Halloween at the Museum

continued

Stuffed dead animals and creepy live ones aside, perhaps the most exciting part for my kids was seeing the other children (and adults) in costume. Bunnies, bats, vampires, and monsters greeted us at every table and ran through the halls from one activity to the next with handfuls of candy, comets, and hieroglyphics.

At the snake table, a little princess/fairy/ballerina asked her mother, "What do snakes turn into after they come out of their skins?" "They don't turn into anything, honey. They're just bigger snakes."

On the way home, Ernie asked what he would be when he got bigger. "Can I be a snake?" he asked through a mouthful of Tootsie Rolls. "Because if I were a snake, I could shed my skin and grow bigger when I want to eat more candy. Nobody tells a snake how much candy he can eat."

This year's U-M Exhibit Museum of Natural History Halloween party is Sunday,   

[Originally published in October, 2003.]