After such a busy, and stressful, year we’ve been trying to focus on more of the big important stuff (q.t. with friends and family, and planning a big family trip at the end of the year—to Spain!—have taken a lot of our time) and that has meant simplifying a little bit this year. The Halloween decorations never left the attic and we never made it to a pumpkin patch, but we did enjoy family game night—which, I have found, is a great way to create family inside jokes…including such gems as French Darth Vader and butt DNA (don’t ask)—and purposeful learning together (on Spain! Did I mention we’re going to Spain?? I’m just a little excited. :) ). Last year we got creative with the Halloween costumes, trying to use what we had on hand rather than purchasing new costumes, and we had told the kids that every other year they could perhaps get new costumes. So, even though there wasn’t much Halloween festivity around the Williams household for most of October, we were busily putting together new costumes that last week.
Ella has arrived at the age when she and her friends make plans together and then get the parents on board. This year, she and her girlfriends decided to all dress as fairies and trick-or-treat together in another neighborhood. The girls are all in her Girl Scout troop and I know the moms well, so, although we knew we would miss spending the time with her, we knew she’d be safe and have a great time—and how sweet is it that they were going to be a gang of fairies (seeing the “tween” options, I know it could’ve been much worse, even though she wouldn’t know why at this point.) Ella decided to be a “purple fairy” so I was given a detailed list of purple (Ella’s favorite color) items for her costume (wings, tights, hair spray). I did my best and even threw in some purple lashes (that I personally think sent the costume over the top). I’m fairly inept when it comes to doing hair and makeup—I’m hoping one day Ella will be my live-in stylist—so it was a personal victory that I actually pulled off two french braids and applying fake lashes. Ella was thrilled with the finished product. The plan was even for her to borrow a purple tutu from a friend as the finishing touch. But, I captured a few photos of Ella at our house pre-tutu.
Jack’s Halloween costume was an entirely different ordeal. He got an awesome Iron Man costume for his birthday and was committed to wearing it for Halloween, so we thought we were off the hook for buying him a new one. The day before Halloween, however, he came home all deflated because he said several friends had told him that dressing up as Iron Man was “too baby-ish” and “sooo 1st grade”. As we had initially told him we’d get him a new costume this year, and coupled with the fact that he’d be trick-or-treating without a buddy (his sister or our next-door neighbors as they would be out of town), I caved and said I’d take him to Target on Halloween (the kids had no school that day for the end of the quarter) to look for the purple morph suit he wanted. There was no way I was getting anywhere near Party City or a Halloween store on Halloween, so he’d have to settle for Target. Of course, the hoards of prepubescent boys in the area had already wiped Target clean of any morph suits that might fit Jack so we hunted through the now disorganized Halloween aisles of Target for a good 20 minutes to find him another suitable “non-baby-ish” option. Luckily, we found a skeleton suit and light-up mace that seemed to fit the bill (there was a little pinning to make sure his hip bones weren’t down by his knees, but maybe that just means it’ll fit him next year, too). Jack was happy.
Jack helped Jonathan put together a pirate costume and the two were off for a good hour and a half of trick-or-treating. Jack was really sensitive about how his dad’s leg was feeling during all of their walking, but I’m pretty sure Jack was tired of trick-or-treating first. Ella was out trick-or-treating when the hail started at 8pm but, luckily, her group knew several families in the neighborhood and she was able to hang out at someone’s house until it stopped. The hail and then rain put an end to the night of trick-or-treating for everyone, but our bowl was nearly empty anyways and both kids definitely already had quite a take. So, even though we were lame and didn’t deck the house with the Halloween lanterns and pumpkins, we had a great Halloween.
