Halloween 2008

It's been so long, so we're starting over

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Boo at the Zoo

Halloween_Night

Wow, it has been so long since we posted any pictures.  We haven't decided whether to add everything from the summer, or just let everyone wait and be surprised when the calendars come out.  Chances are it will depend on how much time we have between now and the end of November.

Austin was finally old enough to go trick-or-treating this year. Instead of taking it slowly, mommy decided it would be fun to go all out this year.  Needless to say, his Darth Vader outfit got plenty of use.

In case you're wondering, costume shopping was a family event again.  We took both kids out to Target to see what we could find.  Daddy found matching Darth Vader outfits, so he and Austin were planning to go out together as Darth Vader and mini-me.  We found the cutest little puppy dog costume that made Madison look like an E-wok, so Madison fit right into the theme.  Mommy had the crazy notion that she would just stay home and hand out candy while they were gone.....(we'll get to that in a minute).

Since they were also having a party at daycare for Halloween, Maddie needed something she could crawl in, so we also found an angel dress with wings.  Here's where the fun begins.  Someone needs to teach mommy how to work out sizes for girls clothes.  We got the "E-wok" outfit home and her legs were the same size as the entire bag-part of the costume.  It turns out, you can't fit a child who wears 9-12mos into an infant bag that is 0-6mos.  So that needed to go back to the store.  Then we pulled out the angel suit...that is a size 2T.  Close enough, right?

We headed back to the store the next day and picked out the cutest little lobster outfit for her (this one fit!).  She wouldn't match the theme, but who cares.  She was adorable!

Boo at the Zoo - Oct 25th

Once the costumes were sorted out, our first stop was the Zoo.  Every year, the Zoo hosts a party for the children the Saturday before Halloween.  Kids dress up in their costumes and go trick-or-treating around the various areas at the Zoo. This was our first time celebrating Halloween with the animals, and it was the kids' first time at the Zoo.  Cassy, Mia, and Michael called to see if we wanted to come with them, so we packed up the little ones and headed out for a great day.

The first project was getting the kids dressed and ready to go.  It was easier to dress them once we got inside, so they were distracted by all of the people while we tugged on their suits.

The next stop (after watching the train, of course) was to head to the ducks.  It seems you can entertain toddlers for hours just watching ducks.  Who knew!? 

Then we headed to the park-area.  The kids spent forever playing on the slide, climbing the ropes, and playing on all of the equipment.  Apparently, we could have just dressed them up and taken them to the park.  At this point, they could have cared less about the actual animals in the Zoo.

Maddie even got into the act and slid down the slide a few times.

Mostly though, she spent the day staring at Michael.  It appears that Cassy has some competition...

After another trip (or six) to the ducks, we headed out to see the animals.

At this point, we adults were so wiped out that we gave up on the pictures.  Needless to say, you don't get to see the terrible two (Mia and Austin) riding around the park in the double stroller.  You missed Austin saying "look daddy Zebras!".  You also missed seeing them running around in the giraffe pen and being amazed at the tiger who was prowling around at the glass.  My guess is that the tiger was getting hungry for all of the little snacks standing outside his pen, but who's to say...

All in all, we had a great day at the Zoo with the kids.  For those who don't know, Mia (Amelyia) has becomes Austin's best friend.  They met in daycare and have been inseparable ever since.

True Zoo Story - We were pushing Austin and Mia over to see the Zebras and had lost Cassy, Michael, and Maddie in the crowd someplace.  While the kids were sitting in the stroller talking about how cool the zebras were, a woman asked Brooke whether they were twins.  "No, actually they aren't even related" was her response.  The woman smiled and said "Oh, just cousins then?".....ummm....aren't cousins related?? Maybe that doesn't count in Utah, but I thought it was West Virginia where cousins married....  :)  "No, just friends" was my reply and then we moved on. 

Halloween Night

Maddie got sick the week before Halloween, so she missed the party at daycare.  In case you're wondering, the angel costume is still in the closet for next year now.  Mommy managed to break the zipper on the lobster costume when she was trying to hang it up in the closet.  So the plan was for mommy to stay home with Madison and Daddy would take Austin around the neighborhood.  Just before getting ready to go out, we got a note from Cassy and Mia asking if we wanted to join them to trick-or-treat at their house.  It sounded like a really fun time, so we scrambled to look for a costume for Madison (or something for her to wear) and we got everyone ready.

THANK YOU GRANDMA TRINA!  At some point, she had brought over a little elephant outfit and at the time we were wondering what in the world we would do with it. Guess who became an elephant for the night  :)  We threw Madison into the elephant clothes and bundled Austin into Darth Vader again (this was the third time for him :).  Then we grabbed Beau's costume out of the closet.

I'll have a hard time telling you just how hilarious it was to watch him squeeze into the full-body suit.  Unfortunately, I was literally laying on the floor laughing so hard I was crying and I didn't get many pictures.  If it helps, the skin-tight suit only needed a thong and tassels to be catwalk ready (thank heavens for the cape).  It was awesome! (I love that my husband is such a good sport :)

So we headed to Cassy's house and finished getting everyone dressed.  After a quick light-saber fight, we were off.

Madison got to ride around the neighborhood in her stroller and the toddlers proceeded to run just about everywhere we went.  After the first house, my camera battery died, so Cassy was in charge of pictures again (she was designated the photographer at the Zoo too).

I'm fairly certain she snapped a photo at just about every house we visited, so fear not these aren't the only pictures of trick-or-treating.

I promise, the kids really were more excited than this picture indicates.  We couldn't get them to sit still, so every time we tried to get a posed picture they would pout and yell.

Back to the task at hand

Don't they look like kids caught with their hand in the candy jar...wait...

One more time around the block.

Eventually we ended up at Mia's Papa and Nana's house.  They live just down the street from Cassy and Mia, so we headed inside to warm up a little (Madison was the only one who was cold) and to tear up their toy room.  Luckily, it's also a good place to stop and snap some piccies.

Hey, who allowed this?!?!

Yes, this is our son.  Don't try to hide if he rings your doorbell.  Unless you have blackout blinds, he'll find you.

Believe it or not, we only spent about 45min or so out walking around the neighborhood.  It didn't take long for the kids to want to be carried. 

So, we headed back to Cassy's parents' house.  Maddie crawled around on the floor while the other two had a snack...

...of olives.

We had a wonderful Halloween night.  The kids had a blast and mommy got some wine at the end of the night.  Happily, they didn't even eat too much candy.  One holiday down....on to Thanksgiving!