The Costume

Here are some more pictures from when my parents were here for Ben's birthday.  (In fact, all four of Ben's grandparents were here -- lucky kid!)  We drove over to Lake Erie right before sunset and took in the views and the gentle breezes.  (That was before Sandy swept her ominous arms across the land -- right now we're being pelted by a driving rain, but it could be a lot worse.)

My mother is addicted to collecting rocks.  Ben keeps her supplied.

My father demonstrates proper stone skipping technique.

Aforementioned sunset

Nothing to do with my family, but had to share -- the Math Club's attempts at pumpkin artistry

And ... The Costume

Okay, so The Costume needs an explanation.  Several months ago Ben decided that he wanted to be Bugs Bunny for Halloween.  I heartily approved.  Not only do I like Bugs, but I figured we could get a costume online -- just whip out a credit card and we're done.  Then, about three weeks ago, Ben decided that he wanted to be ... The Sky.  Yes, the sky.  All of a sudden he's Nature Boy.  So, after a momentary panic, I said, "Okay, honey, that's a very creative idea.  What exactly do you have in mind?"  After a bit of back and forth, and with very little guidance from me, Ben came up with an elaborate design.  The pants would be the Day Sky, and the shirt would be the Night Sky.  There should be trees growing out of his feet, plus a rainbow going behind the sun.  I'm thinking a sweat suit adorned with felt.  (One small hitch is that nobody makes sky blue pants for boys.  We managed to find this pair in the girls department.)  I'm also thinking glue.  Because I just don't have time for a big sewing project.  Well, turns out that there's no glue short of Super Glue (which I figured was inappropriate) that sticks felt to fleece.  Apparently, from the felt's perspective, the primary role of glue is as a stiffening agent.  Very long story short, out comes the sewing machine, and there goes most of my weekend.  My perfectionist tendencies were constantly thwarted, and the result is not quite the Martha Stewart masterpiece I'd originally envisioned.  But the overall effect is pretty impressive, and Ben is delighted.  He made the cloud hat.  There is also "fog" in the form of a fringe of greyish blue yarn that hangs down from his arms, but we haven't put that on yet because it involves safety pins and Ben is a little freaked out by that.

Of course, it's looking more and more like Halloween is going to be washed out by Sandy this year.  We'll see.  If that's the worst of the storm damage, let's all count ourselves lucky.