Our Chico Halloween Experience!!!

Chico is an AMAZING place for kids for the Holidays and other events and Halloween is no exception. My hubby and I were excited to be able to take the doodlebug out and show her what its all about. I had picked up a cute little ladybug costume at the 2nd hand store down the street( Apple baby Blossom). She had wore it the night before while we were at an kids Halloween event at In Motion Fitness, the Gym that Ben works at. Anyways Ben was going to get off work at 4 so we could go downtown because the event ended at 5. I had planned to be a black cat since i already had a cute black dress that I had only worn once for my sister in laws bachelorette party. So i picked up some cheap cat ears and painted on some whiskers and called it good. Pre- Doodlebug, I used to love to dress up but these days its not really a priority. I had told Ben that I was going to dress up and he simply stated, "if you are out feel free to pick me up something to wear."

So with that bit of info Doodlebug and I headed down to the Halloween Headquarters where we were greeted by two large automated zombies which scared the &^%&* out of me but my fearless daughter didn't even flinch. So we proceeded to the back of the store all the while D is pointing at recognizable faces like Bert and Ernie and Scooby Doo that were just a few of the costume options. Now that she walks she hardly will let me put her in the cart as she knows what her body can do and her brain has not caught up to it yet. So I am looking at the costumes and toggling between the Family Guy Dog, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and an Avatar costume. After 20 min and Delaney pulling multiple costumes off their pegs I decided to get the Avatar with the rationale that my hubby loved that movie and appreciated the CGI special effects and also that it was a whole complete costume and was on sale for only $20. Thinking that my hubby always loved and appreciated when i took every change to be frugal I went for it.

Well Ben got home at 4 and I was not fully prepared. We threw D's costume on sans the tights because they were still in the wash from the night before. I threw my outfit together in 5 min and then presented Ben with his costume as he made a curious face as to what I was up to. he was a bit shocked when I presented him with the costume. I was thinking he is gonna love this and he looked at it nervously smiling saying, " a whole costume, i thought you'd just get me a clown wig or something." I feeling bad and needing reassurance stated " you don't like it" and he added, "Well its a little out of my comfort zone I'm not really a costume guy, but I'll wear it." Like a good sport her put it on. My hubby has a tendency to overheat and this literally head to toe outfit did not help that situation, plus it was a particularly hot day here. The costume was also slightly small fitting quite well around his whole body except the neck. poor guy. Well we got downtown and it was still buzzing with kids and their families. We put D in her wagon which is her preferred mode of transportation, ( besides her own feet) and filled it with snacks and toys to keep her occupied/distracted. When we started going she did not seem happy and let us know by her fussing and wining and constantly trying to stand up in the wagon. So Ben carried her most of the time as we went from store to store getting candy and interacting with other kids and parents. Every kid that saw Ben in his uniform would yell out " Avatar!" from a distance. One kid stared at him in awe and said " is that a mask?" he was a definite downtown Halloween celebrity. Even preteen girls were breaking their necks looking at the tall handsome Avatar walking down the street. I think he secretly was enjoying it. Then we came to a shop where there was a man in an Elmo costume handing out candy. D loves Elmo and so I waited in line to get a pic next to him while holding her. When the scale of this immense Elmo came into perspective Delaney nearly jumped out of my arms and squealed in horror. That was pretty much it for downtown. After that we headed to the Chico MAll where it was a much better atmosphere for a toddler and spent the rest of the evening there. When we got home, we saw D's best friend/neighbor Julianna standing at our doorstep and her grandma was with her AND guess what she was dressed as a LADYBUG! It was so cute and a total coincidence. Her grandma said that she just walked up to the doorstep and would not leave. She is the sweetest kid ever SO affectionate and has the cutest big cheeks. We got pics of them together and then they unwilling parted ways, both girls crying as they left each other. So that was it and I am SO looking forward to next year.

Chow- Tif