Halloween last year for us was done in something of a rush. It is an event that has never particularly resonated with me - November 5th and Bonfire night was always bigger. When J took Harriet out a year ago she saw all the other kids in costume and wondered why she was not. He got a brilliant costume together quickly (we had at least had the foresight to buy a Harry Potter branded witch's hat in FAO Schwartz a few weeks before).
This time we planned her costume more than a month in advance of Halloween. It was cold last year so the selling point of the bee costume was that it was warm - H would probably have preferred a princess dress that would have needed to be covered up.
Weather is surprising though and it is nowhere near as a cold as last year (there is another weather story coming but more of that later).
On Saturday we began the day with a trip to see Hotel Transylvania. It was a not even slightly scary and was more like a Halloween version of Tangled (another of her favorite movies). Next up was a trip to the LGBT Center in the West Village for the Halloween party. Apart from one short meltdown over sharing a fire-truck (and she really did go almost thermonuclear) she had a great time. It was also a chance for us to see a couple of parents we have not seen in some time and to see how much their children have grown.
It was a great sight to see the hall crowded with families. Perhaps it would make Mitt Romney sick to see all these families since he thinks it is so wrong. He spent so long as Governor of MA trying to harass same-sex families and that is small beer compared to what he would do if he were President. I believe in the need for having different opinions to make the best choices but frankly I agree with those Facebook posts where people have said that they cannot be friends with those who would contemplate voting for Mittens.
Even by the next day we had still not fully registered the severity of Sandy. When in Florida a man had told Harriet that she might see a submarine out at sea but in fact she did not. She was disappointed so we planned at trip to the Intrepid Museum.
Intrepid is a WWII aircraft carrier that is moored on the Hudson river at the end of 46th Street. Next to it is the USS Growler which is a 1960s submarine and the reason for our visit. As a bonus, the Intrepid has just taken delivery of the space shuttle Enterprise. Enterprise was the prototype for the shuttle program and although it never actually went into space it is still an awesome sight. That said, Harriet was probably more impressed by the helicopters on the main deck of the Intrepid and those jets that had been painted to look like sharks or tigers.
On the hanger deck at the far end there were a couple of flight simulators. Harriet really wanted to go on - the minimum height requirement is 42" which she clears just. Remember, this is the child that is sick travelling at 10mph so I was not hopeful for going into a flight simulator and spinning upside down but she insisted and Jay took her on. She had a great time so perhaps that how we have to travel now...
The submarine was our final stop (cramped and with a curious smell of diesel throughout) before having lunch. The coverage of the storm had really begun to grow. The subways were scheduled to start shutting down in a few hours so we decided that it was time to head home and batten down the hatches.
It is going to be a long few days. Keep safe everyone.
