Halloween 2011: The Costume

Back to the hand-me-down homemade clown costume.  I really didn't mind the costume year after year because I actually wanted to be a clown when I grew up.  Who has aspirations of joining the circus and becoming a full-fledged clown?  Me!  I blame it on my dad who if he said it once, said it a million times, "I'm going to run away and join the circus."

I guess the words rang true in my head.  I went so far as to research clown schools and knew there to be one in Florida that I was set on going to after high school.  Did I mention I was painfully shy at this stage of my life and the thought of getting up in front of a crowd was terrifying?  Thankfully, things changed.

Like I said, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  My mom has a lot of wisdom.  The thought of paying some ridiculous amount of money on an outfit that will be worn once, maybe twice, for about 2 hours sounds horrible to me.  I'm not saying that the Pottery Barn costumes are not totally adorable in their $59 glory, I'm just saying you can buy that for your little bit this year and I'll swoop in to my local consignment store next year and buy it at the meager price of $8!  Deal?

Obviously it is to some people.  I searched not 1, not 2, but 4 consignment shops looking for costumes.  I thought I had found something at the first one but Colin wasn't sold.  What, you're too old to go as an adorable plush lion?  No turtle with green tights?  But it even has the shell!  No, only masks or super heros were catching his eye.  The masks proved too scary for him once he got one on.  One down.  The super heros were made for the Jolly Green Giant.  Two down.

On our last stop, I was determined we weren't leaving until we found something.  I combed through the racks no less than 3 times, not coming up with many options.  Colin was playing with some toys and would occasionally yell something about what/who he wanted to be and I'd ignore him.  Finally, after hearing him yell the same thing a dozen times, I turned to see what he had found to be the perfect costume.  It was a Kentucky Wildcat.  What were the chances it would actually be his size?  It was!

Into the dressing room we went with a skeleton (and mask), a race car driver, and the wildcat.  As a side note, what clothing store doesn't have a fitting room?  I guess when you're buying used clothes you're not supposed to try them on.  We had to try them on in the bathroom and we were told that if they knocked on the door we'd have to come out.  Let's make this quick.  The skeleton was a no-go.  No reason, he just didn't like it.  The wildcat was next.  It was about 3 inches too short but he liked it.  Again, what bathroom doesn't have a mirror?  This one.  I stuck my head out to ask if they had a mirror in the store.  The only one was a portable floor-length one they had behind the register.  Do kids really not try on clothes?  One look at himself, hearing the "oohs" and "ahhs" and he was sold.  He didn't even want to try on the last one.  Thank you, Mary! Sold for a mere price of $5.99!

So thank you to the person who surely paid $40 or more for this costume.  I will gladly take your leftovers since I am neither creative enough or talented enough to whip one up myself.

I present to you the cutest Kentucky Wildcat (with high waters) in the entire state:

Posing, fake smile and all.

The penguin appropriately going towards the water.

This is the biggest sippy cup I've ever seen!

Let's see how it tastes.

She caught me but I bet I can smile my way out of it.

The only picture that was even reasonable with both of them together.

This trick-or-treating business is hard work!

I don't want Halloween to be over!  Ha-rumph!