It's our family tradition on Halloween to take the kids to the Lawn at UVa to Trick or Treat. We did it way back in 2008 when Lance was barely 3 and have done it every year since then.
This year was no different. George was working, but got off in time to meet us at the parking lot to walk over to the Lawn. The walk to the Lawn was a bit long (probably half a mile), but it was fun for the kids to show off their costumes on the way.
Jude went as Spyro, a dragon character he knows from the game Skylanders:
Checking himself out in the glass:
I think his mask turned out okay--not as true to likeness as I would have liked, but much better than the original one that came with the costume. (His costume was also too big, but he refused to let me return it for a smaller size.)
Lance went as a Terran Marine from StarCraft II:
I made his armor out of foam that I shaped with a heat gun and built around a set of football pads I got from a second-hand store. I was very proud of this costume, especially since Lance loved it.
Last year Lance loved his Minecraft zombie costume until he had to walk around in it for a while and realized it was uncomfortable. My goal this year was to make his costume as true to life as possible while still maintaining ease of movement. I think it worked because Lance had it on for a couple hours and it didn't seem to bother him at all. Success!
His gun I also made out of insulation foam that I carved and painted.
Cole wanted to go as Mikey:
His was the easiest out of all the costumes. The ordered costume was comfortable and super cute. I thought about designing a new shell for him, but in the end I just made him a pair of nunchucks and called it a day.
Lance doing the classic marine pose:
(Ignore the sideways codpiece--velcro fail.)
And Lily went as Rocket Raccoon:
I designed and sewed her costume and thought it was the cutest thing ever.
George and I thought it would have been fun for George to go as Groot and have him carry around Lily, but I ran out of time. Next year?
I knew while I was making it that she probably wouldn't wear the mask, but I had to try! It was so cute while it was on! (And yes, she could breathe easily inside, no worries.)
View of her back
I love this picture:
Group shot!
(Jude was getting tired of his mask and opted to not wear it most of the day. Oh well.)
Since I figured Lily wouldn't wear her mask, I made her a set of ears that she kept on marginally better.
The Lawn was PACKED this year. Every year it gets more and more crazy. Our fault for getting there late, but still. The kids were inching along in a crowd five munchkins deep.
Cole would get one piece of candy and then scurry into the grass to eat it. I think the concept of waiting is lost on kiddos.
And Lily was happy to have lollipops delivered by her big brothers.
A Spyro Mikey!
We braved the Lawn for about an hour before we had had enough of the crowds. Then it was off to Melissa and Aric's house to roast hotdogs and s'mores and do a little more trick or treating.
Lance's dad came to pick him up that night and do a little trick or treating with him, but by that time Lance was tuckered. They got through about two houses when Lance called it quits. It had been a long day, but a fun one.
Oh, and our pumpkins? Here's Lance's:
I lit Jude and Cole's just for kicks and cracked the lids so you could see some light. I was impressed you could actually see light through several of the tiny holes.
The next day I posted pictures of Lance's costume on Reddit, just to see what the glorious nerds on r/gaming would say.
About three hours after posting, this was the front page of Reddit:
You see that post in the #1 spot? Yep, Lance and his costume made it to the top of the front page of Reddit. I guess I can die happy now--for one glorious hour, Lance's costume was the most popular thing on the internet.
Among the many kind and encouraging comments and pm's people sent (and some crazy ones...), the official StarCraft website contacted me to let me know they had tweeted Lance's picture as well!
Seriously, there is nothing like a bunch of worthless internet points to make someone feel good about themselves. It. Was. Awesome.
Another person even lased Lance's picture onto a piece of wood and posted a video of it:
George contacted the person who was kind enough to send Lance the picture free of charge:
So cool! It now sits on his nightstand.
I guess the internet didn't explode, but MY internet sure did. Lance may never be more famous than he was on November 1, 2014 around 4 in the afternoon.
Since we were rushing on Halloween, I didn't get many good pictures of the kids in their costumes. Lance and Jude weren't interested in dressing up again, but Lily and Cole gladly donned their garb for a short photo shoot in the backyard.
Cole is saying, "Awe. I love her." This kid...melts my heart.
And more for me than for anything, here are a few pictures of Lance's gun and Lily's costume that I worked so hard on.
It's not that great looking close up, but when Lance was holding it with his costume, it was pretty awesome.
Lily's costume: I took a cheap bodysuit I got for about $3 and furred the arms and legs, then I found a pattern online for a shortall and used it to sew the orange jumpsuit. The "leather" details are glue-gunned on.
The back piece was made with the same foam I used for Lance's costume and was velcro'd onto the orange jumpsuit so we could take it off to use the zipper. And that's a real raccoon tail. ;)
It was a good Halloween. The kids were happy with their costumes and even happier with their candy and I was just glad I got to sleep for more than four hours that night. Blessed sleep.
