So since dressing up in costumes is one of Yaya’s favorite things to do, Halloween is something she has been looking forward to for a while. Despite the non-candy-eating child that she is, she loves to go trick or treating and we often play “trick-or-treat” games at home. So here are our Halloween photos!
[[image:2014_halloween_15.jpg:Jack-o-lantern says Boo!:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
This entry is organized into three sections:
1. Trying out costumes
2. Let’s carve a pumpkin!
3. Trick or treat!
So we begin with trying out costumes. The plan was to have Adik wear Yaya’s old Tiny Pteranodon costume from 2011. Yaya wanted to be a witch. So we are trying the costumes:
[[image:2014_halloween_01.jpg:Yaya Witch watches Adik Pteranodon flap his wings:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_17.jpg:Yaya Witch complete with broomstick, Adik Pteranodon’s head is starting to fall off:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_18.jpg:Happy Yaya while Adik fiddles with his costume:center:0]]
So then Adik said enough and wanted out of the costume. So our fallback plan: let’s try last year’s lion costume.
[[image:2014_halloween_02.jpg:Adik Lion comes downstairs after looking at himself in the mirror:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_03.jpg:He wants it off!!!!:center:0]]
We decided to bring both costumes and see which one Adik would be in the mood for when we went trick or treating in Tampa (we would be there for Halloween). Next section, pumpkin carving. I had purchased these special pumpkin carving tools, smaller than our gigantic carving knife and supposed to be safer around little children. It came attached to a pumpkin carving booklet filled with stencils. So Yaya chose one for us to work with. Papa is the resident pumpkin carving expert.
[[image:2014_halloween_04.jpg:Examining the new tools and the pumpkin:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_05.jpg:Begin by getting the top off:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_06.jpg:Adik wants this to go faster!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_07.jpg:And the top is off!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_08.jpg:Innards with seeds and stuff:center:0]]
After the pumpkin is emptied out, we put the stencil on the pumpkin and Papa starts carving (look at the tiny little pumpkin carving thingy).
[[image:2014_halloween_09.jpg:Carving out the face:center:0]]
The stencil went all soft and funky and we thought there has to be another way. Time for Plan B. But Vin got the face carved out.
[[image:2014_halloween_10.jpg:He’s got his game face on:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_11.jpg:Plan B, trace one of the simpler designs around the face (that was my work):center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_12.jpg:I even carved it a bit and then Vin took over:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_13.jpg:Done!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_14.jpg:Yaya is happy about the jack-o-lantern and wants it lit:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_16.jpg:Here it is all lit up outside on the back porch:center:0]]
And that was our jack-o-lantern adventure this year! Next it is time to go trick or treating. Luckily, we were in Tampa where the weather was warm and clear. At home, it looked to be a cold and rainy Halloween. We went to one of my colleague’s neighborhoods for the trick or treat and wow, did it pay off! They had lots of ghostly decorations out and people were hanging out outside. Sadly, Adik refused to put on any costume. He did not want to be a pteranodon, nor did he want to be a lion. In a supreme show of confidence, he said “I just want to be Adik. I just want to be a boy”. So, he went as he was.
[[image:2014_halloween_19.jpg:Let’s trick or treat, people!:center:0]]
Here are some of the decorations that I managed to photograph. I did not get a good photo of a black cat about the size of a house on somebody’s yard though. Sadness.
[[image:2014_halloween_20.jpg:Ghosts and cobwebs:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_21.jpg:Restless undead coming for ya:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_22.jpg:Yaya got a noisemaker! Adik hated it:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_24.jpg:The last house:center:0]]
That last house was pretty cool – nobody was home but they had placed the candy in buckets outside surrounded by ghosties and ghouls that activated and made scary noises when we approached. Both kids were quite scared but they had good proper chocolate there. Truth be told, I was a little scared too. 🙂
[[image:2014_halloween_23.jpg:Happy with their buckets:center:0]]
And then it was time to pack it up (Yaya was not happy about leaving not finished trick or treating yet) and go back to the hotel. There was some whining, begging, maybe even a few tears, but it was dark and time to go.
[[image:2014_halloween_29.jpg:Let us spill our buckets!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_26.jpg:Candy on the floor!:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_27.jpg:Pawing through the loot:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_30.jpg:Adik finds a Kitkat bar and a Crunch bar:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_28.jpg:Yaya eats a lollipop (for real!):center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_31.jpg:Happiness is being surrounded by candy:center:0]]
[[image:2014_halloween_32.jpg:Yaya tries a Kitkat!:center:0]]
And that is it! Happy Halloween y’alls!
[[image:2014_halloween_25.jpg:Happy Yaya Witch:center:0]]
