Halloween Group Costumes

I love group costumes. We've been doing group costumes since the first Halloween with our daughter. Since that Halloween I have bought her costumes (and dress up clothes) at Children's Orchard, my favorite resale clothing store. I look forward to the day in September when they put out the costumes. That first Halloween I found a cute lion costume. What immediately came to my mind is "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!". I blame my dad. Wizard of Oz is his favorite movie. So Melodie was the cutest cowardly lion, we bought a scarecrow outfit for Rocky and a good friend made my Dorothy costume (I needed to nurse in it and all the Dorothy costumes I could find to buy were one piece). This was also the first year we went to a Disney Halloween party. At the time it was at DCA and called Mickey's Halloween Treat.

The next year (2007) was the first year we went to Mickey's Halloween Treat with my whole family. It was such fun to go with a big group in costumes of the same theme.

My mom had previously made the Snow White costume. For this party she also made all the dwarf costumes (except for the Grumpy costume which we borrowed from a friend) and the prince costume. I bought a black cloak for the Old Hag costume. Melodie was the poison apple. I found a devil costume at Children's Orchard which I reworked to be an apple. I took off the tail and horns and put on a stem and leaf. I also stuffed her with padding.

In 2008 the party name changed to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party. This time we went with friends. Our theme was based around Melodie's costume (guess where I found it?). When I saw it, I knew she would be adorable in it! I don't have many good pictures because this is the night I ended up in the emergency room because I was in pain. Turned out I had an ectopic pregnancy and had surgery the next day. I barely made it home in time for Halloween day. Anyway, Melodie's 50's costume was pink, so the first thing that came to mind were the Pink Ladies in Grease.

 

We went with an even bigger group of friends in 2009. This time I found a few costumes I liked, and Melodie was starting to develop opinions of her own, so I let her choose between a few. She chose a purple witch costume, so our theme was witches and wizrds. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the group all together.

 

 

2012 was especially fun because we went to Walt Disney World in Florida called Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. This year Melodie wanted to be Dorothy, and luckily I found a costume at Children's Orchard (you never know what you will find or not find). Rocky reused his scarecrow costume, and we knew we needed a witch. That left three of us (none of which wanted to be a lion or Glinda). Three was the perfect number for the Lollipop Guild munchkins.

The next year the prices got too high for us, so we didn't go to a Disney Halloween party. Melodie wanted to be a witch again, so Rocky and I kind of went with a theme. I was Maleficent (a wicked sorceress is a kind of witch, right?) and Rocky was Gandalf (the wizard for Lord of the Rings, which my husband is slightly obsessed with).
We actually thought we wouldn't go to another Disney party again, but my mom and one sister really wanted to go this year. There's even more of us now, so we needed a Disney movie with a lot of characters. We wanted the same reaction we got when we went in 2007. We received applause as we walked around and people wanted to take pictures of us. It was such fun! We ended up selecting Peter Pan (yay! my favorite!).

So here's how everyone is related to me and their characters:
a younger brother - John
a younger sister - Wendy
a nephew - Michael
brother-in-law - Indian Chief
a younger sister - Tiger Lily
a younger sister - Nana
a niece - Tinker Bell
a younger brother - Peter Pan
me - Tic Toc the croc
husband - Captain Hook
step dad - Smee
mom - a pirate
niece and daughter - mermaids

Huge props to my teenage brothers, one who wore a nightgown and one who wore tights. Such team players!

We borrowed the Captain Hook costume. One sister bought the pink pjs for "Michael" and the Tink costume. My other sister and I had pretty simple costumes that were more representations than actual costumes since 1) it was too for a full body furry costume and 2) I couldn't find anything in maternity. So for Nana she wore a brown shirt with dog ears and the nurse cap. For Tic Toc I wore a green shirt with a crocodile hat (a random find) and a clock necklace ('cause he swallows a clock!). I painted the stripes on the Smee shirt. My mom put together her pirate costume with various clothing choices. The big thing is that she made all the other costumes (John nightgown, Wendy dress, Indian Chief shirt, Tiger Lily dress, Peter Pan shirt and the mermaids).

We got amazing reactions at Mickey's Halloween Treat (another name change and this time at Disneyland). Applause, pictures and tons of comments. So much fun! We didn't see another themed group as big as ours. Hopefully we will do it again someday (my vote would be for Alice in Wonderland).

 

 

I Love Disney!

 The next two weeks will have some fun Disneyland adventures. We have three different sets of friends coming into town and we will be joining them at Disneyland.  That's why Disneyland is on my mind. But honestly, Disney is usually on my mind. I love Disney! Here's a couple of the earliest pictures I have of me at Disneyland.

With my mom and grandma.

With my dad.

I have a really bad memory. I don't remember the trips to Disneyland as a kid. I love looking at these pictures though. I do know that we didn't go much when I got older. But I loved Disney movies and characters. This is me as Cinderella in 1988.

Didn't my mom make a great costume?

 My first real memory of Disneyland actually comes from when I was in high school. We had moved from Southern California to Northern California. Our high school band went to Disneyland.

I'm on the left with a flute on my lap.

This was exciting. What teenager doesn't want to go to Disneyland with their friends?

But for me there was the additional of excitement of seeing my grandma and my best friend, Cindy.

What a memory! The day after high school graduation I came back to Southern California and lived with my grandma. Cindy was working at Disneyland, so I applied. I was hired in the Main Entrance department in late 2006. Just in time for the farewell season of the Main Street Electrical Parade.

I worked for Disneyland until 2003. After that I worked another year in Disneyland but for another company. There were so many great things about being a cast member. Every time my family came to visit they got in free. When my husband and I started dating, he loved going to cast member exclusive events. Our first one was a parade preview. I saw Disneyland change completely when Disney's California Adventure opened. By far, the best thing about working at Disneyland was the friends I made.

 It took a few years, but eventually I became an annual passholder. Yep, I'm one of those. Before Melodie started school, it was great to go on weekdays. But now she's in school and they are so expensive. They expire in November. I'm not sure we'll renew.

Rocky worked at Disneyland for a short time when we were first married. I wasn't working there anymore and he just wasn't getting very many hours at his real job. He worked in attractions.

 I waited until Melodie was a year old for her first visit. We went to DCA before that, but not Disneyland. I wanted to see reactions from her to things. My whole family and two best friends were there.

Isn't the onesie I made her adorable?

 We've been to Walt Disney World a few times. My first time was with my sister, Kelly. It was while I was working for Disneyland. We made the mistake of going in the summer (it was so hot!) but we had a blast. Rocky and I went for our honeymoon. Our latest trip was last year. We went in October. It was fun to celebrate Halloween there and I loved seeing Melodie enjoy her first visit.

Those aren't the only times we've gone, but I don't want to bore you.

 Rocky and I have even been to Disneyland Paris. I couldn't stand the thought of being so close and not going. We left the rest of the tour group and spent half a day there.

The crazy Disney love goes beyond just the Parks. When I went to New York with my mom, aunt and cousin, I chose to see Mary Poppins on Broadway and spent a silly amount of time in the Disney Store there (did I mention I also sought out the Disney Stores in Venice, Italy and in London? I did.).

This is what happens when you trust a stranger to take a picture. The other three went to see Les Mis, so I was on my own.
Another great Disney thing we get living in Southern California is the El Capitan Theatre and Disney Soda Fountain in Hollywood. I've seen several movies there. Sometimes they have events after the movies. We went to see Cars 2 in 2011 and they had an amazing event.

 Oh yeah, the other reason I have Disney on the brain is because my family is planning on a visit in October to go to the Halloween party at Disneyland. We've all gone once before.

Our little family has gone several times, but only one other time with my whole family. We did the group costume thing and had a blast. Melodie is the poisoned apple. I thought that was pretty clever. This year we're doing Peter Pan, but more on that later.
 Rocky tolerates my love of Disney. He's not the fan I am, but he has his moments too. Here he is running the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon.

 Melodie has inherited (or had forced on her) the love. But hers went in a strange princessy direction that I hope she eventually will grow out of. More about that later too. This is her latest picture with a Disney princess.

 Come to think of it, Melodie got her name in a Disney way. She is named after Ariel's daughter. I loved the lullaby Ariel sang to her baby in Little Mermaid 2. Then I changed the spelling (a lady I worked with a Disneyland spelled Melodie this way).
 I named my first dog after a Disney character. My roommate and I sat down with the Disney Encyclopedia and picked out the name Jock. Then when Rocky and I got another dog we had to name him Trusty. After all, in Lady and the Tramp they are best friends.
 I sound a little obsessive, don't I? Well the reason I tell you all this is because we've had some really great Disney adventures in the past that I can't wait to blog about (Pirates of the Caribbean red carpet! Julie Andrews at Disneyland!) in the future. And there are more Disney adventures to come. Be prepared!