Lions, and Tigers, and Bears... Oh My!

Or, Vampires, and Mummies, and Skeletons... Oh My!!
That would be the more appropriate phrase, describing my little troop of Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween Night! Of course Dorothy was there too, to keep them all heading down the right path.

We had quite a busy, fun-packed night. Daddy had to work, so we planned to visit him and then meet some friends at a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, the process of getting 4 kids into their costumes took me longer than expected. We abandoned the face makeup and the sit-down dinner. We opted for In-n-Out as take-out and ate at the Fire Station with Daddy so he could check out the kids' costumes. Afterward, we joined up with a group of friends for Trick-or-Treating! The big kids ran ahead with the single goal of getting as much candy as possible! A couple of the younger ones stayed with Allison and I.
Allison took to Trick-or-Treating like a real pro. It didn't take her long to figure out what to do. I loved hearing her say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" at all the houses. So cute! She was an adorable Dorothy. I made her dress by altering a pattern for a dress. She had a little black Scottie dog in her basket as Toto. I tried to get the boys to go as TinMan, Scarecrow & Cowardly Lion, but they were having none of that! Too bad. That would have been cute!

My poor Ryan was so excited to be a mummy, at first. It started out great and looked fabulous. But as the night wore on, the costume just kept falling off him piece by piece. I guess the gazillion safety pins I put in it weren't enough to hold it all in place while running around. He stayed by me so I could keep wrapping him up over and over while walking. Ugh! I sure learned some do's and don'ts of the mummy costume. Trial and error for sure!

Blake ran along with all the big kids as a Skeleton. He so badly wanted his face painted but settled for white spray paint in his hair. He insisted that was best as "skulls are white, Mom!" He was very happy. (white paint was sprayed after picture. oops!)

Darren has always wanted to be a scary Halloween character. I finally gave in this year. We slicked back his hair and painted it black. He had some great looking teeth to bond onto his own, but they wouldn't stick well. Bummer. I made his vest and bow tie (don't look too closely, I'm no seamstress). I didn't have a pattern. I just bought a piece of fabric and held it up to him, started cutting and sewing. Surprisingly it turned out ok. He was happy, so that's all that matters.


After the candy collecting was over, we went back to our base home, The Hanshaws. Rachelle had made hot chocolate, wassail, and the yummiest home-made Apple Fritters!! They were quite a treat! The kids got to check out their loot, make trades, and play for a while while the grown-ups visited.
Overall the night was a huge success! The kids all had a blast and got more than their necessary share of cavity causing candy. I love the Fall and I love Halloween. Isn't it great?