Trick or Treat :: Our Circus

The whole idea of having 3 little ones under 3 years old has been at the forefront of daily life. The reality of that crazy dynamic is what we live, every day. All day. It's basically no less than a circus :)

So that was my inspiration for this year's Halloween costumes! I saw this shirt and felt like it described my life right now. And so my kiddos got to dress up as monkeys this year. And Mike was our Ringmaster haha.

#truth

I found Aiden's monkey costume on Amazon, and I was really bummed that it didn't come in larger sizes for Eli and Maddie. So I decided to just make their costumes. I bought brown hooded sweatshirts and then just sewed ears and a tail onto them. Super easy and simple...my kind of costume!

Eli and Maddie were so excited to put on their costumes...until they actually did, and then they were not as interested. It took a lot of coaxing to get them to wear their hoods for a photo. They were mostly interested in their tails :)

Twin Monkey #1

Twin Monkey #2

Cutie Baby Monkey

I tried so hard to get a full family photo, but that just wasn't happening. I tried so hard to get a photo of all 3 of my monkeys together, but that also wasn't happening. So I just had to be content with getting any photos of my kiddos in their costumes. Did I mention it's a circus around here? :)

My twin monkeys!

Showing me their tails

Poor Aiden...he did NOT want to take photos in his costume. Kind of like last year :)

He didn't mind the photos as much, as long as someone was holding him

On Wednesday night, we headed over to First Melissa's Trunk or Treat. We got there right when it started, so it wasn't too crowded, which was perfect for my kiddos. They were a little hesitant at first...it was a little overwhelming to have multiple people come up to them and say over and over "want some candy??" But it didn't take them long to figure out that the candy was for them and they could put it in their bags to take home. So by the end, they were all smiles and "thank you's" for the candy.

He refuses to smile in most photos, but this little boy was SO excited to take a photo with the motorcycle :)

When we got home, I let Eli and Maddie pick out 1 piece of candy to eat. They both chose a dum-dum, so the rest of the good stuff got put away for Mama and Daddy later. Aiden didn't get to eat any candy, but he was content shaking a box of Nerds :)

Checking out their loot :)

We went to lunch with our cousins on Halloween. McAlisters was giving free kids' meals to kids in costume, so we all headed over for a fun cousin lunch. Aunt Lindsay was kind to let my kiddos borrow costumes: Maddie chose to be a unicorn/wolf and Eli decided he was not interested in dressing up.

We decided to take a walk around our neighborhood on Halloween night, and I fully expected that we wouldn't do much trick or treating. I didn't know how they would react to walking up to strangers' houses, seeing all the decorations out {we have struggled with seeing these things throughout the month at stores/other events}. But my kiddos surprised me and absolutely LOVED trick or treating!

Our neighborhood did an awesome job of making Halloween fun, and my kids figured out pretty quick that getting a bag full of candy wasn't too bad haha. Of course, I'm sure it helped that Grandma and Papa were there to help us trick or treat :)

We attempted another family photo...and this was the best we got. Grandma is definitely holding hands right out of the picture frame. No kiddos are smiling. Or really looking at the camera. Maddie insisted on wearing her summer trucker hat. It's truly a circus, y'all haha!

Our neighborhood does SUCH a good job of making Halloween fun! It's such a contrast to our last neighborhood where no one handed out candy, and we got maybe 1 trick or treater. Here, tons of houses are decorated, have candy ready {and the good kind!}, have "treats" for the adults {like jello shots haha}, are playing music, streets gather together to have block parties to make it more fun...it was so fun to see the community come together and make it a great evening for everyone.

Teaching my kids how to grab LARGE HANDFULS of candy haha

Grandma dancing to Monster Mash :)

We had so much fun trick or treating! I am so glad my kiddos {and hubby} were good sports with Mama's crazy family costumes, and it was so fun to have my parents here to join in on the holiday festivities. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!