Touched

Here is Molly with her friends, Cinderella and the Pink Haired Wonder, last night in their costumes. The cute was overwhelming!

Molly, as you might remember, has a thing for Curious George. We still spend hours each day looking at her Curious George anthology (Thanks Amy and Lee!), and reading and rereading her board-book version of Curious George and the Puppies in which George and the Man with the Yellow hat visit the Animal Shelter and George causes quite a ruckus. Her latest favorite toy is a stuffed monkey she named George one day after calling him Monkey for several months. She can relate the main plot points of several of the stories (George hold rabbit, lost. Mommy rabbit find; George puppies out. Woman Oh No!; George jumped. Foot broken. Fixed. All better now.)

So, Sunday, we went to Night Eyes at the Des Moines Zoo. Molly put on her chicken costume and we walked through the zoo looking at the animals that have yet to go away for the winter. While walking, we got treats from adults in costumes. But forget the treats. By far the highlight of the day was getting a hug from Curious George. We're still talking about it. Last night, which was Beggars Night* in Des Moines, when it was time to put on her costume and go trick or treating, she asked if she would get to hug any monkeys and seemed genuinely disappointed we were just going to get treats from our friends and neighbors.



Her second favorite thing at the zoo Sunday was that she got to eat a pop (lollipop). I had told her that if anyone gave her a pop she would be allowed to eat it. She saw one go into her basket and said "Pop! Open pop! Ma-yee (Molly)!" Later, George pretended to eat her lollipop. It was rapture. They share a love of lollipops, she seems to understand. He is the perfect friend after all.

Here are some things Molly identifies and says that have to do with Halloween:

Pumpkin
Costume
Ghost
Boo
Bat
Black cat
Skeleton
Pumpkin Seeds (she loves them)
Creepy
Candy
Pop (lollipop)
Witch
Popcorn
Apple
Dark
Scared
Sticky

-Happy Halloween from us chickens

*Beggars Night is a tradition in Iowa, where kids go from door to door, only to houses with the porch lights on, during set hours (6-8 pm this year), the night before Halloween, telling jokes for a treat. It was instituted as a way to stave off an epidemic of vandalism that used to occur the night before Halloween, without stepping up involvement from the local authorities (which have some pretty limited resources in Iowa.) A typically Iowan solution. And no, children do not also go trick or treating on Halloween. They sit home and watch the Great Pumpkin and eat candy. Imagine our confusion the first Halloween we lived in Iowa, and oddly enough the second one as well. Twelve years later we finally understand all the rules. Porchlight on, set hours, force laughter at corny jokes. However, we didn't get any kids this year.