Pippi and Sherlock

A long time ago we used to throw Halloween parties. Big, joyful gatherings for the kids to go wild and savor this holiday that is so purely for little people.  And then I had an October baby. 

So now I am just grateful that other people love Halloween as much as I do, so that the kids can enjoy this time without me having to exert any effort.

We carved the flock of pumpkins that landed on our boat. Zach lined them up along the dock so that they could be on display for anyone strolling by.

 

Zach decided to be classic Sherlock Holmes this year and Naia wanted to be Pippi Longstocking. 

(Sherlock dropped his pipe overboard.)

And when the big night came, we had more than the usual amount of kids boat trick-or-treating. Aside from the neighborhood kids, there were some passing through kid boats and some land based friends of boat kids who joined in making it a mighty herd stomping up the docks. 

Zach was blissed out with his friends collecting sweets and treats. Naia was... overwhelmed. "Too many big kids!", she declared. "And nobody is following the rules! They can't run on the dock." It was just too much for her. 

And she was under the weather to start with, so she only lasted about 20 minutes. My girl who has a huge sweet tooth suddenly had no interest in candy and chocolate, she just wanted to come home, have a mama made pumpkin chocolate chip muffin and cuddle.

It was a happy Halloween.

we have a pumpkin problem

Hello. I am here today to talk about our pumpkin problem. You see, we have an absolutely ridiculous amount of pumpkins, especially for people who live on a sailboat. The kids LOVE pumpkins, in a deep, unnatural way. And I will admit I have a thing for them too. And this is the time of year when everywhere we go someone is handing us an orange, lumpy sphere of happiness. Every fall festival or homeschool outing or trip to get groceries somehow results in another pumpkin. The orange rascals are everywhere.

And so when we want to go sailing, we end up with a scene like this.

And that's not even all of them... sigh.

We made the grave mistake a week or so ago of heading out on a rough evening sail with all of the pumpkins in tow. One of the huge heavy ones went flying across the cockpit and nearly clobbered poor Naia. From then on I told Zach is was his job to get them all off the boat before we cast off. Well, almost all. Big Bertha stayed because honestly I think she weighs more than Zach does. She is the white gorda gourd under the fairy house in this photo...

Zach saw this set up at a local farm, and said, "Oh mommy can we build something like that on the boat?" Nooooooooooooooooo!

Some will be carved, some are just adorning the boat au naturel, some will become candles, and some I am giving away to unsuspecting visitors. Hello, welcome aboard! Can I offer you a pumpkin or a glass of wine or maybe a pumpkin?

And with each pumpkin acquisition of course comes the gratuitous pumpkin photos that every parent in America takes this time of year.

So, anyone have some pumpkin recipes they want to share ;)

Boat Trick-or-Treating

We are so lucky to have a great neighborhood at our marina. Not just the boats, but the little area around our marina is wonderful as well. We are tucked in to a dead end off of another dead end, and there are just a handful of kids back here. It's perfect for Halloween because all of the kids usually trick-or-treat together in a group, and everyone knows to expect them. Zach actually left a funny sign up in the laundry room this year, letting everyone know that the kids would be coming around on Halloween and exactly what time too. Wish I had snapped a picture of it!

For a few days before Halloween, treats were being left on our boat. Homemade brownies and bags of candy.

Because these are the only kids in the neighborhood, they get spoiled. rotten. Most boats don't just hand out a piece or two of candy, they hand out bags and handfuls of candy. The kids walk boat to boat, and know where to go because there are lights on or more than likely someone waiting with a big smile in the cockpit.

(SuperJen's daughter A, above as a mermaid)

 (2012 trick-or-treating gang, above and below.)

My trick is to keep a bag of slightly less junkie junk foods along for the walk. I stuff honey sticks, organic lollipops, stickers, whistles, play dough, baggies of popcorn, etc. As Naia's bag filled up with candy bars and such, I swap it out for the other treats. Then she feels like she is part of the big kid action without a struggle over candy she's not ready for yet. I also keep her in a life jacket. I went back and forth on this, but decided it was better to cover up her costume for safety, than worry fading daylight on the thin rickety finger piers next to each boat with cold water below.

After the boats, we walk around the block to the handful of houses around the marina and the same goody bags and armloads of candy are waiting for the kids. If you saw their haul, you'd think they hit a big city neighborhood when in fact they only go to about 10 places. By then it's dark, and chilly. The kids are happy, the parents are tired, and Halloween is coming to an end for another year.

I so love this time of year. I love seeing their little imaginations take flight, seeing the pure joy, and knowing that the night will be all about them. This year both kids had a firm idea about what they wanted to dress up as. Zach was the cutest Harry Potter ever!

And Naia was stuck. She either wanted either be a ghost, a hunter, or a skeleton. And NOT a nice, friendly skeleton mama... a mean SCARY skeleton. And so here she is, so very mean and scary.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

boo!

It's getting spooky around here. I still don't have my mojo back to throw the kind of Halloween parties we used to do for the kids (cough, cough, SuperJen, cough!) But the pumpkin carving and Halloween spirit are still in full swing. The other night the kids and I blasted our Halloween playlist from the outside cockpit speakers, danced around, and carved up some pumpkin moonshines. 

I showed Naia all kinds of photos of jack-o-lanterns. Smiling ones, spooky ones, silly ones, pretty ones, ones that looked like a castle or a character. And when she saw the throwing up pumpkins she was SOLD. "I want a vomit one!" O....K.

The nature table got a spooky make over, and little bits of October are all around the boat.

And the big day is just around the corner. Zach's costume suits him well this year. And Naia for the first time in her little life had a say in what she wanted to dress up as for Halloween. Think about your typical 3 year old girl and what comes to mind for costumes? Fairy? Princess? Kitty? Ballerina? Well, she is not your typical girl. Her choices were, um... interesting. We managed to get her to pick just one... you'll have to wait and see.