I’m the room parent in both kids’ Halloween parties today… So I thought I’d share a Halloween story before I go to bed and rest up for our spooky day. I wanted to share a few more stories about the awesome Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party we attended last week.

The fun started the moment we walked out of the elevator of our hotel. A man asked if he could post with Cameron because he thought his costume was so great.
We headed to the park where we got our official party armband and I gave the kids HUGE Disney-themed Halloween trick or treat bags. Jordan was especially excited about that.
We met up with one of our former students who is currently an intern with Disney Sports. She brought us gifts of super cool Mickey hats. I got a new Minnie Mouse hat, Jordan got a Tinkerbell, Cameron got a Woody from Toy Story Mickey hat and Randy got a Goofy Mickey hat. Super fun.

We knew many of the kids attending MNSSHP (that’s the shorter way to say the name of the party) wouldn’t be using the big kid rides, so we headed to the Buzz Lightyear ride and all kinds of fun. Next stop: Space Mountain. But before we did that, we snagged a quick picture with Buzz Lightyear and trick or treated a little. Plus, we had to drop by a dance party in Tomorrowland. It was AWESOME. Cameron was totally into it. Jordan was a bit more hesitant. But they both enjoyed watching Stitch, Pluto and Goofy dance in space costumes.
We loved the Halloween ride emptiness. Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were practically empty for us to ride. We LOVE both roller coasters. Listening to Jordan scream “AWESOME” at the top of her lungs is a joy that only is explained by being there. She’s a brave kid. I love it.

We ended the night enjoying the fireworks by the castle and then made sure we had a great spot for the parade by sitting down along the street in front of the castle. While we waited, we got to watch a show performed by many of the well known Disney villans. When the parade started, we watched the headless horseman ride through the streets and then a really fun parade. It ended with Goofy and others handing out candy. Mickey Mouse lollipops? Yes please!

We loved the party… Even though Jordan fell asleep on her dad’s lap between the fireworks and parade. She made it through and we have SO many Halloween memories thanks to that fun night. I can’t wait to see what kind of fun we can have tonight for the “real” Halloween!

I rushed back into town from my journalism conference just in time to help get the kids dressed and ready for a fun Halloween night. Jordan was SO excited to bring out her old princess hair from our 2008 trip to Disney World.

Jordan was so so so thrilled to be Pinkalicious. She loves the book and I think it’s super cool that she and her brother were book characters this year. (Cameron was Harry Potter in his Quiddich robes)

The candy gathering process went MUCH longer than every before. I figured Jordan would give up before her brother… But not this year. We covered more portions of our neighborhood than ever before. We met more neighbors and even discovered a nearby haunted house that both kids were willing to explore. It was so much fun. Of course that means we have weeks and weeks of candy unless I just let them go at it until they hate candy forever. I haven’t decided which direction to go with that. (And of course, I get to snack from it too!!)

Either way, I’m so glad to be back with the kids and enjoy their company after time away. I am very lucky to have in-laws who help out while I am gone for work trips… And a patient husband who is willing to put up with my absences from time to time. (Who even carved the pumpkins this year and that’s been my job forever!)

I hope everyone had a great and yummy Halloween!!

Jordan has a habit of wearing wings with her Halloween costumes… And I was really focused on helping her find something that avoided that accessory. I was in talks with her with all kinds of new ideas. I really wanted her to be a pirate princess. I mean, she does have a REALLY cool monkey bar “hand” that is a hook. But Jordan didn’t think that was very cool. As we kept talking and planning, one of her favorite books kept coming up into discussion. That’s when I realized we were not going to avoid the wings once again thanks to Pinkalicious.

I immediately searched for Pinkalicious outfits… Because I decided a while ago that finding the best possible costume from a discount costume website will save me more time and stress than trying to do it myself. I know… I’m missing the fun of Halloween. But I love my sanity.

So a little more than a month ago, I found a Pinkalicious costume in the cheapest, most affordable and well constructed version. I put in my order and it said I’d see it in the last week of September. I figured that was great – we’d have a month of ownership before Halloween. Then, I get an email from the company saying it was backordered and I’d have to wait until sometime this month. I started sweating. What if it doesn’t show? Ack! Well, good news. It’s here!

Miss Jordan got a chance to enjoy trying on her new outfit. There’s something about pink that make my girl glow.

Randy thinks we should take the Pinkalicious theme to the extreme. If she’s going to dress up like a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes, we should let her color her hair pink. I’m a little worries about the kind of mess that could cause… So if anyone who reads this has ideas, I’l take them. I know Jordan will buy into whatever we offer if it gives her a chance to be even pinker than this very pink outfit.

Jordan had a very busy and fun weekend for Halloween – along with being Abby Cadabby at her school and neighborhood parties, she got to be a lion during equestrian therapy. I think she looked adorable in both outfits… But she was VERY upset in the lion outfit. She told me she wasn’t pretty enough. I didn’t expect that kind of reaction… Even though I’m pretty sure her dad called it a while back. He said there would be a time when hand-me-downs from her brother wouldn’t cut it. I’m pretty sure that time is now. Check out her face in this picture. She was not happy.

It is stunning how opinionated and dominating Miss Jordan can be when she wants to. It’s pretty ugly. To be honest, I’m digging deep down inside to find my inner calm when it comes to butting heads with Miss Boo. I know I went years of this kind of relationship with Jordan’s brother… Thank goodness he grew out of this phase around the time Jordan is moving into it. (That means I’m headed into four years of the desire to beat my head into a wall. I’m so excited.)

Back to the topic of this post – Halloween. Jordan’s grandparents were in town to see the kids enjoy Halloween. I think they got a ton of points of view of what’s going on with our family. Good and bad. Either way, it was nice to spend time with them. I look forward to even more next year.

I know it’s silly to put the kids in their costumes already… But they arrived in the mail yesterday and I let them try them on. They are both SO excited. Cameron is going to be Anakin Skywalker and Jordan is a butterfly princess. I got them both to pose in character. Too freaking funny.

I also took Jordan to the local cheap haircut place to get a trim. I wanted to take her back to the girlygirl kid hair place where she went this summer but the place closed down. Darn economy. You’re taking away the fun stuff! Anyway, I was worried the traditional setting may not be fun enough to keep her from crying but I was SO wrong. We walked in asking for a princess haircut and Jordan walked to the chair, listened to the person cutting her hair and even had a small talk conversation. I stood there and wondered who the heck was this little person getting her hair cut. She’s growing up so darn fast. The personality is huge and only growing bigger.

Jordan was so big tonight… She loved trick or treating. At first she didn’t even want to walk up to the houses. Then she realized she had a chance to ask for candy and suddenly she understood. She tried really hard to say “trick or treat”… it sounded kind of like “twickah.” Then she had to hold onto her new candy until right before she walked up to the next door. THEN she’d put it in her basket.

She wouldn’t let me walk up to the door with her… She wouldn’t let me hold her much. She wanted to do this on her own. I think back to Cam’s second Halloween — he was three months younger than Jordan is now and he demanded I carry him door to door. (He also had an undetected ear infection)

Anyway. Jordan was amazing. She’s so big. She’s so independent. I’ll get a picture or ten up soon.

I put Jordan in her costume for the first time today — She wasn’t too thrilled to be wrapped around by the body of a ladybug. But dang she looks cute. We had a neighborhood Halloween party… It’s the third in a row and it’s just the coolest thing. I don’t know everyone’s name in our neighborhood, but I know everyone is really cool. The kids got to run around. Jordan got to be cute and Cam got to play with A LOT of boys. There are a lot of boys in the neighborhood!

Anyway. We had a quiet weekend — Not as much outside time as I would have liked (hiking or biking). But I did take a really great nap today.

We have another busy week ahead of us. Jordan’s going to have to skip her class party to go to Cam’s. I doubt that will be a big deal to her. Next year, we probably won’t be able to get away with that.