Ghost Stories

For the last few months, Will has been obsessed with all things 'spooky'.  The books that we borrow from the library, the movies/tv that we watch, the pretend games we play... it all has to have this element of 'spookiness'.  

So tonight, we lit a fire in the backyard, toasted marshmallows and took turns telling ghost stories.  Bill had the idea to attach fishing line to a couple of items in the backyard.  As he was telling his story, he pulled on the lines to make various objects 'move'.  The look on Will's face was priceless. 

Peer Pressure at Nursery School?

Will has been talking about Halloween for the past six months.  He probably decided on his costume back in May.  A scarecrow... particularly the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz.  He spent hours "surfing the net", looking for just the right costume.  He showed us how he was going to "dance" clumsily down the street as he Trick-or-Treated.  He had it all planned out-- including his entourage.  Mom was going to be Dorothy, Dad was going to be the Tin Man and Liam, at first, was going to be the Lion, but then Will decided that he'd make a much more convincing "Toto".  

And then... October arrived.  At nursery school, the crafts and stories and decor started focusing more and more on Halloween.  On the playground, Halloween costumes became a major topic of discussion.  Will's friends were announcing their choices for costumes... Spiderman, Superman, IronMan, Batman...  They were running around on the playground, playing "good guys" vs "bad guys" and shooting their pretend guns at their pretend villains.  Suddenly, that scarecrow costume didn't seem so appealing.

About a week ago, on our walk home from school, will announced his new costume choice....

The Transformer they call "Optimus Prime".  This was completely out of the blue.  Will has seen about 10  minutes of the movie with his dad and a couple of the old school cartoon episodes on YouTube.  He calls the "Autobots" the "Acrobats".  The only things he knows for sure is that 1) He's a 'good guy', and 2) He's got a big, loud gun attached to his arm.  

Personally, I prefer that scarecrow costume.  But then again, I'm not a 3-year-old boy.  On the upside, I'm off the hook when it comes to wearing that blue gingham Dorothy dress.  Whew.

Will's First Jack O'Lantern

Fall Finally Here

I'm really appreciating the change in seasons this year. Perhaps it's because I was cooped up indoors for most of the summer... being super-pregnant and trying to avoid the heat and humidity. Today was gorgeous... GORGEOUS. We spent most of the afternoon in our backyard. Here are some photos taken today...

 

...and a few from last week....

Will LOVES scarecrows.  His obsession began last year when he saw The Wizard of Oz.  He even has some of the dialogue and choreography memorized. We're currently on the lookout for a good scarecrow Halloween costume.  In the meantime, Will's been trying some other traditional getups...

My personal favorite is the "Candy Corn Vampire", with the "Toilet Paper Mummy" coming in as a close second.