The Frank that Tanked.

Okay, Halloween is gone but the fun is definitely not. Yesterday afternoon I gave my final lecture at the Modern Art Museum then Glenn and I had a nice date before trick-or-treating with Lily at a few family members' homes. She didn't dress up in her Halloween costume, though. Why? Because she absolutely hated it.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and I picked out a hot dog costume for Lily after realizing the flying monkey I wanted was discontinued. We tried it on her in the shop. "Maybe she's just warm" we decided, after she started wailing in discontent. Convincing ourselves that if she only wore a long-sleeved onesie underneath her costume she would be pleased as punch, we bought the costume and congratulated ourselves on a job well done.

I decided earlier that instead of doing Christmas cards I would send Halloween cards. Get people ready for the holiday season, etc. I loved the idea of someone opening a card with Lily's little mug peering out of this ridiculous hot dog. We would go to this great pumpkin patch, snap some photos, then have The Perfect Halloween cards.

The big day rolls around. Julie, Mom and I dress Lily, throw the costume in the car, and head to the pumpkin patch. It's a little cool and drizzly, but I figured this would add ambience. We snapped a few (well, relatively few--a couple dozen) photos in her "First Halloween" onesie then a few in this cute candy corn hat I found at Target. The moment had come--it was time to put on the dog.

Once that padded round frank head touched hers, it was on. She kicked angrily while Aunt Julie helped me coax her arms through the holes. We snapped and zipped her in, and she jerked and arced like a fish out of water. After calming her somewhat, I placed her on some hay bales, but due to some unfortunate positioning on my part (hot dog between two large pumpkins=no bueno), those pictures were not usable. Maybe she sensed my incompetence because by this time she had really lost her patience.

I tried the mom calming thing (pacing, patting, shushing) but none of it seemed to work. My Machiavellian little sister decides to take things into her own hands and blows in Lily's face a couple of times so I can snap some pictures in which Lily is not wailing pitifully. We tried some creative placement--on a fence, in a bin full of tiny pumpkins--but the girl was just not having it.

After removing the costume, we got a couple of cute shots between some straw people and in a baby pumpkin patch. The photo session drew to an end just after Lily proudly grasped a handful of straw and nearly made it to her mouth with her prize. Thankfully, with Mom and Julie's help, I really did get some great pictures (well, I think Julie took at least half of them), and despite Lily's refusal to play along with the costume, we had a great afternoon together. And you know what? Those cards are pretty darn perfect after all.