Trick or Treat!

Elliot was a plump little penguin for Halloween (whether he liked it or not-- I got the costume on clearance last year!). It helped that it was chilly; thus, his winter coat underneath filled out the belly nicely. He already waddles just fine.

Harper Street, here in Hyde Park, is a Halloween Extravaganza! There is a 2-block strip that is closed off to traffic for the evening, and the wood-framed, victorian houses are all decked out in spookiness. There was more than one 5-ft spider dropping from a pulley in the trees, a 20 foot tall scarecrow in the center of the block blaring the Ghostbusters theme song, and plenty of political commentary (one set of 3 skeletons on a porch had a sign, "Teapartiers welcome, brains and witches optional..."). It was packed with kids and every house had a constant train of tricker-treaters begging at the door.

Elliot was overwhelmed at first. The dropping spider scared the be-jesus out of him, but after he got over that, he wanted to do what everyone else was doing. He marched right up to houses (with our help, of course), welcomed the candy, and promptly dropped it in his little pail. A few times, he wanted to do the rounds again and we had to detour him.

The most entertaining part was watching our friends from France-- Claire, Martin, and Diane-- enjoy this American festivity. Claire was in awe the whole time, snapping photos everywhere. It was worth it just to see her reactions throughout the evening.