Thursday night, we watched the classic Peanuts Halloween special. Eric watched some of it and ignored some of it. But yesterday, when Mommy mentioned the “Great Pumpkin”, Eric recognized it and kept repeating, “It’s the Great Pumpkin!”. He ran into the office where I was on the computer, and he told me all about the “Great Pumpkin”.
This afternoon, we went shopping at Costco. On our way home, we stopped at another store to pick up some vitamins. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a big setup for Halloween. They had a big bouncing castle, a basketball hoop, and some other games for kids to play. Mommy ran into the vitamin store while Eric and I parked the car. Of course, Eric immediately noticed the bouncing castle and wanted to go. I got in the back seat to help him out, and we waited for Mommy to get back. Mommy asked on the way back to the car how much it cost, and she was told that it was all free. The karate school in the strip mall was providing all of the activities for the kids. We went inside the school to get a ticket for the castle. It was free, but we needed to get a ticket. When we went in, we were greeted by a very friendly young girl who was painting faces. Eric initially said “no.” but after I explained to him what it was and pointed out another boy with his face painted, he agreed to get his face done. Now he had to decide what to have painted. We finally settled on a red star. After his face was decorated with the star, we went outside to play in the castle. We waited for another kid to get out, so Eric could go in. They were limiting the number of kids inside the castle. Eric climbed in and immediately wanted to get out. The other kids in the castle were much older than him, and they were running and jumping wildly. So, Eric climbed out and immediately wanted to go back in. Mommy and I helped him climb in again. This time, Mommy stayed just inside the entrance and held onto him while he stood up. I went around to the side and waved at him. He let go of Mommy and started to walk toward me. He was having a great time. He bounced up and down. Then the other boys ran past him, and he wanted to get out again. Eric really enjoyed himself, despite the bigger kids.
Tonight, we carved our pumpkins. This is Eric’s first time. He will also go trick-or-treat-ing for the first time tomorrow evening. Eric and I picked out 3 pumpkins at the store a couple of weeks ago. They have been sitting on our front porch, just waiting to be carved.
We started with Eric’s pumpkin. I cut out the top, and Eric and I scooped out the seeds and other “gooey” stuff. Eric thought this was really cool! Even though he did not really touch the “gooey” stuff. He did use his spoon to “scoop” out some of the innards. He also helped to draw the face and other designs on the pumpkin. I did all of the actual carving. Eric’s pumpkin turned out very nice…and scary! (insert evil laugh here)
Next we carved Mommy’s pumpkin. Eric helped with drawing the face and other designs on the pumpkin. Mommy drew a really frightening face on her pumpkin. I did my best to carve the curved lines that she so artfully drew. Mommy did not draw the mouth, but gave some very vague directions as to how she wanted it to look. I improvised, and Mommy liked it! Eric again helped with scooping out the “gooey” stuff…without actually touching the “gooey” stuff.
Time for bed, so I will have to carve my pumpkin without Eric’s help. I wonder if it will be scary…or funny…or just ordinary? We will have to wait and see.
Be sure to check again after tomorrow night for a full report on Eric’s first trick-or-treat-ing experience. Mommy and Daddy are very excited! Eric is also looking forward to it. He has been watching all of the Halloween episodes of his favorite cartoons.
Check Eric’s website for the video of his pumpkin carving. It is a must see video!