Win Halloween Tickets to Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad

Now that it's officially October, the leaves are falling, the air is getting crisp, and it's time to start thinking about Halloween! There are so many great Halloween activities to choose from in the Metro Detroit area and beyond, but for family-friendly fun you just can't beat Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad in Flint.

If you want to read more about Halloween at Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad, head over to Daily Leisure to see what it's all about.

Here's your chance to win a family 4 pack of tickets to Halloween at Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad! Please note, the tickets are for Saturday, October 18 with a 5:00 p.m. train ride. The date and time cannot be changed, so please only enter if you are available.


 Crossroad Village

Star Wars Princess Leia Costume Review

When I first met Chris, back in high school, he had an entire bedroom (across the hall from his actual bedroom) dedicated to Star Wars. It had a space mural on the wall (the kind made from wallpaper), a Star Wars bedspread covering the Star wars sheets on the bed, Star Wars posters on the walls, and shelves full of Star Wars toys and figures. My knowledge at that time of the George Lucas empire was quite negligible, but considering that this fanaticism is what I married into, I've since learned a thing or two. I mean, I've (more or less) seen all the movies at least. I know Darth Vader from Darth Maul. I can wield a plastic light saber with the best of them. I may not be a whiz, but I have a basic understanding of the stories and the Star Wars characters. Never mind that my nine-year old son surpassed me in Star Wars trivia about seven years ago.

Before we became parents, and maybe even before we were married, Chris and I went to my Grandma's house one Halloween to pass out candy one year. We dressed up as Princess Leia and Han Solo, with costumes we put together from thrift store finds. Star Wars theme music played from a CD player we set up in the window. That was one of the best Halloweens of my adult life.

Now that we have kids who love to dress up, I appreciate that we can buy them Star Wars costumes without having to rummage through half a dozen resale shops to find all the right pieces. And they've come a long way since the plastic apron-like character costumes I remember many of my friends wearing back in the 80s.

When I was offered the opportunity to try out a Star Wars costume from WholesaleCostumeClub.com, I couldn't help but think, "how perfect!" I will admit, I was sorely tempted to choose a costume for myself to review, but instead I decided to be nice and get a Princess Leia one for Lucy. She couldn't wait to try it on as soon as it was delivered. As you can see from the pictures, she had a great time running around the yard in her new costume.

The girls Princess Leia costume consists of three pieces: the long white dress, a belt that ties around the waist, and a wig. Please note that the gun pictured above does not come with the costume. No weapons come with it. The dress is made of polyester, and reminds me a little of a table cloth. It is softer than I was expecting it to be. The wig, with the classic Leia buns, is nice and stretchy and went on easily. For Halloween I will bobby pin it in place, to be sure it doesn't go anywhere, but even without bobby pins it felt pretty secure.

I followed the size chart on the website when ordering, and went with a size Medium, 8-10. Lucy is 5 and a half and quite tall. The dress was almost too long for her, but with the belt on, it worked out perfectly. After tying on the belt, I pulled some of the dress up at the waist to shorten it a bit.

My favorite part of the costume is undoubtedly the wig. The color is a tad darker than I expected, but all in all the wig adds a nice authentic look to the costume. We use to have Princess Leia buns that were on a headband. They were really heavy and awkward, and never wanted to stay on. This wig works out much better, and seems to be a lot more comfortable as well. 

Halloween 2012: 1 costume down, 3 to go. In the meantime, may the force be with you.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Trick or Treat!

Brains!

Vintage Strawberry Shortcake - mine from 1981

I love Halloween. I really really loved this Halloween. It started out questionable, when I had to get up early to make pancakes for the kids for breakfast because we were pretty much out of anything else that could pass as breakfast food. And I was soooo tired because I stayed up way too late last night. Plus I knew I was going to have to run errands with Mathilda in tow (which I don't really mind, but going solo is so much more simple and streamlined) before the kids got out of school, and I didn't have much time because it was a half day. Then...Chris's plans for the day were canceled at the last minute, and I didn't have to drag Mathilda around with me after all. Suddenly my day was a whole lot brighter.


The kids had a half day, so all three of them got out of school at the same time. Bethany's friends came home with us, and we swung over to the middle school to pick up her sister and bring her home with us too. They stayed all afternoon, and it was just easy and fun. I made them lunch and they watched Punky Brewster and played outside and had a good time. 

Punky Brewster and Chewbacca in peril

Shortly after our first wave of guests left, the second wave arrived - my mom and Chris's mom and step-dad. I made sloppy joe's and French fries for dinner, and German apple cake and brains for dessert. A couple months ago I ordered this brain shaped Jello mold online for like $2.99. When I was making the Jello today, I was pretty certain it wasn't going to come out because I did everything wrong (bought the wrong size boxes of Jello and used the wrong amount of water), but actually it came out pretty cool. I put gummy worms in it for a little extra creepiness factor. The kids got a kick out of it. I will now make brain Jello every Halloween, just as I buy Lucky Charms every St. Patrick's Day (and that's the only time I ever buy it).

Shaggy and Scooby

When everyone was done eating, the kids finished getting ready for trick or treating and Chris and I took them out while our parents stayed home and passed out candy (and tried to keep my anxiety riddled dog calm). 

Taking a ride in the Mystery Machine

I love that daylight savings has been changed until after Halloween, so it was still a little bit light when we started out. The weather was pleasant, just slightly chilly but with no wind. It was really pretty mild for October 31st in Michigan. Some years it's so cold the only thing you can think about is getting back in the house to warm up. But this year was lovely. Tons of kids were out in our neighborhood, and tons of houses were passing out candy. Leaves were covering the sidewalks and crunching underfoot. People were friendly. Good weather makes everyone happier. Mathilda was adorable, saying "trick or treat" to everyone, and then "thank you." Except for the times when she started screaming "I want some" instead of "trick or treat," but she's learning. She was singing at the top of her lungs as we walked. Nobody was crabby. They didn't want to walk very far, but with four kids, trick or treating is a bit of a slow process. By the time they were burned out and ready to head home, the crowds were dissipating and porch lights were being turned off.

Back at home, the kids each sampled their goods before getting ready for bed. It was a quiet night, not terribly exciting, but pretty darn near perfect nonetheless. Lucy remarked that she hoped this day and night would never end. Sometimes that kid just nails it. 


I hope you had a Happy Halloween too!


 

Weekend Rundown

Weekends are so short. This one was as busy as ever, and considerably better than last weekend.

I mentioned that Connor is going as Shaggy from Scooby Doo for Halloween. Well Friday I went to pick Lucy up from school and came back to find Chris fully in project mode, creating a Mystery Machine out of our wagon for Connor to take trick or treating. I started helping him, and it took up the whole afternoon. We had a trunk or treat to go to that night and Chris really wanted to get it done so we could take it with us. While he was putting it together in the front yard, Mathilda was getting so excited and asked to go outside with daddy while wearing her Halloween costume. So she stood out there waving to anyone who drove by. She's wearing Lucy's old Chewbacca costume, and she loves it so much. If you're wondering why we have a traditionally boyish costume for our girls, it's because Lucy specifically asked to be Chewy for Halloween when she was 2. Our kids start young with the Star Wars. Before Connor was 2, he could name any Star Wars character you showed him. Blame this on Chris.

We spent Friday evening at the trunk or treat, which was at our friends' church. I love trunk or treating. I think I would be perfectly happy replacing real trick or treating with trunk or treating. If you're not familiar with trunk or treating yet, it's where a bunch of cars park in a parking lot with their trunks open and pass out candy right from their cars. A lot of people decorate their trunks, and it's really fun. It's just like concentrated trick or treating, with no worries that you're wasting your time trudging up and down a block with only two houses passing out candy. A bunch of friends were there, the church had snacks and games and haunted pirate ship rides for the kids. Music was playing and the kids were dancing in the parking lot. It wasn't raining or snowing,and it was pretty much just a great night. We brought home a couple extra kids with us, and they all hung out watching Punky Brewster episodes before hitting they hay. 


Saturday our guests left and Chris's mom came to pick up Bethany and Lucy for a couple hours. She took Bethany to get a feather, and although Lucy didn't want one, she was happy to tag along. About 20 minutes after the girls came home, Bethany left again to go to a movie with a friend. And as soon as she came home from the movie, it was time for her to get ready for another friend's Halloween party. I can't imagine what this girl's social calendar is going to look like by the time she's in high school.


I picked up a couple of Bethany's friends and we were on our way to the party. Bethany's friend's mom is a friend of mine, and she just had surgery and can't walk. Crazy woman that she is (and super dedicated mom!), she went forward with the party despite the fact that she was supposed to be laying down with her foot elevated. So I stayed to help and did my best to keep her off her foot, which was fruitless. But I'm glad I stayed because I had a great time hanging out with her and her hubs and I got to meet a lot of Bethany's fellow 5th graders. (Want to get to know your kid's friends? Have parties, invite them into your home. It is so worth it just to be able to place names with faces and see for yourself what these kids - and their parents - are like.) The kids had a blast, especially if the fun quotient was a measure of the noise level. They all wore costumes and danced and played games like good little sports. Bethany ended up staying the night with a couple other girls.


Sunday started out lazy. After I picked Bethany up, we carved pumpkins. Then Chris took Bethany and Connor down to the basement for a coming of age event: watching Poltergeist for the first time. Poltergeist was the first super scary movie Chris and I each watched when we were kids. I was a little reluctant to let my kids watch it because it freaked me the hell out when I first saw it. But Chris suggested maybe I was being over-protective, and they really wanted to watch it, so we both gave the green light. I went downstairs to check on them when the movie was about 15 minutes from ending, and they were both wondering what the fuss was about. They liked the movie but didn't think it was scary at all. Has the world changed that much?!? However, the last 10 or 15 minutes scared Bethany big time (Connor maintains that he only got scared when the clown doll jumped out), and she went to bed with the covers over her head. I'm hoping for no nightmares.

Actual conversation with Mathilda this weekend:

Mathilda: I scratch Mommy's back.
Me: Okay, go ahead, you can scratch my back.
Mathilda: (Lifts up my shirt to scratch my back) Uh-oh! It's poop!
Me: What are you talking about? What's poop?
Mathilda: (Touches a mole on my back)
Me: That's not poop! It's a beauty mark (euphemism for mole)!
Mathilda: Oooooh. I get booty mark too mama!


I love two. It's so much fun. I can't believe that within a year she'll change so drastically, she'll be ready for preschool. PAUSE.


I hope you had a fabulous weekend too!