But Keith has lost his festive spirit and didn't want to dress up at all. So I tried to come up with something low key for the grown ups but still fun for the kids. After I saw a homemade tub of popcorn costume in a magazine I came up with "Date Night." Child one is pizza, child two is popcorn and child three is a DVD or a movie ticket. Mom and Dad just have to dress up like we're going out and viola! It was perfect. Too bad children also have opinions and Addison hated the idea.
He really wanted to be a shark. I toyed with the idea of an ocean theme, having seen a cute mermaid costume made out of foil cupcake tins, as well as an easy octopus costume in the past, but couldn't find a shark costume that suited Addison's fancy.
So we looked at all the online photos we could find and through a couple of magazines and finally decided that he wanted to be a turtle.
Then came the tricky part of trying to find a theme for the rest of the family. The tortoise and the hare was the immediate answer. But then do we add another fable and make Keith Aesop? And if so, what fable? The fox and the grapes.... No, a fake fur tale is expensive! The country mouse and the city mouse? Maybe...
My sister suggested a petting zoo: Addison as a turtle, Charlotte as a bunny, and Jocelyn as a sheep (like last year) and Keith and I are the zookeepers. Decent, but that meant taking back the sheep costume that she was borrowing from me. And that's just mean.
Maybe we could be an amphibian and reptile exhibit? Turtle, frog and lizard? But Charlotte wasn't crazy about being a frog. Until after we came up with another idea and then she insisted that frog is what she wanted all along.
Anywho...the battle went on and on. Our final decision = Into the Woods. Keith as a lumberjack, Amanda as a wood nymph (or something), Addison as a turtle, Charlotte as a bee, and Jocelyn as a bunny. All things you find in the woods right? The kids couldn't stand still long enough for a decent picture and we never did get one of the whole family but you get the idea, hopefully.
Maybe we will give up on family themes in the future. This is getting way too difficult.
