the hay ride.......

Laugh all you want, he's a spider, and I'm NO ARTIST!! My husband ended up dropping him off at his friend's birthday party yesterday 'cause I was on the couch, freezing, sneezing, and sore throat...not feeling great. I decided to go pick him up myself, along with Brook, after I rested and had my hot chocolate because I wanted Brook to see all the fun costumes. I felt much better after a shower, and we go over to the little boy's house and it's 8 pm, and it's dark, and scary, and their yard is covered in orange glowing lights...

We were just in time to go down the haunted trail. Brook latched onto Gage and there was about 15 people between me and my kids as we entered the haunted woods! Very creepy...I could see strobe lights, I could see monsters lurking w/frightening masks, I then hear a chainsaw up ahead and people screaming...a black flash darts through the crowd and it's Gage going backwards to find his best friend...trouble is, he left his sister...with the chainsaw man! The lady ahead of me, bends down, and all I can hear above the roar of the massive power tool, is "well, we'll find him. She's looking for Gage." A strobe light flashes and reflect on a tiny pair of spectacles, and I know those tears when I see them...they belong to my Brooklyn. I say "Oh, she's mine" and take her hand and luckily we are at the end of the trial so we exit to find a truck with a trailer parked there...the hayride is next.

All the children pile onto the bed of hay, so pumped from horror they experienced in the forrest behind them. I place both my children on the loose hay and I can't help but tell them both..."are your processors on good?" They both say "yes" and the parents must go backwards thru the trail to get back to the house. Three other moms ask if I want to ride in the surburban and follow the kids on their hay ride. "Yes," I say and away we go. This was a lengthy hay ride that went miles over the deserted country roads. The glowing light from the moon and our flashing lights lit our path between the hay riders and this giant SUV. Only the occasional glowing eyes from a nocturnal creature could be assured, the rest was left up to the moon, and the dirt roads named after people who lived on them. We could hear the children chanting, "we're not scared" with the faux confidence in their voices, surely to be replaced by screams as soon as participating teens dressed in costumes came out from the thick woods that seemingly swallowed the dirt roads, with a throat of blackness we entered at will.

I couldn't help but imagine my kids, having the time of their lives up ahead of me, probably more scared than anyone else, due to the lack of hearing in all that chatter of 20 kids talking at once. The two supervising adults were keeping everyone seated and safe, but my eyes watched the pavement for any fallen processors, and I sat ready to exit and retrieve should I see anything. This was one time I felt comfort in knowing we'd selected black for Gage and pink for Brook as processor color, no flesh colored equipement to hunt for in shreded hay or on the dusty dirt we traveled on. I also took comfort in them both being bilateral so they got to enjoy this even more, with the ghosts and monsters coming at them from all sides, they could better tell which way run!

We all had fun, and the kids will be talking about this for weeks to come, so glad we were invited, so glad we attended. Great party Noah, and happy birthday!!