Family Halloween Costumes

I'm supposed to be grading the mound of papers sitting next to me, but I keep getting distracted by the Chasing Fireflies website. I always like seeing what family costumes they have for sale each year, even though I don't know if we'll ever be able to justify a thematic costume from their website for our whole family. Nonetheless, these are the costumes that I think would be fun.

The Downton Abbey family costume

J would lovingly roll his eyes at this costume. I don't think anyone in the family would care to dress up like characters from Downton except for me. But for me to wear a dress like Lady Grantham! That would be fun.

The Wizard of Oz family costume

I could get Sam on board for doing this family costume, I think! I'm not so keen on being Glinda (I'd rather do the Dorothy costume, if need be, although I'd rather have Lucy be Dorothy). Ideally, I think we would have Sam be the Tin Woodman, J as the Cowardly Lion (or the Scarecrow), and Lucy as Dorothy, and then I could be either be Ozma (a childhood wish realized too late!), the Lion or Scarecrow (whomever J doesn't want), Glinda, or the Wicked Witch. If I did go as Glinda, though, I'd rather go as the Glinda that appears in the Oz books (as drawn by J.R. Neill).

Breakfast at Tiffany's costume

If Lucy and I were brunettes, then I think this would be a fun costume to pull off. Maybe my sister C would be a better candidate for this one.

They still have the Vampires of Versailles costumes for sale, which I think would be my ultimate costume dream! I blogged about them and the "Ghostly Adults" a few years ago. But I'm sad to report that the "Ghostly Adults" costumes have been discontinued - I'll have to find a nineteenth-century ghost costume elsewhere.

Leavenworth and Deception Falls

Before the insanity of the school year started, we were able to meet up with our good friends M and JB for a quick weekend getaway in Leavenworth. It was really fun to connect with our friends (they abandoned Seattle at the beginning of this year!) and get to play with their little baby girl. Hopefully Lucy and Baby J will grow up to be cute little besties. We feel lucky to know these neat, intelligent, thoughtful people and have them in our lives.

Sam took this picture, which accounts for the perspective! 

On our way back home, we drove on Highway 2 through Steven's Pass. We stopped for about 45 minutes to walk along the Deception Falls trail. It was a nice way to end the fun weekend, and it also gave us a chance to stretch our legs during the drive! The trail is a loop trail, and is under a mile long altogether.

Sam is in the phase where he wants to pull a silly face every time I try to take a picture. 

There is an old gully (riverbed?) that is filled with cairns that hikers have made over time. It is really a magical experience to walk over the bridge through this area.