Yesterday, we drove up to Kingston for Dadu and Red Eft’s party to celebrate the 13th and final Lemony Snicket book. Red Eft’s brother, a supernumerary at the Metropolitan Opera, was supposed to come dressed as Count Olaf, but he couldn’t make it.

So we met up with him in Manhattan and picked up the make-up and disguise (prepared by the make-up artistat the opera), so that Dadu could wear it.

We made it to Kingston in record time, just enough time for Dadu to become a perfect Count Olaf.

The enormous dining room of their grand Victorian home was decorated with a festive circle of all the Series of Unfortuante Events (SOUE) books. Lots of friends, most from the local home schooling community, were in attendance

There was a bountiful feast of dishes based on the book, including a menu taken from various volumes: Pasta Puttanesca of
course, Parsley Soda, Aqueous Martinis, Mango/Black Bean Salad, Aunt
Josephine’s Chilled and Chapfallen Cucumber Soup and a
Quaff-the-Bitter-Cup Coconut Cream Cake inspired by Uncle Monty), a
magnet fishing game for Stricken Salmon, and a Dewey Decimal hunt
borrowed from The Penultimate Peril’s Hotel Denouement. All these dishes are mentioned in the books.

Dadu’s daughter was very frightened when she first saw him in diguise. Red Eft had to take her another room until she calmed down. Later, she was positively giddy about Dadu’s new face.

After the party, adult scragglers talked and the kids engaged in "extreme" imaginary play in costumes, while listening to the SOUE soundtrack. Red Eft and Dadu’s nine-year-old son, WM Thing, showed  the movies that he makes. You can see some of them at his website.

We ducked out to get OSFO some BIG pumpkins at a farm stand. The drive back to the city was slow but not as bad as we expected.

Big day in the country. Great party. Fabulous autumnal leaves. Too much driving. Worth it to celebrate with friends.