Ah, at last, Halloween is upon us. What a fun day for adults and children alike. We're at school, helping out with the goings-on. Rose is working on getting things ready for the bake sale. No samples, sadly.
Outside, along the main walkway of the kids' school, the pumpkins have been lined up for the carving competiton. A few, done by over-helpful parents, are displayed on another bench. The kindergarteners' entries get their own bench. All look most excellent.
By cosmic coïncidence both Isaac and his (long-term substitute) teacher came to school dressed as witches with pointy hats. But Isaac has a great broom, which he decorated.
Students, teachers, families, and friends assemble for the costume show and parade. Here's some hippies:
Here's Lila, leading the pack of faeries. (Lila will be the first to tell you that she's actually Tinkerbell, despite not really knowing much about the character.) I think the girls in-between the faeries - wearing pink and purple - are the Snow White contingent.
Here's Principal Willem Vroegh, dressed as the lost-and-found. He was hoping that people would claim all the items he'd retrieved from the box.
Dziadziu, Rose, and Bubbie. Discussions about the grand-kids, I'm sure.
The kids really love it when adults break character and dress up. I think the staff as the Cat in the Hat works really well.
After school we head across town to our Hapkido dojang. Here's Master Jino Kang (Spiderman) and Chief Instructer Marco Magsaysay (Superman) posing during the costume party and potlatch.
The students came in their costumes. Many would go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, others were heading out to parties nearer their homes.
What's any multi-ethnic get-together without a piñata to beat about? Mr. M discovered a pumpkin piñata which was perfect for the occasion.
Then it's time to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. The kids - that's Lila and Isaac under the spider - just loved getting their treats at the well-docorated houses.
The neighborhood near Bubbie & Zadie decorate their houses in a Harry Potter theme. Here's Isaac sitting by a dragon.
Here's a Harry Potter band, singing to the trick-or-treaters. By the way, I think we found Waldo.
Heading home, we park the car and head over to the look-out to view the Castro Halloween party. The throngs of people filled the intersection, from Café Flor past the Castro Theater all the way to Café Luna. (Last year more than 300,000 people came into our neighborhood.) Most years we take the kids into the crowd, but they were so tired from the days goings-on that Isaac fell asleep in the car and Lila on me.
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