Los Peterson

There are certain psychologists who believe that the costumes we choose for festive occasions like, oh, I don't know - Halloween, can indicate subconscious beliefs about our views of the world around us and ourselves.

That said, please don't read too much into the fact that I dressed Gunnar up like a wild gorilla...



...and put myself into a giant banana suit...





...or that Chris went in his usual get-up of a frightening 8 foot tall witch/dude with long scraggly hair...and a giant axe.




First we went to the American Museum of Natural History for their annual Halloween party. It was pretty packed though and since Chris had to work, Gunn and I braved the throngs of strollers and mini dinosaurs and cinderellas on our own.





He was extremely confused at first. I didn't mind so much because this feeling generally renders him paralyzed and silent until things are deamed 'cool' again. The confusion was shortlived though and after about 10 minutes he wanted out of the stroller to dance and exlpore.


Which reminds me, I am totally buying a leash for that kid. Don't judge. You try pushing a stroller while holding the back of a running toddler by his gorilla suit. I should have dressed him like a monkey. Then at least I would have had a tail to hold onto. It was rough. Gunnar, however, thought the whole thing was hilarious and was laughing up a storm as I awkwardly struggled along behind him. Fortunately, I ran into one of my friends who helped me get our stroller parked so I could chase after my endangered species without pulling a hamstring.

We spent a little over an hour at the museum. Gunnar paid no mind to the Halloween goings ons but loved the North American animals exhibit. We saw wolves, beavers, bears, dear, rabbits, porcupines etc. To Gunnar they were all, "ooh, dog!"


Here he is crawling under the bar to get a closer look at an antelope

After that we met up with Chris and ventured down to 69th street trick-or-treating hotspot to see the 3 avenue long row of haunted houses and guy dressed as Batman repelling himself down the side of a brownstone (sorry no pics, our camera was having issues).

By 7:30 pm, Gunnar began his meltdown. So we took him home and put him in his cage (i.e. crib) to sleep.



Then Chris made his annual transformation (check out his freaky feet and fingers - those are new to this year's outfit). I dropped the monitor off with the neighbor and (still in my banana costume) walked with him through Harlem up to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.



While walking in his stilts, Chris started getting some major leg cramps. They were hurting pretty badly so he asked me if I would go to the store and buy him a banana.

For real. It was pretty embarrassing. Ten people laughed at me. One guy called me a cannibal.

Anyway, Chris and some friends ended up going down to Times Square and scared the crap out of everyone. He'll probably write more on this and maybe add some video. He didn't get home til 4:00 am. Halloween's his favorite time of year.

And why not? He gets to be taller for one day, I get to be every 6 year old's favorite fruit and Gunnar gets to be a wild animal...just like every day!