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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Halloween and Other Fall Festivities

Can you believe I didn't even post Halloween pics? What is this world coming to? Our Trunk or Treat fell on the same day as the Cutting Edge Figure Skating Club's Halloween Party and also the same day as a wedding reception we were invited to. Seth was out of town and I hoped to make an appearance at all 3, but in the end I did not get to the reception. It was at the Recplex and I could see it from the Skating Party but I just couldn't justify walking over in costumes.

Alyssa originally read the Harry Potter series when she was in 3rd and 4th grade and loved them, but she re-read them over the summer and got obsessed with them. She just keeps reading all 7 on a loop, and watching them every week as well, so Hermione was really the only costume on her radar this year. Well actually, she wanted to be Luna but Hermione was all we found. She kept her hair in braids until we got to Trunk or Treat because she wanted it to be frizzy and then I forgot to get a pic of it frizzy. Oops!

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Alex got the idea to be a Ghostbuster and he was pretty confident some contest wins were in his future. 
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Chloe wanted to be Elsa and I tried to talk her out of it because I knew there would be more Elsa's than any one party could possibly need but she said, "It doesn't matter, because none of them have Elsa hair and they will all look tacky in their wigs." Okay then. Chloe already had the Disney dress-up Elsa but she didn't think that one was Halloween costume worthy. We found one at Chasing Fireflies but it was $150 so we went to one of those seasonal stores and found this "Krystal Princess" and it was both cheaper and cuter than the Disney one. Several people asked where we got a legit Elsa costume, but it was actually just a $29 knock off. Score!

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The only pic I took at Trunk or Treat was of Chloe and Kayleigh, but I seemed to have failed to load that one. Kayleigh was also Elsa...as was everyone else. Chloe is the only one of my kids who has never won a costume contest but she always goes for the cliche girly costume. She is so mad about not winning, so maybe she will think outside the box next year?

Skating at the Cutting Edge Party
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Alex's premonition about a contest win turned out to be correct. 
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After the party, Alyssa's synchro team had a sleepover at the other team mom's house. They have a far more sleepover worthy house...complete with a 3 story floor to ceiling with spiral staircases and sliding ladders library. I may have openly gawked the first time I was there. They all rode over in their RV and had the best time. Skating can be a snobby sport but we have been blessed to land in with the best group of girls and parents. Their competitive season ends at the end of the month so I will have to do a season catch all post then. It has been exhausting, but also a lot of fun!  
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Chloe and Kayleigh at dance class Halloween week. They both traded in Elsa that day for something easier to dance in. Chloe's looks like a dress but is actually Alyssa's old skating costume, so it is a leotard. 
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Alyssa's e-school friend tried to organize a Halloween party for the e-school middle schoolers but there are not very many of them and only her and Alyssa made it. Oh well, they had fun anyway.
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Since none of the other Middle Schoolers seem too interested in hanging out, Alyssa and Daria were invited to join the Elementary School pumpkin patch field trip. They were pretty embarrassed when they got roped in to being in this kiddie band.
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And this is out of order but I just saw the pics loaded here and thought I'd throw them in. This is a Labor Day parade in Zion, IL. More than half of Alyssa's skating team is actually from IL, so we march there too. The theme was books so the club went with Dream Big Little Pig, by Kristi Yamaguchi so they had to wear tutus. Since she is a skater, Alyssa does not have tutus, but then it occurred to me that she does have a skating dress that would look like a tutu with a shirt over it. 
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And that is a jumbled mess but I just knocked out September and October in one post.

3 comments:

Tony and Ann said...

Welcome back!! I have missed your posts. But I've missed the pictures of you guys even more!

Julie L said...

I am not half as involved as you are and still haven't posted Sept - November. Great to see these picts! Good luck with your few weeks off from ice skating. Alex's costume was definitely unique. Did you purchase it, backpack and all, or make it? And seriously Chloe made a gorgeous Elsa but yes, along with half the population of little girls her age. Alyssa was a perfect Hermione - one of my favorite characters of all time. Thanks for the catch up!

Cheryl said...

Their costumes look great! There definitely was an abundance of Elsa's this year.
People kept commenting on the fact that neither of our kids were Anna or Elsa. Like it was unusual not to be. Funny.