Halloween

Our Halloween celebration started out with costume day at Henley's Kindermusik class.

If it hadn't been for Kim, I would have been the only grownup dressed up. Thanks for being my crazy friend, Kim! :) Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. So clever!

Then we came home, changed clothes, and went to a small party at Gavin's preschool. All the kids played number Bingo with candy corn. So proud of my smart little man!

Henley thought she was big stuff sitting with the big kids. :)

Then Halloween night we went to Aunt Amanda and Cole's for a scrumptious dinner and then to Trick or Treat around their neighborhood. We've always gone with friends around a big neighborhood with tons of kiddos, so this was our first year in a smaller neighborhood with not a lot of kids. It was nice having a low-key evening! And because there weren't a lot of kids, these kiddos got tons of candy at each house!

Aunt Amanda putting the finishing touches on our ferocious lion before we head out the door:

We all dressed up with a Zoo theme because of this precious elephant-loving girl. Everytime she would make the elephant noise, she would hold the trunk above her head. 

I wish I could get Henley in this picture:

...next to Gavin being a lion in this picture:

Ryan reluctantly dressed up as a Zoo Keeper with me. Thanks, darlin'!

(And thanks Kim and Walt for letting us borrow your vests!)

I must point out my key ring to keep these crazy animals in their cages. :) And my hat is from the Natural History Museum from our DC trip! (Obviously for the kids and not me. :) )

And Ryan said that he should have brought a gun because with his aviators, he looks more like a Game Warden. Ha! I agree!

My favorite part of Gavin's costume is the tail that dragged on the ground all night long:

The night went mostly like this: Gavin leading the way ready to get more candy and Henley following her big brother a few steps behind.

Love.this.girl.

The tail. Oh the tail.

Notice a candy eater along the way..

My new favorite picture of Gavin.

"Roar!!"

Henley stopped carrying her bucket because it was getting so heavy from all the candy!

I apparently deprive these kids. When Gavin got a Tootsie Roll, he yelled "CHOCOLATE!!!" and stopped on the steps to eat it. Ha!

There was a huge leaf pile in the road that of course this lion had to jump in!

Henley was done after about 30 minutes. The smile on her face here is because she is being held by her favorite person instead of being forced to walk any more. And she just discovered she had a tail on her costume! Oh I can't handle the cuteness.

Aunt Amanda loved showing off her niece and nephew to her neighbors!

By the end, they both had to be carried.

We got back to Cole and Amanda's, and this is how Cole answered the door. He is the Emperor's Royal Guard from Star Wars. And he made this costume FROM SCRATCH. And he greeted Trick-or-Treaters in it. I wish we had put a hidden camera to get everybody's reaction! Henley was a bit terrified. :) He had to take the helmet off to show her it was really just Uncle Cole!

Here's the full look. This took 60 hours of work. WOW:

This morning, the kids wanted candy for breakfast, and I couldn't say yes or no, so we compromised. I fixed banana oatmeal with Halloween candy mixed in! :)

It's been a fun week! Thanks for having us over Aunt Amanda and Uncle Cole!