Every October, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo has Wild Zoo Halloween. This was our third year in a row to go. It’s also Navy’s first Halloween!

On a couple of the “treat trails,” the wait was insane. Thankfully, the Safari Treat Trail was lined with mini pumpkins and small gourds. Lily kept picking them up and having me sniff them. Then, she would come up with a creative scent that each had. “This one smells like pumpkin and banana peels.” She would also describe the colors and textures in great detail.

After his unpleasant face-plant incident in the wood chips, Navy was kind of over the whole zoo thing. He was over the Halloween thing when I started to put his costume on. The way he’s looking at me, I just know he’s questioning my judgment as a parent. “Why is this crazy lady taking a 9-month-old to get candy he can’t eat?!”

While walking and waiting on the Outback Treat Trail, Lily started to complain that she needed to use the restroom. With no potty in sight, I started taking pictures of her making different faces. This is her “angry jaguar” face when the Bobo’s try to steal her growl. (You have to see the “Go Diego, Go!” episode to get the reference.) It worked, we made it through the treat trail and to the nearest facilities without incident.

Navy didn’t get a lot of that could have. Lemonheads. Nerds. The cookies that he did get were gone before we were finished. So was his sugar buzz. However, he did get a couple of lollipops that he could have. He was a sticky, drooly mess by the time he had devoured his treat.

We ended the evening with carving Navy’s pumpkin. I started this with Lily, where I carved her name as the “teeth” of the jack-o-lantern. We’ve done it for her up until this year. She wanted a raccoon on her pumpkin. Being that it’s Navy’s first Halloween, coupled with the fact that he can’t talk, I made the decision to make his name the teeth.

Tomorrow, Halloween and more treats. Then, on to November!