Halloween 2015

Certainly have missed some milestones in 2015 that needed documenting and in an effort to catch up I am throwing back to Halloween. Life in what we used to think of as a "simple house" continues to get more chaotic as the kids get older and schedules get out of hand. Thus we found ourselves on Friday, October 30th with no costumes. It drives me nuts to ask the kids "what do you want to be for Halloween." They waver from the ridiculous to the unattainable and then change their minds 10 minutes later. I am a BIG fan of how we chose to do it this time around!

After a family trip to the zoo we rolled into a Goodwill store and let them peruse the racks. P-man went directly to the Angry Bird costume that is obviously WAY too small for him. He tried it on right in the aisle and his mind was made up!

The girls pulled out anything and everything that sparkled and we had a few different options for them to try on. New Kid was very pleased with her "circus performer" outfit and there was a similar costume in the circus theme that would have been great for Pickle but it was way too big. C threw on the zebra headband and blue beads to complete her outfit. I believe she wore flip-flops to trick-or-treat. She was happy and that is all that mattered!

The Go-Go dancer dress is a common packaged ensemble that can be found at the big Halloween stores and we found this one still in the plastic bag but missing the boots. The dress fit perfectly and she was sold. I then spent hours going to 5 different stores on Halloween to find the appropriate boots and found some at the last place I tried - a party supply store!

JP threw his costume together after finding his old Christmas pajama shirt in a drawer. One look at the striped shirt and the idea was born. All he needed was a beanie with a ball on top and his outfit would be complete. Luckily our crafty friend Cathy saved the day by cutting a red ball from one her dog's toys and then we pinned it to the top of his white beanie.

I love this picture of all three as Pickle is in pure Go-Go mode! 

We also had a very smiley Scarecrow over for the party. I believe he was supposed to be scary - he carried some sort of weapon, but it is really hard to be scary with that big of a smile!

His brother attended the party as well and it must be documented or I will certainly forget who was wearing this costume in future years. And Pickle's expression is classic!

We also had an Ice Queen in attendance and two Star Wars characters who escaped being photographed. No other adults wore costumes . . . very disappointing. I dressed as a very convincing Witch and also managed to not be photographed. 

First Family Camping Trip

Before kids JP and I camped quite often . . . . we went for a long weekend in the Chiricahua Mountains or a week to Zion or just one night on our way to Colorado. Once The Boy came along we had big ideas of taking him in the tent and heading out on many adventures but we were just never sure of the right time or right age to start. Then Pickle arrived and things got crazier and then came New Kid and the thought of 5 of us in a tent was just plain scary. I would often lament our fear of family camping when talking with other parents and finally met my match in our friends Dave and Donnie. She would not stand for my tales of woe and kept gently pushing until we agreed on a weekend and then they booked the campsite and we were locked in for this adventure! They are well-practiced campers and integrated their boys right into the process so we were being led by masters of family camping.

So Easter weekend found us at Dead Horse State Campground in Cottonwood, AZ; a "high desert" environment with lots sand and scrub brush where the days were hot and the nights cold. We borrowed a 10-person tent that was nearly big enough for JP to stand. It was definitely large enough for the pack 'n' play which I think was key to getting New Kid to stay put at bedtime. The Boy decided he wanted to sleep in his own tent so he would not be bothered so he had our smaller two-man tent all to himself. Of course it was him that disturbed the rest of us including at 1:45am when he asked if he could get out of his tent. Me, "Um, no it is the middle of the night; please go back to sleep." He was also the first one up on Saturday morning dressed and unzipping his tent at 5:30am only to realize it was bitterly could outside of his sleeping bag.
Overall it was a very successful adventure! We now know it can be done and everyone had a good time and can't wait to do it again.