We weren’t sure what the deal was going to be this Halloween; for several weeks leading up to the big day, we’d mentioned the idea of getting a costume and all, but the boy seemed distracted. Tom and I took this to mean that maybe he was growing out of the whole “trick-or-treating” thing; his brothers had probably stopped making a big deal out of it by middle school, but we figured that given the fact that the whole Halloween night thing is sort of different now that we live in Florida (for one thing, there is no possibility of having to wear your winter coat and snow boots over your costume here…that part’s kinda nice…but there’s also not the big deal at school here, or the large neighborhood scene that we had going on in central New York) and the fact that our boy is 10-going-on 25, maybe he thought it was too childish to be going out trick or treating with your parents.
Wrong.
As it turns out, he was simply waiting for us to be more assertive about Halloween. As in, “Come on, Dylan, we’re going to the Halloween store to buy you a costume today.” Meanwhile, we were waiting for him to be more assertive, too. As in, “So, when are we going to go and get my Halloween costume? Like, can we go right now?” A bit of a miscommunication, it would seem, but sorted out in time. So on Saturday, two days before the big day, we went to Party City and the boy found the perfect costume for him. Dr. Zombie.
After coming home from Party City with a zombie costume and a smiling boy, we went for a bike ride on the abandoned golf course in our backyard. There’s one part of the course where the tall oak trees are covered with Spanish moss, and it’s always a little creepy to ride through there. I said to Dylan, “You know, if you dressed up in your zombie costume and walked through here, it would probably make an awesome picture.” Usually, the boy does not like having his picture taken; Dr. Zombie, however, loved this idea.
His dad helped him set up the shot…
…he adjusted his mask and costume…
…and then, the Dr. Zombie photoshoot began.
Dr. Zombie attacked his father (who was busy “Tebowing” just before his demise…)
…and his photographer momma (Tom was finished “Tebowing” so he took over camera duties here. 🙂 )
When we were finished with the zombie pictures and he took off his mask, I asked the boy if I could get one more picture of him. He grudgingly obliged with the “Mom-you-know-I-hate-having-my-picture-taken” look:
That’s ok, though; before you know it, he’ll be done with the whole Halloween thing…at least the part that he’ll let his parents participate in. But for now, and hopefully for the next two or three years, he’ll still let us enjoy a “tweener” Halloween with him.
Happy Halloween, everyone!!
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