boo!

my girls dressed up as a purple unicorn (m) and flower (ruby) for halloween this year. 

my little flower was resistant to dressing up before school, 

so at the beginning of the day we only had one costumed kiddo:

 (her favorite part was her tail)

action shot walking to school,

with one very serious unicorn.

getting ready to play

 there were lots of fun halloween activity stations!

face painting & black nail polish for little fingers

 spin art

 playing tag

plus storytime

 (notice ruby smack in the middle and still costume resistant)

 another wise mama told ruby if she wore her costume she'd get to collect candy, 

so guess who immediately wanted to wear her costume? 

(bribery: the key to successful parenting)

 all the kiddos circled up before getting ready for the halloween parade around the perimeter of the park and then trick or treating at the school's doors. 

(pardon all of the pictures- i just thought all of these costumed kiddos were SO cute!)

 how cute is pippi longstocking's costume?

 flower & monkey say hello to each other

 patiently waiting to trick or treat!

 

the best reaction:

 pensive ladybug girl

 candy for breakfast!

 friends

behold the power of candy

we raced to m's speech therapy appointment, 

and then piled in the car to drive to southern california!

matt and i were headed to a work conference for him and we were dropping the girls at his parents' house so we were trying to make the trip fast enough to surprise them with our trick or treaters!

the fastest we have ever made this drive with children is 7 hours...

with glimpses of the pacific ocean along the way

miraculously, we got there in 5 hours and 15 minutes, with only ONE stop!

two grandparents and two grandkids were very excited at the surprise!

papa and grandma took the girls to a few houses to trick or treat, 

and then matt and i slipped out to grab a halloween treat for ourselves: a cheesesteak! 

(the best i've found in california. for reals.)

we were the last customers;

they slid the window closed right after we ordered!

and with full bellies and a good day behind us,

the unicorn, flower, and their mama and daddy went to sleep.

(what was your best ever costume growing up? or the best one you've figured out for your kiddos? my friend amy dressed her son as a candy rapper this year-yes, rapper. pretty hilarious.)