Day 5-Halloween Night

There is nothing that gives more assurance than a mask.  ~Colette

It was decided long before the team arrived that we were all going to be superheros and villains.  Thank goodness Marvel Comics has more than 9 heroes and villains! 

The cast of characters played as such:

LJ- I think it was supposed to be Quasi Moto (?)

Helena-The Hulk

Serenity-Wonder Woman

Lara- Cat Woman

Bradley- Superman

Ryan-Green Lantern

Wes- Spiderman

Gabe- Batman 

DJ- Little Bat

Dad- the Brain

Mom- Super Mum

Sam- Pirate of Penzance

Tim- a sound man

Rupert- a camera man

Emily- a BEAUUUUTIFUL witch 

Let me explain a little bit about this cast-

LJ has a hump in his back.  He has a disease called Schoermann's Kyphosis.  As such, being a hunched back  is not only easy but comfortable.  He actually looked pretty amazing!

Helena- OMG!  During the formidable years of 6-9, Helena spent the good part of her days, eves and weekends all year (in Arizona no less) as the Hulk.  She had a Hulk costume with built in muscles and she wore it nonstop.  She had green face paint and when that wasn't available she would use black magic marker, paint a mustache and under arm hair and off she would go around the block!  I know she will kill me for writing this but it was such a familiar feel and look to see her again as Hulk.  And, for those of you who know her now, you know she would have no problem being Hulk full time!

Lara spent weeks researching the original Cat Woman. We then spent even more time combing the thrift stores for a unitard, black gogo boots and  the perfect tail.  In the end, she was amazing!

Then there was Gabe!  At 2, he has the intelligence, humor and "coolness" of a kid much older than he.  Playing the part of Batman then was a "way cool gig".  Once in his cape and mask he was on his way to the Batmobile!  He literally stayed in character all night (that is until he got a bit sick from too much candy!!!!).

The rest of the kids did a great job as well!  Everyone was ready, loaded and off...

The first stop was the harbor.  It became apparent very quickly that this was just not going to work.  I am not a lighting geek (that was Tim's job)  but even my trite ability at common sense told me that candle light and HD just was not going to work.  Nonetheless, we took some footage under the streetlights, a bit more while inundated by crowds of kids wondering if the camera was real and then sent the crew back to the house to set up for the "Walton's meet the Orton's" kind of goodnight that was set to play out once we got home.

We didn't last much longer as this "Mum" was prettty tired and the kids were spent from the excitement not to mention the sugar and crowds.  We stopped at the Methodist Church Trunk and Treat, gathered far more candy than we ever could eat and headed home.

Once home, the crew was ready with lights, camera and toothbrushes in hand.  Have you ever seen 8 kids brush in one sink at the same time?   It became a disaster that very quickly was heading due south.  With out blinking an eye, we swooped up all but two kids, left Sam, Emily and the crew with two in the bathroom and got, from what I gathered, a pretty cool take of big brother and little brother brushing together.

The final scene of the night was Mum (that's me- hehehe) tucking the boys into bed.  In "real life" I do this every night but not with retakes!  I think the boys got 4 or 5 kisses each!  

We were done filming for the day.  Usually, this is a time of deep breaths, some laughter and thoughts of the days to come.  But tonight it was different.

Rupert and Tim were leaving.  I can't even begin to explain how sad I was.  I simply couldn't keep it together.    There were tears flowing everywhere from everyone.  In the best of circumstances you enjoy a "stay" from a friend.  In this case, a member of the family was leaving and we didn't know when we would see each other again.  It was a dismal farewell and one that even memories and pictures just don't help extinguish.  This crew had come into our lives, embraced us in so many ways.  They openly fell in love with who we are, what we are and where we live and delved into our souls with respect and honor.  We simply didn't want them to go.

 Tomorrow- the final take.