Halloween

The grand plan was for Lola to dress up as a peacock. I had elaborately designed the perfect homemade peacock costume for her (in my head), complete with an awesome plumage. Two weeks ago, I started gathering feathers for the costume, and in the (albeit third) craft store on a Saturday, Lola threw down the peacock feathers she had been holding, and yelled, "I WANT TO BE A COWGIRL."

And that was that.

If I've learned anything about Lola's personality, it's that when she says she wants something, it is difficult to change her mind. Later on, she told me that she specifically wanted to be Jessie the Cowgirl (from Toy Story 3), and while I did have a panic attack when I discovered that both Disney Stores in the area and the online store were sold out of "Jessie" costumes, I improvised, and we ended up with a costume that we both really loved.

I ordered her Jessie cowgirl hat online, and then ordered the "Jessie-inspired" dress online from Etsy.   The adorable cowgirl boots, which I suspect started it all, were a gift from Amy and Adam.

 Of course, Archie and Gizmo also sported costumes. We had a really hard time getting them in a single shot.

 

Archie was a yellow submarine.

  

And, Gizmo, who was incredibly difficult to get in a photo, was dressed as a celebrity. Typical.

 

We opted to not take Lola out trick-or-treating, and instead we stayed at home. We ate homemade autumn pizza, and watched the Halloween episodes of The Office and Parks & Rec. Lola enjoyed handing out candy and toys (we passed out play-doh and temporary dog tattoos) to the neighborhood kids, and I loved seeing all the of the costumes. My favorite costume this year was a group effort. Four ten-year-old boys constructed a huge green dragon out of sheets and cardboard. Three of them were the dragon and the remaining boy was dressed as a knight. I was so impressed with their creativity that I gave them extra candy. :)