Simon played a mighty game in the goal:
but the Tigers still lost to the Hurricanes. Ah well. Mary and Rod's candy apples took the sting out of the defeat. And so did the sun, which emerged unexpectedly as the boys sat gnawing on their delicious, enormous, top-heavy treats.
Back at home Granny Shan got to work on the birthday dessert. Simon had requested her famous Sour Cream Apple Pie instead of cake -- a choice I also made several times in my youth, much to the consternation of my friends. While she mixed up the custardy sauce:
Emmett and Simon (already in Ninja costume) ran a dozen granny smiths through the incredible peeling/slicing/coring device we got at Goodwill. Simon's observation: "It's like a whole Rube Goldberg in one machine!"
When the pie was out of the oven, Simon donned his ninja hood, grabbed his ninja sword, and headed out to trick-or-treat in Columbia City with his hastily-costumed family.
(See below for more on Columbia City's decked out denizens.)
By the time we returned from this adventure, Simon's party guests were beginning to arrive. Andrew had whipped up a pot of chicken adobo and a giant salad for the grown-ups, and we boiled up some hot dogs for the younger set. Thus fortified, a Ninja, Devil, Vampire, Jester, and Pac-Man Ghost set out into the night in search of candy.
They returned with ridiculous quantities of same, and proceeded to sort and catalog their loot until it was time for -- and here we felt like we were coming into the homestretch at last -- birthday pie. Thanks to Granny Shan, all was in readiness.
We sang:
Simon blew:
And not too long after that, we found ourselves hugging our candy- and pie-filled guests goodbye. Granny Shan started loading up the dishwasher one last time. We took a yawning ninja by the hand and led him upstairs, pausing for a moment to remember the Halloween night nine years ago when he came bursting into the world, head-first and breathing fast.
Happy Birthday, Simon!
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