Calling all Princesses and Transformers....

One of the many benefits of retirement is that I get to pick up my grandkids from school on Fridays and have them with me for a couple of hours. That, of course, includes giving them a snack which they remind me about the minute we hit the doorway!

Today they had their annual Halloween Parade. Each year the kids dress up in their costumes the day before Halloween and parade down the street about three blocks from the school, then back up the other side of the street to return to their classrooms. It's quite an event. The teachers and administrators dress up, also. As do some of the parents. At least I think the lady with the black leggings, black t-shirt, tattoos on both arms, and a pierced eyebrow and lip was dressed up! Didn't dare ask!

Some parents bring younger siblings to join in the fun. People who live on the street haul out the folding chairs and sit on their front lawns waving to the kids. And the kids are all told to do the princess wave and say "Happy Halloween" to the crowd. A few of them actually do! Some of them have masks so we hear, "Hmpfhhh Hffpggwwn". But you get the idea.

It was a perfect Fall day - if you stood in the shade. In the sun it was still summer. Because our house is always cool, I wore a sweater so had to deal with a 60-minute hot flash. All of us parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. huddled around the parking lot waiting for the kids to come out. There were many, many transformers (who didn't transform into anything so that was a bust), princesses, witches, Darths, and Snow Whites. Also one boy dressed as Phantom of the Opera - I'm guessing his parents picked that one out.


As soon as the kids got past the school, the hordes of above-mentioned family members went across the street to catch the kids on their way back to the school. Imagine a couple of hundred people trying to huddle under the three or four trees that had shade.


There was even a witch helping with the street crossing.


It's really a fun event and my second time watching it. Tonight they have a Halloween Carnival at the school, but I'll leave that to Mama and Papa. I'll be on the couch with a glass of wine watching tv.