Halloween

Audrey has two crafty grandmothers! Grammy made Audrey's pumpkin hat this year which we have been trying to get her to wear for the last few weeks. We've only been successful a handful of times. Other times we have to result to holding Audrey's hands to keep her from taking the hat off immediately.

Grandma Vicki toiled away on her fancy new sewing machine to make Audrey's Halloween costume at our request. It was our request that she make something, but we left the creativity (and the sweating, stressing, and cursing) up to her. She surprised us with an adorable panda costume on Audrey's birthday.

So, here is your Halloween question: Where do you go on Halloween with your one-year-old in a rural area when you don't know anybody? Well, the Monster Rockfish Festival, of course!

I don't know if it is just festival season down here right now or if these festivals are what people do to keep themselves entertained when there is nothing else to do, but there sure are a lot of these sorts of events: Blessing of the fleet, Riverfest, Taste of St. Mary's, Monster Rockfish Festival, Patuxent River Days, Oyster Festival (home of the national oyster shucking contest), etc. They all are pretty much the same thing: parking on a grass field, a few dollar admission, free tours of some old buildings, the same 6 restaurants selling various types of meat on various types of bread (hot dogs, brisket sandwiches, stuffed ham sandwiches - a local favorite), $3 beers (always the same choices), a few tables set up with information about the local environment, a live band, some arts and crafts, one or two things about the actual event (a few of the restaurants had rockfish as an option on the menu), and the fancy events have free boat rides. They are getting a little predictable now, but they are fun, Audrey enjoys herself, and it gets us out of the house.

The remainder of the day was spent playing in leaves, crying, digging into her pumpkin up to her elbow, crying, trying to eat pumpkin goop, crying, heaving her dinner onto the floor, crying, and going to bed early. She was in quite a state after having her schedule turned on its head yesterday, but that was our fault, not hers. She definitely had some fun throughout the day between her manic fits, so mission accomplished. What's the verdict for next year? Can a newly minted two year old go trick-or-treating? We might give it a shot and we'll try not to go to any political rallies the day before.

Now, if you've made it this far, we've saved the best for last. Audrey showed us quite the trick this morning and it was definitely a treat for us (I think 1:05 "counts" for the baby book):