Beggars' Night

Happy Halloween, everyone! Last night, our neighborhood celebrated Halloween with trick-or-treat. Earlier in the week, "Princess" Georgia had some problems and chose to skip trick-or-treat. She did, however, wear her costume while passing out candy with the neighbors. I enjoyed some peace during that time, but Brian said she performed the entire 2 hours and had a ball.




Trivia! Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Beggars Night or more properly Beggars' Night, is a regional term for what is referred to in most parts of the United States as "Trick or Treat." Specifically, the term is broadly but not exclusively used throughout Ohio, in many parts of Iowa, and in some cities in Massachusetts.

In general, Beggars Night represents the "treat" portion of Trick or Treat, where children in costume make evening rounds of homes (and to a lesser extent to businesses during the day) and are given candy after telling a joke. This being closely tied to, but distinct from Halloween, when various forms of mischief may occur.

The night has usually been scheduled by municipal governments on a date prior to the actual Halloween date of October 31. In recent years however, the trend has been towards having it on Halloween, and the use of the term has been slightly diminished because of the loss of the distinction from the date of Halloween.

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend, we met Grandad and Nana for an early dinner and ice cream then headed up for Boo at the Zoo. Georgia wore her Halloween costume - a princess. We had a great time and enjoyed being at the zoo at night. Star Wars characters and Batman seem to still be very popular costumes. Brian's Angus Young of AC/DC costume seemed popular with some fathers. We saw the most adorable costume on a 5 or 6 year old girl - Little Orphan Annie, complete with a curly red wig! I just loved it!




Princess Georgia meets Angus Young






Georgia, the ferocious tiger

Our last stop was the penquin habitat. Just a few Humboldts were outside and they seemed a little edgy. We quickly realized they were put off my the shadows made on the walls of their habitat. Georgia started moving around and her shadow followed suit. The penquins began barking at the shadow! Very funny. When we went through Saturday's mail on Sunday morning, Georgia had received a postcard from Kathy. On the postcard? A penquin! She wrote of seening penquins in Africa and said that they'd sounded like donkeys! We know that's right!

Children's Garden

This afternoon, Georgia and I went to Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark for the first time. How beautiful! It features several gardens, walking paths and a hiking trail, as well as a horticultural center and the Dayton Playhouse. We had a great time and will surely go back again soon.

Click on the photo below to view all of the pictures from the day.

The Boss says, "Vote for Obama!"

We took the new car out for a road trip this afternoon. Bruce Springsteen was playing at an Obama rally on the oval at Ohio State. We had a really great time. The Boss played about 6 songs, all with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. He played a couple of my favorites (The Ghost of Tom Joad & Thunder Road) and ended with an audience participation performance of This Land is Your Land. We are happy that Georgia's first political rally featured a memorable star like Bruce Springsteen. We hope it is the first of many such events over her lifetime. (Yes, that is Michelle Obama on Georgia's button - her choice. "You know why I chose this button? Because I LOVE her!") Georgia and a 2 year old (James) she met. They danced and read her book together.

New Ride

After much deliberation and mind-changing, we decided to help the economy by spending some money! Today we bought a car - a 2001 Volvo V70 wagon. We got an EXCELLENT deal, assuming it is in the great shape that it appears to be. We really think this will be a great long-term car for us. We hope to drive it for many more miles.

In case you wondered how smooth the ride is...