Trunk or Treat

Last night was Trunk or Treat! This year I did not even try to persuade the kids about what to wear. I was too busy for visions of grandeur. They told me what to order and I did it.

Alyssa actually wore the same costume as last year. It was $80 and when I bought it I told her she would be reusing it. She was fine with that because she really liked the costume. A few weeks ago we were downtown  and she saw a cool red door at a church and said it would be a good place to take Halloween pictures. I have always wanted a reason to go take pictures by that door so I quickly agreed. Getting everyone ready and getting over there to make it happen was another story entirely. By the time we got there I had to park illegally in an employees only lot and we had 5 minutes max to get a few shots. The sun was also in exactly the wrong spot and even when it is not bright out Alyssa closes her eyes in pictures. I also didn't have the time or the skill to try to figure out how to compensate for the weird lighting so we just threw it in auto and got what we got.

I tired to change some to black and white and vintage-y Halloween looking colors to make the sun on their faces less obnoxious but Photobucket just keeps pasting down the colored versions so oh well.






Alex wanted to be the green ninja from Lego Ninjago but they do not make a costume for him so he searched online and found a random greenish ninja instead.







Chloe kept saying for months that she wanted to be Tinkerbell's sister but I didn't know what that meant. When we found a snow princess at Gymboree she said it looked like Tinkerbell's sister, so we grabbed it. Only later did I finally see the ad for the new Tinkerbell movie where Tinkerbell has a sister, Periwinkle, and sure enough Disney makes a costume for her that is cheaper than the snow princess we found. Oops...guess I should have listened to her when she insisted Tink had a sis. I bought her the new Tink movie to make up for it.













And then of course there is Bernie. We found him a lion costume for $3 at PetSmart. It was too small and he hated it, but what was funny is that when we put it on he obsessively chased the little lion tail around and around. We were so amused because Bernie doesn't have a tail, just a little fluffy teddy bear stump but apparently if you give a dog a tail....





We took off the lion suit and put him in his Sunday best instead.

He knows "sit" but never sat facing my camera.


His touchdown dance

Heading for the sidelines


He looks a bit greasy because he has double ear infections. Apparently floppy ears get infected even when you clean them religiously. I have to clean and medicate them daily and then he rubs his ears on the floor and gets greasy ointment all over his head.



He didn't like his jersey too much either but he does like his new bling. Before we got him we got his collar and I have been waiting for the matching tag to be in stock and we finally got it.

After torturing the dog we crated him up and headed off to the church. One of the neighbor kids came over to see if the kids could play right as we were leaving. We told her we were off to a party and 2 minutes later she came over in costume and said she was coming with us. Um...okay? I went and talked to her parents and sure enough they had told her she could go and so go she did.

We got there just after 6:00 and sat at our table until 6:30 wondering when it was going to start. Apparently there were games in some of the rooms for the first half hour that we were missing while we were sitting there confused. Dang it! Oh well the kids still had fun eating, running around and of course trick or treating. Chloe was sure she would win a prize for her costume this year. The other two have won before so she felt it was her turn but there were 80 million cute kids in her category and she was distraught when her big smile and cute pose did not earn her the coveted award. She quickly got over it when candy started.

Do you like Chloe's giant pumpkin?


All the kiddos and our +1 for the night.

I barely took the camera out because I was flying solo last night. In fact, I have been since the 17th. Seth went on a hunting trip with his dad. I am glad he got to go because it has been over a decade since the last time they got to do this, but after 10 days I am so over it. Thankfully he comes home tonight. I. CAN'T. WAIT. But check me out, 10 busy days alone with 3 kids and a puppy. Two nights where Chloe was coughing so hard she was puking so I had to hold a bowl for her all night, one pup with double ear infections and vet visits, belt promotions, Halloween parties, all added to the regular grind, which all this week included 2 walks a day in pouring rain and 25 mph winds. No costume required...I am a freakin' superhero. A very tired one.

Alright, I am off for another busy day filled with more Halloweening and a birthday party and a late night drive to the airport.