Halloween

Coming up with costumes was a bit of a challenge this year.  In past years, I simply picked for them.  This year, they had opinions.  Too many, actually.  My mom, with the best intentions, sent them the Wishcraft catalog.  I am not exaggerating when I say that hours were spent pouring over this catalog and dreaming about various costumes.

 Months and months ago, Ryan told me he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween.  He actually has never seen the movie (he saw a clip - the part with the creepy kid - and was so freaked out that he refused to watch the movie), but he has always loved Buzz.  Months ago, he decided he wanted to be Buzz for Halloween.  He was so certain that, even though it was May and Halloween was far away, I checked with a friend whose son had been Buzz the year before to see if she had his costume and would be willing to sell...just in case he didn't change his mind over the next 6 months.  In the end, he didn't!  While he considered a few other costumes, his desire to be Buzz was too strong.  While store-bought costumes drive me insane (you pay so much money for the most cheaply made costume you could imagine), I knew I couldn't make a decent Buzz in the amount of time we had left...so we bought a Buzz.  He hung up the costume in his room like a decoration.  He hugged it every day.  And when he put it on he was beyond happy.  Totally worth it.

 Allie had much more trouble deciding.  Every day, she wanted something different.  One day she wanted to be a butterfly, the next Princess Ariel, the next a fairy, the next a bat.  Sometimes, within minutes she would announce 3 different things she was going to be for Halloween.  There were too many options and she wanted to be them all!  Finally, 2 weeks before Halloween, I told her she had to decide. She had to pick 1 costume and that would be it.  Other ideas could be saved for next year.  She thought about it all day and finally settled on an Octopus.  I looked online for a costume to buy, but they were all really expensive, and not even that great.  So I looked for a DIY costume and found this.  Hers is more monochromatic (and definitely looks more like an octopus), but she spent a lot more on it.  I found a hoodie and 4 pairs of women's knee high socks that all matched and ran with it.  Personally, I love the pink polka dot and stripe octopus :)  And so does Allie!  

 Last year, we got to be with Nana.  This year, it didn't work out, so we planned on trick-or-treating around our lake.  One thing I always do is plan for our costumes to work in the cold.  We live in Michigan, and it isn't out of the realm of possibility to have snow on Halloween.  These costumes were all set for a full outfit underneath.  Unfortunately, it didn't snow.  It rained.  I suddenly found myself hitting up the stores for clear rain ponchos, and convincing them that their costumes would look best with rain boots...I was worried our trick-or-treating wasn't going to work out.

 We started at the trunk-or-treat at the Fire Station (which had been moved indoors).  By the time we left there the twins had more candy than they needed (as well as popcorn that they snacked on throughout the night - which was fabulous because then they were too full for much candy by the end).  We went to a few houses of church people, friends, and neighbors, but didn't actually do much traditional trick-or-treating.  Actually, we spent a fair amount of time at each house talking with our friends - so much that even though we only went to 6 houses we were out for well over and hour!

My happy Octopus.

 When we got home, we let them eat a few pieces of candy while we skyped with the grandparents (Nebraska Grandpa and Grandma and Little Grandma, they wanted to skype with you as well, but it was getting way too late.  However, they were thinking of you!).  Despite the rain, they considered the night a HUGE success :)

To infinity and beyond!

While I was a little sad that this was the first year they didn't have costumes that went together, I loved seeing their individual creativity, imagination, and personality come into play.  Allie was thrilled that her costume was homemade, that she would be able to wear the clothes later, and that she got to dress up as a sea creature (she's obsessed with all marine life).  Ryan loved buying a perfect costume, becoming one of his favorite characters, and impersonating Buzz all night long.  So much fun.

We love our costumes.

They were a little sad this morning that Halloween is over.  They couldn't believe there were no more parties or places to wear their costumes.  They couldn't believe there was only 1 night of trick-or-treating.  They didn't want all of the costume fun to end.  But tonight we break out the Thankful Tree fun, and hopefully looking forward to Thanksgiving will make up for the fact that Halloween is over!