Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Sure, I liked my Death Star headdress, but really I just loved watching how excited the kids got. I also loved hearing people comment on how cute my kids are.



R and I went to a party with a Star Wars theme, so I made us these costumes from papier mache and two colours of spray paint. On first glance, most kids thought I was trying to look like Mega Mind, but I still thought it was pretty classic. I was also quite pleased with the way R's TIE fighter outfit turned out. Once again, some people had no idea what it was (someone guessed she was dressed as a turtle), but people of our vintage were all over it.



Working from our base at Grandma & Grandpa M's house, it was not a long trip to go scare Great Grandma & Grandpa M over at the retirement home. Although there were some difficulties squeezing everyone into car seats to get there, it was definitely a great thing to do and I'm glad we got a picture of the kids over there. They wanted us to sing a song, but we totally came up blank on Halloween songs. Only later did we remember that "trick or treat, smell my feet" classic.





As a veteran of four Trick-or-Treating campaigns, Scott (dressed as Vert Wheeler from Hot Wheels Battle Force 5) was elated to be free to run from door to door with his cousins. True to his personality, he found something to be bossy and disappointed about (he wanted to ring more than his fair share of doorbells), but he still had a riotous time. We were so relieved that his costume arrived in the mail in time (Thanks Allyson!). It showed up in the mail on Friday afternoon, almost the last possible moment before Halloween.



I kept hearing Scott report back to his uncle Luke in a loud voice, "Did you hear me? I said 'thank you' to them!" Apparently, the kids had just been hot-footing it away from the door without so much as a word of gratitude, so Luke tutored them a bit. He also came up with the solution that they stop ringing doorbells altogether and just scream "Trick or Treat" at each door to alleviate concerns about equitable bell-sharing.



This was Katie's first real experience with Trick-or-Treating and I think she loved every minute. Clad in the "chubby dragon" costume made famous in 2008 by her older brother, she overflowed with cuteness. The costume is great for Calgary, since it is probably warmer than a snowsuit and even has an integrated hood and mittens. Katie quickly caught onto the routine (waddle to door, hold up bag, get candy, waddle away) and learned to say some new words, like "Too-Treet!" and "Dank-Doo!"



I coached her at each door, prompting her what to say and when to hold up her bag of candy. At some point, she stopped holding the bag up. I quickly realized that it was too heavy. Too much candy. I had to start lifting her arm up for her.



Being tiny and tentative, she was always the last one to get candy at the door, so Scott and the other kids were usually already to the next house. To keep up, I carried her from one porch to the next. As we walked down the sidewalk near the end of the evening, I noticed her bobbing her head from side to side, chirping cute sounds of contentment to herself. She was clearly having a fantastic time. She will not remember any of it, but it will live in my memory forever. Katie's first Trick-or-Treating.