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Today was our Halloween extravaganza. Alex was very excited to wear her costume - in fact, we struggled over getting dressed this morning, because she wanted to be a giraffe RIGHT AWAY instead of putting on stupid overalls or anything first.
In the morning, four of the five families in our playgroup went to Zoo Boo, a Halloween celebration at the Maryland Zoo. There were games, music, and even trick-or-treating (not from the animals, but from booths sponsored by local businesses). They'd given some of the large animals pumpkins to play with.
But the coolest thing was that they'd opened up the oldest part of the zoo, which is now closed to visitors. I never even knew it was there - it doesn't appear on the visitors' map, and you can't see into it from any of the pathways. All the old-fashioned barred cages are still there, empty, with a few larger habitats - empty. Creepily, a few exhibits are still populated, situated on empty paths and surrounded by empty cages: a pair of bobcats, the most amazing pair of bald eagles, a flock of flamingoes. The old cages are beautiful - graceful, arching iron bars - as long as you don't imagine animals actually having to live in them. They'd stocked a lot of the deserted habitats and cages with Halloween displays: gravestones, skeletons, ghosts, pumpkins. But the secretness and semi-desertedness were eerie enough for me.
After we went through the special Halloween sections, we did a quick tour of the African animal exhibits. I was disappointed to find that the giraffes were all inside the giraffe house, because I wanted to get a photo op with Alex in her giraffe costume. We did sort of get some indoor pictures, but the giraffes are seen to much better advantage outdoors.
After an afternoon entirely spent trying to get an overexcited and overtired toddler to nap, we packed her into the giraffe costume again this evening for our church Halloween party. It was an exceptionally fine example of the genre. Potluck supper (we ate at home first, because experience demonstrates that parties are way too exciting for Alex to eat anything), much wandering around admiring costumes, and then games and crafts set up at various stations around the room: cupcake decorating, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin carving. To fit in with this year's RE theme ("the interdependent web of existence"), there was a trivia hunt with questions about bones, spiders, and other Halloween-y nature facts, and small prizes for correct answers.
Alex had a great time wandering up and down the parish hall looking at people's costumes and occasionally breaking into a happy little dance. Michael and I took turns following her, which meant that whoever was off-duty had a nice opportunity for relaxed conversations. It was a good party.
In the morning, four of the five families in our playgroup went to Zoo Boo, a Halloween celebration at the Maryland Zoo. There were games, music, and even trick-or-treating (not from the animals, but from booths sponsored by local businesses). They'd given some of the large animals pumpkins to play with.
But the coolest thing was that they'd opened up the oldest part of the zoo, which is now closed to visitors. I never even knew it was there - it doesn't appear on the visitors' map, and you can't see into it from any of the pathways. All the old-fashioned barred cages are still there, empty, with a few larger habitats - empty. Creepily, a few exhibits are still populated, situated on empty paths and surrounded by empty cages: a pair of bobcats, the most amazing pair of bald eagles, a flock of flamingoes. The old cages are beautiful - graceful, arching iron bars - as long as you don't imagine animals actually having to live in them. They'd stocked a lot of the deserted habitats and cages with Halloween displays: gravestones, skeletons, ghosts, pumpkins. But the secretness and semi-desertedness were eerie enough for me.
After we went through the special Halloween sections, we did a quick tour of the African animal exhibits. I was disappointed to find that the giraffes were all inside the giraffe house, because I wanted to get a photo op with Alex in her giraffe costume. We did sort of get some indoor pictures, but the giraffes are seen to much better advantage outdoors.
After an afternoon entirely spent trying to get an overexcited and overtired toddler to nap, we packed her into the giraffe costume again this evening for our church Halloween party. It was an exceptionally fine example of the genre. Potluck supper (we ate at home first, because experience demonstrates that parties are way too exciting for Alex to eat anything), much wandering around admiring costumes, and then games and crafts set up at various stations around the room: cupcake decorating, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin carving. To fit in with this year's RE theme ("the interdependent web of existence"), there was a trivia hunt with questions about bones, spiders, and other Halloween-y nature facts, and small prizes for correct answers.
Alex had a great time wandering up and down the parish hall looking at people's costumes and occasionally breaking into a happy little dance. Michael and I took turns following her, which meant that whoever was off-duty had a nice opportunity for relaxed conversations. It was a good party.
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Well, not very. :)
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(And a tail! I adore the tail.)
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-J
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Thinking about the old cages at the zoo, they were still in use for the big cats when I first came to Baltimore in the early 90s. There used to be signs in front of them warning that big male cats like to spray, and that people should stand back behind the signs. It was good when they moved the animals out of those cages, though I'm sure there was a time when people thought they were the very best thing in humane enclosures.
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Hee!
The zoo secret-areas-now-Halloweeny tour sounds great. And the church Halloween party with the trivia hunt with questions about bones, spiders, and other Halloween-y nature facts is a neat idea!
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