Snoopy Unveiled

Yesterday I chatted with a friend who had recently had my children over to play at her house. "You're kids sure know a lot about Halloween, "she commented, "did you teach them all about goblins, witches, ghosts, vampires & frankenstein so that they won't be scared on Halloween night?"

Um, yeah . . . sure, of course that's why they know about all that stuff.

And then I picked up Ethan from his pre-school Halloween party. "Your son is just passionate about Halloween," was his teacher's first words to me.

I can't imagine where he gets this holiday obsession from.
Except it must be genetic.

You have to understand, in my family Halloween was practically an institution. Was it enough to simply throw together a costume the day before and trick-or-treat in your own neighborhood? Absolutely not. Not when you had an aunt who was willing to transform her entire garage into a full-blown carnival. And, that's just the finale of the evening. Before that you've got to eat chili served in a pumpkin, drink steaming "witches brew" cider served over dry ice, and trick-or-treat in a pack of 15 cousins while simultaneously being videotaped by your Grandfather. Your costume would be carefully planned, often hand-sewn, or at least selected from Grandma's vault of vintage costumes (that's right, an entire walk-in closet devoted to costume storage). And costumes aren't just for kids, the whole family had to dress up, often with a theme, like the year my Dad wore pink satin riding pants and a ruffled shirt to coordinate with my Mom's Martha Washington costume. Once costumes were decided, all competitive juices would be focused on winning the pumpkin carving contest. One year Uncle John, the family Dentist, blew us all out of the water by outfitting his jack-o-lantern with a complete set of real teeth in braces. And then the night would always be capped off with a rousing rendition of the Witch's Brew Song--if my cousins are reading this they will all start humming the chorus right now . . . . . (oooooh, my witch's brew, what's it gonna do to you? BOO!)

So you can see why, when Ethan told me back in May that he just had to be Snoopy, his request fell on a sympathetic ear. And it's also why Will's Aunt Wendy became a certified hero in my book the day she e-mailed me this picture and offered to ship me the costume:

Will's cousin Brian, circa 1985

Ethan as Snoopy, 23 years later!

My Mom added a dog collar, tail & feet covers to the ensemble. (Yes, that stuffed headpiece is as big as it appears, no he hasn't yet complained of neck pain).

Here he is with some of his pre-school buddies. He didn't care a bit that no child his age has any clue who Snoopy is. He was happy to educate them.
And we can't leave Luke, out of this post either. I'm sure you're all shocked he decided to be an animal (elephant this year, lion was already used last year). Here he is all ready for his Music Makers Halloween party.

Happy Halloween!