Halloween

So, Megan is now in Morocco with Joan and from what I can gather, it is a great trip. We don’t get to talk as much as the calls are expensive so we have three minute conversations at night. It usually goes like this:

ME: How are you? Trip going well?

MEGAN: I’m well, it is amazing, we have to come back here together! How is Fiona?

ME: Everything is fine, she is sleeping.

MEGAN: Ok, talk to you tomorrow.

We then tell each other how we miss and love each other and that is it. Pretty exciting, I know.

Anyway, so Megan was kind enough to leave photos in a folder on the computer to use for our Halloween blog. She asked that I do the blog post and I am more than happy to oblige. Fiona is happily watching Finding Nemo next to me and I would just like to say “thank you” to the Walt Disney Co. for making such entertaining movies that allows me to have a short break to do what I want while Fiona is occupied otherwise.

On to Halloween.

This is our second and last Halloween in Germany. Last year we were in a Hotel as we had arrived a month earlier and did not have our apartment until November. But thanks to Megan and my sister back home we had something to put Fiona in. So here is Halloween 2009:

 

We found this at the store on the army base and thought it would be cute--and it was. However, Fiona looks very tense and her square shoulders make me think she is an oriental linebacker.

Moving on to costume #2, Megan mixed and matched an outfit to create a little mime. At that time Fiona loved mirrors. In fact she still does.

Now we move on to a real costume, a bee outfit Sarah sent us. It was funny to see Fiona try to move around in it. She really wanted that apple.

At this point in time Fiona could only crawl and it s fun to see this bundled up bee crawling around. I was even more amazed she kept the hat on.

Not much to say other than I really think she was having a conversation with "Mirror Fiona"

My favorite part of this video occurs around the 8 second mark when the wing starts bothering her and she get mildly upset and then storms off.

Now on to Halloween 2010. Megan did a great job of combining the need for Fiona to have some new pajamas and using them as a halloween costume. So not only did she have good costume this year (which relates to our earlier family trip to Kenya) but she also got some good jim-jams in the process.

 

Our little Zebra, or as Fiona says "Zeba" Megan was able to quickly put the make-up on her nose which I think really sells the costume!

 

Overall, Fiona has a great time, but there were moments where she saw someone scary and she wanted to be held.

Trick-or-treating here in Germany works like this–you go on the military base and you walk up and down the housing areas (which look like apartment buildings). The tenants come down and sit outside the main door and set up tables with all the candy. So one stop could mean four or five families handing out candy. Being a military base, it is no surprise that this is both very efficient and very effective. Fiona’s bag filled up very quickly and we (Megan and I) will be taking our time eating all her candy!

 

Megan was so helpful. After her fall on the stairs in Istanbul the week before (I'll let her tell the story but nothing was broken and she is just very sore) it was difficult for her to keep bending over and helping Fiona ask for candy. But she is a great Mom and did it throughout the evening.

So, from a distance Fiona was super estatic to see Bert and Ernie and kept saying their names. However, up close they freaked her out (me too as Ernie kept holding her nose). The rest of the night she said “Bert and Ernie?” and we would says “Yes you met Bert and Ernie” then Fiona says “Yeahhhh”. Repeat that same conversation 30 times and that was our weekend conversation with her.

After the trick-or-treating, we then went home and carved  pumpkin we got from the commissary. We got it late and you can tell by the sorta-cool, but really just ugly pumpkin as it was slim pickings two days before Halloween.

 

Fiona eying up the pumpkin before she gives her recommend to me on where to cut and what kind of face to put on it.

Her farewell kiss before we begin sticking a knife into the beloved pumpkin.

Megan got a turn digging out the pumpkin guts, she was very good at organizing our Halloween festivities.

I had to throw this in as it cracks me up when I see it. It is like the paparazzi got a shot of her at the exclusive Hendrick Pumpkin Party. To be fair, I accidentally left the flash on while we had the lights off and the pumpkin lit--hence her surprised look.

This one is for you Devin. It may not match the camera magic of the Istanbul cistern, but its was worth a shot.

The final product. Fiona of course loved it and kept saying "pumpkin" all night. Nothing fancy, but it did its job.

Well next year we should be back in Virginia and it will be fun to try out halloween the American way. I hope everyone had a fun Halloween and thanks to Megan for making ours special by organizing our activities.

Oh yeah the song of the day is (thanks Sara for infecting Megan and us with this!):