Sofie and Liam decided they all had to be Toy Story (a.k.a Toy Widdy) characters for Halloween this year, so we have Jessie, Woody, and Rex. They also insisted that Daddy be Stinky Pete, the old prospector. And they wanted Mommy to be Bo (as in Bo Peep). Kenny held up his end of the deal, but I had a much harder time finding an...um, appropriate Bo Peep costume. So I dressed up as Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck-It-Ralph. For a brief time, Kenny was going to be Ralph, but then he committed to Stinky Pete. We had fun, and the kids loved that we dressed up too!
The Sunday before Halloween was Liam's Trunk-Or-Treat as his school. It's always a fun time, and we remembered it from Sofie's days at preschool, so it was nice to go again this year. Here is my little Round-Up gang all dressed up and ready for trick-or-treat #1...
Liam, I mean, Woody looks like an actual doll here with this expression on his face! And Rex practiced her "Raaaaaarrrrrrs! lots in the weeks leading up to Halloween. She performed well. ;-)
Loading up the wagon with our little Rex, ready to trick-or-treat!
Cheeeeeeeese. Hurry up, Mom, we are ready for CANDY!
And they're off!
Fun little game of "I Spy" in this trunk.
Searching for the good stuff.
It was such a beautiful fall night.
Say "eyeballs!!"
Hey, Rex got some candy, too!
Woody steps up to the bowling game, adjusts his hat, and is ready to rock.
Oh. My. Goodness, Man. It's "Py-er-man". Liam froze up a little bit in his presence.
After hitting all the trunks and treats and playing all the games, we moseyed on over to the playground for some good, clean fun.
Oh, goodness, this boy.
And this little lady. Be still my heart.
Yee-haw!!!
Oh. My. Goodness, Man. It's Batman. And Velma from Scooby Doo. Liam was mesmerized by Batman. He followed him everywhere saying, "Hey, wait, Batman. I wan tell you tumpting."
Later on, I watched from a distance as Batman tried to weasel some candy from his little admirer. Batman, Woody, and an older 7-ish looking Harry Potter? were on the playground in a fort. Batman says to Woody, "Hey let me hold that candy." Woody starts to hand it over, and Harry Potter stops him, saying, "No, man. Don't do it. It's a trick. He's going to take your candy. I do this to my little sister all the time." Nice save, Harry. Nice save. Noted.
And then we rested for three days, waiting for the frenzy that is Halloween. All you stay-at-home moms of many tiny tots know what I'm talking about. Costumes, school parties, office stops, the BIG trick-or-treat. It's craziness. A day I'm always truly frazzled after, so my dinner is usually a well deserved glass of wine and pilfered Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Don't judge. I earned that candy, man!
It went something like this:
The night before - Lay out costumes, clothes, and pack classroom party treats.
We made these mandarin orange jack-o-lantern cups for classroom party treats earlier in the week. Kids with Sharpies. Always a winner. And Liam is currently in a phase of wearing spaceman jammies and this yellow smiley face wristband nearly 24 hours a day. I'm surprised he hasn't gone to school in this getup yet. It's coming. I know it.
8:30 - Drop Sofie off with costume in backpack.
9:30 - Walk Liam into school in his costume with his party treats. This included 20 mandarin orange cups in a Target sack (heavy and awkward) and 16 juice boxes in a Target sack (super duper heavy and awkward). Also included at no extra charge: a slow toddler and a non-walking heavy 13 month-old, known to take unexpected backward dives. Also, it was raining. :-)
Immediately out of the car the juice sack broke and juice boxes went everywhere, so I loaded up Liam's backpack with some and carried the rest loose, in addition to orange cups and squirmy baby. Two steps later, Liam was weighted down from the 100 lb. backpack and fell over Randy-style-from-A-Christmas-Story and couldn't get up. "I can't get up! I can't get up!" Parent fail. Sorry, Buddy.
10:00 - Shower and get into costume. Change Stella's diaper, feed her, dress her in costume. Make sure treats for Sofie's class are ready to go.
10:45 - Arrive for Liam's classroom party. Everyone was so cute! They made snack mix and lots of parents and grandparents came to join in the fun. I love that both Liam and Sofie's schools always have lots of family involvement.
Shootin' from the hip, some snaps of Buddy's party. I have two point two seconds to get a shot off with Stella on the floor before she eats something gross...
...or gets mauled by toddlers. She's a toddler magnet! They swarm her! Attack! Attack!
Buddy mixing the snack mix and dipping it into bags to take home.
Next, the class paraded across the street to the Law School for some trick-or-treating. The offices always go all out decorating and make it really nice for the kids.
After Liam's party, we high-tailed it home at 12:30 to get to Sofie's party.
12:30 - High-tail it. Lunch and potty break for Liam. Bottle and diaper change for Stella. Reload. Head out.
1:00 - Arrive for Sofie's party with slow toddler, heavy squirmy baby, a Target sack of orange cups, and a box (see I'm smarter this time) of heavy juice boxes. Run it all up a full flight of stairs. Also included at no extra charge: a sleepy nap-time toddler who sat on the ground, refusing to walk, at least once, crying, "Pick me up!" :-)
Liam always joins right in with Sofie's class at parties, and it's really nice that he's able to do this. He thinks he's such big stuff.
Grace, Liam, & Sofie
Sofie's class making trick-or-treat bags.
Duck, duck, GOOSE!
Run, Sofie!
Uh, Buddy. That's not quite how it works.
The girls.
Ya'll tied up there, Partner?
Normally we trick-or-treat outside, but because of the rain we stayed inside the school. I was thankful.
Notice Liam's name on his trick-or-treat bag. "Sofie's brother."
"Marties!"
After we wrapped up at Sofie's party, it was time to race back home for the next thing.
3:30 - Potty breaks and snacks for Sofie and Liam. Bottle and diaper change for Stella. 45 minute power nap for all three kiddos. Quiet. So hard to wake everyone up. Reload.
4:30 - Carrying sleeping limp children to carseats. Crank up Disney Toy Story soundtrack. "C'mon guys! Wake up, wake up, wake up! Are you ready for CANDY!! Yeah!!!" Nobody opens an eye.
5:00 - Arrive at Daddy's office. Drowsy, cranky children exit vehicle. Let's go!
It's Stinky Pete, the old prospector! And a very scary Rex! Raaaaaaaarrrrrrr!
For your reference. ;-)
My Round-Up Gang!
We met our friends, Ashley and Tyler, and their boys, Ollie and Jasper, at the office to head out for trick-or-treating in Brookside.
5:30 - Let's get our trick-or-treat on.
Calm yourself, Stinky Pete.
Vanellope Von Schweetz.
Boom.
Ashley and Tyler joined in the dressing up fun as Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray from Lost in Translation. Yes, we are aware of the fact they they looked a lot cooler than us.
Nicely done. They rocked it.
See?
This isn't actually our neighborhood. As in, it's close to us, but not our actual street. Our street is lined with frat and sorority houses, so this is a street some friends of ours live on that we poach every year on Halloween. Street poaching. It's a great Halloween technique. Thanks Austin and Lynn and Camilla and John for the use of your street for our kiddos' trick-or-treat enjoyment!
Ollie, the Halloween wolf. So cute! Baby brother, Jasper, was a sweet little Tootsie Roll. I refrained from eating him up!
Next!
Brother, bringing up the rear.
We had a beautiful night for trick-or-treating.
Rex "Raaaaaarrrrrrrrred!" all along the way and the bigger kids trick-or-treated their little hearts out. Then we all went to Spin Pizza for some dinner and gelato before calling it a night. Fun day, but I need a year to recover!
In the meantime, this candy all looks super razor-bladey for sure.
Chocolate is statistically the most dangerous candy for a child to ingest. True story.