2004

★ THE YEAR of THE DRAGON ★

Waverly’s Costume Rank: ★★★

Dad’s Costume Rank: ★★★★

In May of 2004, Natasha and I decided to take Waverly to the Dragon Park walk. The park is named Fannie Mae Dees Park but is affectionately known as “dragon park” to those who frequent it and the walk was a yearly neighborhood gathering. To get into the spirit, we made a dragon hat for Waverly.

fabrication

The hat was a bit much for her 3-year head to carry for the entire walk but it was a success otherwise. As the summer rolled on and time was running out we decided to repurpose the hat for a costume. Waverly helped with her spine and we added LED lights to the eyes and tail so they would flash. This was our first experience with costume technology involving batteries but not our last.

the big night

We learned from this Halloween evening that Waverly does not like makeup on her face! We added colors to her face right before we left the house but failed to take into account the high humidity outside.Waverly carried on the whole evening with a puzzled look on her face. Once we got home I asked if something was wrong. She pointed to her face and said, “Get it off!”

miscellany

This hat has proven to have some “legs”. Waverly still dons it occasionally and recently wore it to “Crazy Hat Day” during a summer camp to widespread peer approval. After six years, she is finally beginning to appreciate her dragon chapeau.