Spookactularly wet Saturday

November 3, 2007 by Barbara.

I know as well as the next person that cool, rainy days are to be expected in Ottawa in October. I even know that we need such days to replenish the water table and that in the spring my flower bulbs will be all the better for this fall’s rain. Still, I offered a less than enthusiastic welcome to the rain that visited us last Saturday. We had planned to attend the Members’ Halloween Party at the Agriculture Museum after Kindermusik but Reid wanted to go straight to the party. The thought of all of the rainy day driving was tempting for Ken but he agreed that we could go directly to the party.

We arrived at the Agriculture Museum and I made another pitch to Reid to put on her elephant costume. Having more sense than me, she declined and we left the car with Reid wearing a foam giraffe mask and a coat that looked like one worn by a daycare classmate. We joked that Reid was dressed up as S. The rain was heavy enough and the ground muddy enough that I was soon glad Reid had refused to wear her costume. There were swarms of kids and parents at the registration desk. Many - both kids and adults - were wearing costumes. Based on the selection we saw, I’m expecting many firefighters, Disney Princesses and dogs. By the time we got to the second barn, I’d lost Reid’s mask and Ken went back into the rain to look for it. Reid decorated a pumpkin with foam shapes, cloth flowers and other bits. Glue sticks were provided but weren’t up to the task of sticking things to the cold, damp pumpkins. We used toothpicks and those brass thingmabobs that hold papers together. Ken decided that the pumpkin wouldn’t survive the rest of the visit and so took it back to the car. What a dedicated - and wet - father! I dragged them to a new-to-us building for caramel apples but Reid wanted only a plain piece. I sucked the caramel off one piece and gave it to her. The question is: does that make me a good mother or a bad one?

We carved our jack o’lantern after naptime. Ken took the top off and Reid and I handled the seed and stringy-stuff removal. I felt like I was betraying Poppa Howard’s memory a bit as we threw the seeds out but the last time I roasted the seeds, we threw them out uneaten. Reid had definite ideas about what the jack o’lantern should look like and Ken was able to deliver on her vision to a remarkable extent.

Reid and I ate an early supper and went down to the city’s Halloween party, which had billed itself as “Spooktacular”. It was still raining and cold with darkness thrown in as we got downtown and discovered that the event was happening in the heritage building. There was a long line of people standing on the sidewalk already, though we arrived only 15 minutes after the event started. I had originally though some of the activities would happen inside the main building and so hadn’t put Reid’s coat on. We encountered a bedraggled family as we returned to the car for Reid’s coat. I asked if the activities were worth the wait and they said that the line moved so slowly and the weather was bad enough that they’d given up.

I popped Reid, protesting, into her seat and said it was too yucky out for us. I called Melissa and arranged for us to trick or treat at her house instead. It’s good to have a friend who doesn’t mind if you invite yourself over at 6:00 on a Saturday, especially on a spooktacularly wet Saturday before Halloween.

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