Finally, Halloween!

Riley's school had a costume parade and Halloween party today. I took the afternoon off so I could attend the party and take Riley out afterwards. When we arrived at school, EVERYBODY was dressed up...headmasters, teachers, receptionist, and students, of course! It was pretty cute to see all of the kids parade around the sports court. Riley was thrilled to see both Chris and me there. That was probably the high point of the day. The festivities wore on everyone as the day progressed.

After school, Chris and I walked with Riley to Old Town Monrovia so he could attend a Halloween carnival and participate in the merchant trick or treat. It was crazy down there! Easy pickins' for candy gluttons, for sure. The city closed Myrtle Avenue for the safety of the trick-or-treaters. A steady stream of costumed children (and relatives) paraded from business to business. Employees and shopkeepers stationed themselves outside the stores with big bowls of candy to keep traffic flowing. Occasionally, we'd pass a shop with a notice such as "Temporarily out of candy. Back in 20 minutes."

As we approached the carnival (before braving the candy gauntlet), I asked myself what Riley must think about Halloween. Today was the third day he wore his costume. He must have been wondering what the big deal is. It's the candy, kid! And today's the day you get it! Unfortunately (or not), Riley really isn't into the candy thing. He was more interested in playing on the playground equipment at the park where the carnival was held.

We tried trick-or-treating at a few stores, but it quickly became apparent that Riley either didn't grasp the concept or simply didn't care about hauling home a pile of sugar. So we headed back to the house to greet our own Halloween goblins. Riley may not have been interested in receiving candy, but he readily assumed the job of passing it out. He very carefully rationed out a single piece of candy per child.

Riley Retrospective

As we close in on Riley's 4th birthday, I thought it would be fun to take look back at some earlier moments.

Six months old

Eight months old

One year, ten months

Two years old

Three years old

Four years old

Halloween Party #2

The P3 went to a family Halloween party at our friends' house, the Smocks. The kids had a costume parade and played spooky games.

Chris wore his penguin suit, I dressed as a dark sorceress, and we brought our bat child.

Kyle Smock was a ghostbuster, but he seemed to have some trouble ridding his house of these little ghouls.

Riley Reads

Riley read the first book in this series all by himself this morning. I was so excited. I could tell he wasn't doing it from memory because he was sounding out some of the words. Chris has been working with him almost daily on his reading skills, and now Riley can read!

Like Father Like Son

The Sky Is Grey

The Southern California fires are major news and are affecting everyone in the SoCal area--even those not in the evacuation zones. Riley's preschool ceased all outdoor activities until further notice due to the poor air quality. (The paper yesterday said our entire area was coded red: "Unhealthy for everyone.") When I left work yesterday, the skies were grey with smoke.

Monrovia Canyon Park has been closed to the public all week and firefighters are stationed in the park as a precaution. The hills behind our house have not burned in 80+ years and would presumably contain plenty of fuel should a spark take hold. Given our proximity to those hills, I think our own house would be at risk from flying embers if the winds were strong enough. It's a sobering realization.

Party!

Riley had a costume party on Saturday to celebrate his upcoming 4th birthday.
The fun began from the moment he got up and discovered that I had set up a tent in the living room (it later moved outside).
Then, the bouncer arrived early, so Riley gave it a trial run in his pajamas. All he really wanted at his party was a bounce house with a slide. We found a great one! Not only did it have a slide and a bounce room, but it had a tunnel too. Riley took one look, saw that it was a castle, and declared himself "king." He said when his friends came over, one of them would be his queen. (I have no idea who the lucky girl turned out to be.)

His friends began arriving mid-afternoon (16 playgroup and school chums, plus a half dozen or so siblings). They were greeted by our resident penguin and immediately ran outside to play.

Riley wore his bat wings but shed them when he realized he couldn't wear them into the bouncer.
We had a craft project for the shyer children, but sooner or later they all ventured into the bouncer.
The party spread included primarily black and orange food (black tortilla chips, goldfish crackers, black grapes, orange slices, and pizza), with spider cupcakes for dessert.
It was a chaotic but fun-filled afternoon. Two hours later, we said goodbye to all Riley's friends, sending each home with a pumpkin. Riley was so tired, he went to bed at least two hours early.

His personal party continued Sunday morning, when he opened the mountain of presents his friends gave him. He was thrilled with each one and spent all of Sunday playing with his new toys.

Noah's Ark

Last Sunday, Riley and I journeyed to the westside to visit the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. The Skirball is not too far from the Getty Museum and is equally worthy of a visit. Dr. Uri Herscher, the founder of the Skirball, recently completed a five-year term on the board of the commission I work for. Before he left, he took the time to have lunch with the staff and I discovered a unique, generous, learned man. Knowing that he was behind the Noah's Ark exhibit made me all the more interested to see it.

Only open since late June of this year, Noah's Ark is a multi-sensory interactive exhibit for the whole family. The exhibit is divided into three galleries, as it were. Each gallery embraces one of the central themes of the Noah's Ark story:

• Storms (meeting challenges)
• Arks (finding shelter and community)
• Rainbows (creating a more hopeful world)

Inside and outside the ark are hundreds of fanciful animal puppets and figures (186 species to be exact), including life-sized elephants and giraffes, leopards, flamingos, monkeys, and iguanas. By interacting with the exhibit, you can make many of these animals move. Outside the ark, you can make it storm and help to build the ark and load the animals. Inside the ark, you can explore the cargo holds and visit with the animals on many levels. Everywhere you look there is something wonderful. What is especially fun is that all of these animals are made out of recycled materials and everyday objects: rubber tubing, exhaust turbines, instrument cases, purses, yardsticks, bottle caps, bicycle parts, baseball mitts, croquet balls, mop heads, rear-view mirrors, etc.

Outside the ark:


Inside the ark:






This little fox came out for a visit while we were in the ark. He walked around sniffing all of the children, welcoming a scratch or two behind his ears.



Above, Riley ponders the outside world after emerging from the ark.