Halloween at the Zoo

Every year the week before Halloween, our local Henry Vilas Zoo has a very fun and crowded trick-or-treating event where local businesses set up tents and distribute candy to the hungry masses of tigers, princesses, Spidermen, Winnie-the-Poohs, ladybugs, pumpkins, etc. We've gone once since Logan was born, but that was in 2005 when he was 10 months old and rather clueless about costumes, Halloween traditions and candy. Last year, the weather was bad and we slacked off on getting him a costume since he still didn't quite get it, but this year we went all out.

Logan went as a tiger (or Tigger, depending on your perspective), and Shay was the ubiquitous baby pumpkin. (Both costumes were purchased at garage sales for 50 cents each - go me!). We got there nice and early since we knew the crowd would get intense, and introduced Logan to the joy of saying "Trick or Treat" in exchange for sugary loot. He collected a small batch of candy in his pumpkin bag, but he had the most fun when we joined our friends Suzanne and her daughter Miranda at the pavilion to listen to a live band. To indicate just how highly he thinks of Miranda - he didn't flinch when he shared his candy with her and she selected his grape-flavored Tootsie pop.

When the band started playing, Logan not only danced like he was in a veritable mosh pit, but he took his silver trick-or-treating bag and turned it into a guitar. The boy can make a guitar out of most anything - Legos, shoelaces, Play-Doh, buttered toast. Even Shay. He is nothing if not creative when it comes to guitar-playing. In the video, Miranda is the little girl in the dog costume.

We had a minor crisis on the way home since he kept wanting more "treats" - we thought we were being magnanimous about letting him have a few pieces of chocolate before lunch, but he had a different idea and didn't get the concept of being allowed more AFTER lunch. So after pitching a minor fit about eating his turkey sandwich (we eat a lot of those around here), he did get some lunch and was finally allowed a "widdle bit more treats, mommy." And so peace reigned in the land once again.