it gets. It's very centered around the youngest kids, but the older kids seem to have fun too. It doesn't have that menacing, egg-throwing, rowdy vibe of the suburbs, nor is it the adult-centric holiday of Manhattan.
First we stopped on our stoop and attempted to take some pictures. That yielded predictable results:
We met up with Lila's friends Charlotte and Joseph. Joseph goes to school with Lila, and just moved here from England five weeks ago, so he was trick or treating for the first time. He was dressed as Darth Vader, or as Lila called him, Dark Vader.
"I haven't been to the dark side yet," he told me. "My mummy won't let me go." Smart mummy.
This is a store owner in costume, handing out candy:
And this is Lila and her friend Charlotte. I love this picture because they both think they are the most beautiful girls in the world, and they are, of course, aren't they?
