"Harry" Halloween!!

Well if that wasn't just one of the best Halloweens ever I don't know what was!

David likes to set up our yard and he's always been very into Halloween. I can appreciate Halloween, but haven't really gotten into it since I was a kid. This year was different; we have a little boy who is trick-or-treat age! 

Two years ago at our place David set up a spooky graveyard, and last year he did a Harry Potter theme. This year we wanted to do Harry Potter again, but step up the game a little! David has a budget each year of $50 (plus help from Scott who likes to contribute purchases on AliExpress), so almost everything is DIY. It's way more work, but I also think it's better because it's original and I appreciate effort!

To go along with the Harry Potter theme, I made costumes for both the kids. Dominic went as an owl (Hedwig) because he loves owls so much. He has been wearing his costume almost non-stop since Monday. He loves it. Even this morning he woke up hooting and flapping and asking for it (subsequently asking for a cookie, because I may have bribed him with cookies the first couple times). It's like it gives him some anonymity and confidence. It's adorable and super simple so I'll allow it. I used an idea from Pinterest, and the whole costume cost me about $10. I purchased a long-sleeve shirt, a toque and some black fabric from Talize, and then got some felt from the dollar store and with a Michael's coupon. I spent an evening cutting and gluing (which is fun for me, so I don't mind spending the time on it), and out came this amazing costume! I had zero expectations for Dom wanting to wear it or liking it or being interested in trick-or-treating, so he WAYYYY exceeded them. 

We didn't get any staged pictures of him in his costume, so I'll just have to post the ones of him running around the house!

Sherlock, meet your new brother, Hedwig!

My heart. This was his first time wearing the costume.

Flying around the kitchen

Emilia went as a Mandrake, which you have to be a Harry Potter fan to appreciate. It's a baby plant and when it's pulled out of the soil it screams so you have to wear ear-muffs or you'll pass out. Super easy to put together! Another trip to Talize and the dollar store and 10 minutes of work and this is what came of it! Only one or two people out on the street appreciated her costume. One person said, "HA! That baby has a plant on her head!" Yup... close enough. 

I can't even... look at that face! <3

We went out for about 20-30 minutes with Dominic in the evening. The first house he was very timid and confused. The next house he was timid, but signed "thank-you" with a little prompt from us. The third house he marched up, got his candy, signed and said, "THANK YOU! BYE!" and marched back down. He figured it out pretty quick! By the end he would go up to the door, hoot and flap, and take a few candies, pass them off to one of us and reach out for more. HAHA! He was so cute walking around in his owl costume I was nearly in tears. My heart was so so so full. My parents and David's dad came along with us and it was fun to be able to share that with the grandparents. Dom's first trick-or-treating. 

The only family photo we took. Notice Dom holding a wand! Haha

I was a solo-mom all day while David finished setting up the yard, so the help from the grandparents was also much appreciated. When I finally got both the kids to bed it was time for Mom to relax and head outside with a big glass of wine to see everyone fawning over our yard!

David spent months planning, David and Scott spent some time over the last many weeks crafting to pull this off. My role is more of a time-manager. I made the lists of what to do, and made sure they (David) stayed on task and helped trouble-shoot when problems arose. He is the creative mind for sure. I, however, did do the floating pumpkins! We had lots of stuff still from last year, and borrowed some more props from people. David's vision had you walking through the series in order, somewhat. The front of the yard was for movies 1-3, then 4-6 and then the end table with the candy was for the 7-8 movies! In total I'd estimate we had 250-300 kids. People came because they remembered it from last year, and many of the adults loved it more than their kids haha! Lots of people were taking pictures out front, or in the yard. Super special!

There were 3 audio stations (Aragog's lair, Molly Weasley Howler, and music/sound effects at the candy table), 3 tables of props set up, Umbridge's decrees, Daily Prophet papers, 2 moving Wanted posters, a projector of Hogwarts ambiance, floating candles, floating pumpkins, fog, lights, Deathly Hallows lamp, some of the horcruxes, potions, wands, a Marauder's Map, Wizard's chess, Triwizard cup, and more! 

It poured rain most of the day, so I'm really grateful it mostly dried up for the important part of the evening :)

Pictures and video don't do it justice. It looked so awesome, and I love the attention to detail. Some houses in our neighborhood go a little Halloween crazy, but of the ones we saw, ours was the most... focused? organized? creative? I like how there is lots of stuff and a full yard, but it still looks neat. Not like, " the Canadian Tire Halloween aisle threw up on your yard," as David so eloquently puts it. 

We walked up to these two houses for trick-or-treating, and Dom wouldn't even go up to them. He preferred the low key houses with just a couple pumpkins. I would too, little man! 

Super fun and crazy, but I think these must be the kinds of yards Dave was talking about haha. I just wonder where they store all this stuff! They go crazy like this for Christmas too!

The guy that sets this up and David are Halloween friends. They talk about their Halloween plans all year round haha. 

Next year I think David is wanting to do something different. Possibly something creepy crawly?