Costume Week: Midnight Madness

When trying to making magic moments with three kids, I've learned you just have to take what you can get...case in point: matching Halloween costumes. Adorable in theory, slightly difficult to execute, and nearly possible to capture. 

No really...this was the best I could do. 

But no one lost an eye, so by Three Kid Standards, that's a win. 

He's right not to trust us. 

I was actually downright thrilled we even got them all in the outfits at all. Piper was all for it (she takes after me in that way), but Fin has been costume resistant as of late, so I didn't know what to expect. I think she liked the idea of matching though, so she was happy to get her new shirt on...just less enthusiastic about sitting still for longer than a millisecond. Miller managed to not throw up on his shirt, which was a small miracle. So while it wasn't going perfectly, it was certainly a lot better than it could be, so I couldn't complain. 

I tried for a few more shots once we got outside, but the girls discovered they could wear their buckets like hats....so it was pretty much over before it started.

Piper kept screaming, "I'm a robot" and Fin was just a constant fit of giggles.

Miller had his own hat, but a decidedly less jovial attitude:

So once we had (not at all) successfully immortalized our ensembles on film, we headed out to the event of the evening: the "Midnight Madness" trick-or-treat through our town's business district (now an annual tradition for us after we had so much fun last year). The weather was perfection so even the photo-fails couldn't dampen our enthusiasm. (Ok...more accurately: I was pumped, Dustin tolerated the outing, Piper was excited to get candy, and Fin had to be put in time out in the yard before we even left because she was throwing such a fit about getting in the car. Miller cried too, but there was really nothing in it for him, so I can't blame him.) But by the time we made it there (10 minutes down the street) everyone was happy (or asleep) and we were ready to get our spooky groove on.

Each store was open extra late (though we got there right when it started, to avoid bedtime drama), store windows were decked out for a best display contest, and shopkeepers were handing out treats. We walked around for a little less than an hour, checking out the displays, and loading up on candy. Fin was still a little wary of the process, but she held my hand the entire time, and even managed to squeak out a timid "Twick Tweet" at about half the stores. (We had practiced a little just before we left, but it was still a little confusing for her. When we approached the first stop, I prompted her- "What do you say, Fin?", resulting in her saying "Thank you!" before she even got candy. I corrected, "No, I mean what do you say if you want a piece of candy?" To which she logically followed, "I have candy, please?" Well...close enough). Piper was an expert though, ending up with quite the haul...she wanted to eat each piece immediately, so we had to make a few compromises, but overall she did awesome and was incredibly polite.

They both got a kick out of seeing all the other kids' costumes, and even a few dressed up dogs as well. The caramel apple lollipops were the hit of the evening, and we all agreed on our favorite store display:

 On our way out we ran into my nephew, dressed as some sort of adorable hobo/skeleton hand/farmer:

 And Miller woke up just in time to serenade us out with some light screaming. How appropriate for the holiday.

All in all, it was a great practice for them for the official trick or treat night through the neighborhood, and good practice for me for keeping my expectations low when it comes to perfect family snapshots.... At this stage I'm becoming more and more appreciative of simple events like this. Nothing too crazy, just a few cute sweatshirts, some awesome weather, and a nice candy filled walk around town. We didn't end up with a flawless photo, but we couldn't have had a better time. 

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