We had a good and full weekend. I really wanted my kids to have a fun Halloween, and since I wasn’t sure how much traditional trick-or-treating would be available, I made other plans. The good news is that those other plans kept them occupied enough that the sparse traditional trick-or-treating was only a small part of the weekend.
On Friday night, we went to the Morris Arboretum’s Halloween event. The garden displayed dozens of scarecrows representing all sorts of characters, plus spooky lights (and a full moon…though the garden didn’t have much to do with that!). They had about half a dozen trick-or-treating stations through the gardens, all giving out ample bags of candy.
Then on Saturday, we went to the Philadelphia Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo. My 11-year-old went in one of those inflatable T-Rex costumes, and it was like walking the grounds with a celebrity. Kids kept yelling “It’s a dinosaur!!” Disturbingly, the cheetahs stood up when they saw him and followed him as he walked past the exhibit. I guess they recognized a fellow predator! We got goodie bags there too.
Then on Sunday, we went to the Franklin Institute’s Halloween event. We found all 8 trick-or-treating stations in the museum, each giving out 3-4 pieces of candy apiece.
My husband took the big kids to a few houses on Saturday night. As suspected, only about a third of the usual volume had their lights on. But no one felt deprived of sugar or costume opportunities. As usually happens, the kids will eat a lot for a few days and then kind of forget about it, and we’ll wind up dumping most of the picked-over haul.
The baby did not get any candy, but he did tolerate the lobster costume!
In other news: My 5-year-old had his first rock climbing class on Sunday morning. He loved it. I watched him climb to the top again and again, seeming utterly fearless. I mentioned this to him afterwards and he told me that he was afraid of heights, but he was in charge of himself, and he didn’t have to let his fear stop him. I love that!
Just a note to say how much I love what your 5 year old said, and I am going to try to use that matra for myself. Wise beyond his years- go him!!
Your 5-year-old is so wise. I’ll need to remember that the next time I become fearful. I’m happy to hear your children were able to enjoy some Halloween festivities. One of my neighbors in my neighborhood had signs made up for anyone in our subdivision that wanted to participate in handing out treats. It was great! Many residents in the neighborhood participated, and we had a pretty good turnout of trick-or-treaters. I had so much fun seeing all the children in their costumes and handing out candy. The parents were appreciative, and so were the children.
I really wanted to sign my older son up for rock climbing. I think it’s something he would LOVE! I’m going to have to look and see if they have started back up yet due to covid- last I checked the indoor climbing place was only open for appointments for open climbing, not the classes. I think they even eventually have a “team” for the older kids that does climbing outings or maybe competitions of some kind? Not sure. (though clearly not in winter in Wisconsin).