All Hallows Eve (and other events leading up to it)

Several months ago I asked Padyn what she wanted to be for Halloween. I gave her no explanation of what Halloween was or that it involved asking strangers for candy, but I figured we could cover that later. First I just needed to get a costumed ordered in advance so I wasn't left with the scraggly remains at Target two weeks before October 31st. Padyn very quickly answered, "A scary tiger." Well, of course! She's been pretending to be a scary tiger since she started, well, pretending. A few days later I had found a fun costume on-line and we were in business---2 months early! She loved the costume the minute it came, even though it was a bit too big. She especially loved the headband which she continually took off and asked me to put back on. She was also quite quick to growl on command.
Originally I decided on a lion cub costume for Katelyn. I figured a lion and tiger would be a good combination. I found one on-line that wasn't $70, but when it arrived it was just too big. The size wasn't clearly specified on-line. Funny me, I thought "Infant Lion Cub Costume" meant something around size 12 month. Try more like 24 months. It just so happened I had to go to Babies R Us a few days later and I found this adorable Tigger costume in just the right size.

Now we were a two tiger family.

Saturday before Halloween we went to a little carnival put on by our friend's preschool. Padyn insisted on wearing her costume. (She was one in 5 of the 100 kids to be decked out in their Halloween's finest.) Padyn had a blast playing all the little games, winning prizes, and decorating her cookie. But her favorite things were her face painting and her "tatoon."

Halloween night was a busy time. We packed a lot into 2 and a half hours. First we walked in a little Halloween parade near our friend's house. It wasn't much of a parade. More like 40 children walking at varying paces around the block with no particular purpose or line arrangement. Next we heading to church for the annual "Fallapolluza" event. Basically there were a bunch of games set up for kids and lots of candy being handed out. The games were quite creative. The theme was Old Testament Superheros, so most of the helpers were dressed up like bible characters and all the games had some Bible Hero theme. I personally liked the game I think called "Elijah and the Mean Guys" and the kids had to try to knock down the little "bad guys" by throwing little rubber chickens at them. (I love our church. Who else would do that?)

Padyn got another face painting and another cookie to decorate. But this time she also got a crown to decorate and wear. She carefully chose her 3 decorative beads to stick on it (all red) and then wore it the rest of the night. It was quite the accessory to the tiger costume.

Finally, we did get a bit of trick or treating in. We hit 3 houses on the same street as the church. It was Padyn's first time going. She and her friend Danielle were terribly cute. We prepped them on saying, "Trick or treat." Danielle would shout it at the door then clam up when someone answered it and I don't think Padyn said anything but "Thank you." At least she's polite. The candy was very exciting for them. Just carrying the bag with candy in it was exciting. Of course, it's a daily battle now, but it's great bribery. I'm hoping I can make it last until next Halloween. When she'll probably be a scary tiger again. Because I'm just lazy like that.

pictures on the next post since Blogger won't let me put more up