All Hallows Eve

In celebration of everyone's favorite pagan holiday, we took the kids to the ward trunk-or-treat activity at a local school's parking lot. It was easier than going around the neighborhood, and more fun at that.

Every year we go one of two ways with costumes. Busy and spendthrifty when we buy costumes (last year) or prudent and overextended when we (and by "we" I mean "Summer") make homemade costumes. This year was the latter.

First we have Allyson in her sock-hop poodle skirt outfit:
Ryan was a spider (black sweats with additional arms made from black tights and attached--temporarily--to his real arms). Once the thread from arm to arm broke, he looked more like a squashed spider:

Isaac's was the most creative costume, and the most challenging. He went as a bag of jelly beans--a clear trash bag filled with balloons:

(Note the "Jelly Belly" logo on--or below--his torso.)

Evan wore the costume Isaac had 3 years ago, an Oreo cookie, but he only wore it for 1.75 seconds, as he hates anything that goes over his head. Hats, for example, terrify the kid. The Oreo costume was black pants, a white shirt, and a sandwich-board-style cookie made of cardboard that slips over the child's head. As he moved faster than the speed of light in tearing the thing off, there is no picture.

Much fun was had by all. But, as with all ward activities, the loaves-and-fishes principle applies, and we returned home with more candy that we brought, even though we gave out all ours to other kids form the ward. In the past 24 hours alone I have eaten approximately 96 lbs. of candy.