Halloween 2012

Halloween was a blur this year with too many busy days and nights preceding it and not enough time to even carve a pumpkin, let alone pick up some candy until the day of.  This is not how I usually operate.  We managed to get costumes this year, which we do about every other year or so.  The in between years we recycle whatever we have lying around.  And the only reason we had new costumes is because I planned way ahead and ordered them on line.

Evan and I were Waldo and Wenda from the Where's Waldo books (in case you haven't yet figured that out by the picture below).  I loved the Waldo books when I was younger and I still do, although I seem to no longer possess the patience to actually find Waldo.

And,  I did not know that Waldo even had a girlfriend named Wenda.  Or maybe she's his sister?  I really don't know.

Nonetheless, I spent the evening explaining who I was and politely laughing every time someone came up to me and said, "I found you!"  The first time I didn't quite get it as I was wrestling a two-year-old back in his stroller.  I blinked a couple of times after the guy said it and then looked down at my shirt and said, "Oh yeah.  You found me."

Totally forgot I was even wearing a costume.

Amelia is still Mario Bros. obsessed, so she was Toad.  She got a lot of compliments on her costume, especially her rather large and noticeable Toad hat.

Dylan was Optimus Prime for one party and a red Power Ranger for another as he had two costumes this year.  Fancy pants.

Simon made a return appearance as a ninja because the costume is like pajamas and it's the only thing I can get him to wear.  He'll likely be a ninja next year as well.  And maybe even the next one.

 Duane and Phillis' neighborhood puts on a little carnival each year complete with bounce houses, snow cones and pony rides.  Here's Toad, er, Amelia taking a ride.

Pumpkin carving happened the night before Halloween this year.  We just ran out of time and I meant to take a picture of all the finished products, but neglected to do so.  We carved two of the three pumpkins and didn't get to the third one on which Amelia had drawn, what else? but Toad.  Evan and I were having logistical and artistic problems trying to figure out how to actually carve it, so I decided to just paint it while she was at school the next day.  It actually turned out pretty well and then we donated it to our neighbor who made pumpkin bread for us that was absolutely delicious.  

I am thinking we'll just run out of time every year and give a pumpkin to our neighbor if that bread is the end result.  

Amelia lost interest in the carving shenanigans after she sketched Toad on her pumpkin.  So we decided to take a picture of her wall decals that she arranged a year or so ago because, she informed me, "We need to take a picture of this so that I'll always remember it, even though I am never changing it and I am never moving."  

 This was actually Halloween night when the rather muscular red Power Ranger made his appearance. 

You can tell that I took the picture after trick or treating as Simon has samples of his Halloween candy all over his mouth and Dylan is barefoot. Amelia had already taken her hat off and Dylan was about to get into the bathtub when I realized that I didn't even take a picture of the three of them, so Amelia put her hat on a bit askance and Dylan put his costume back on and ran down the hall for the photo.  

I didn't ask him if he had anything on under it (he probably did).

On to the next holiday!