C3PO and Other Halloween Tales

When our son decided to be C3PO for Halloween, we probably should have thought about it for a minute before heartily supporting the idea. Maybe it was his cute rendition of the robot’s walking style.
 

”Wait, wait, for me!”

Maybe it was the fact that he picked something unique and representative of his current interests. Whatever it was, we said, “great!”

And then I started looking for a costume.

Nothing at Target.

Nothing cheap on-line.

So, no problem, we decided to make a C3PO costume.

First there was a box and some leftover wires for hanging out of the box. Then there was an idea to spray paint it gold, and one thing led to another and I was running out to the grocery store at 10 p.m. to buy 7 more 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke and other assortments of soda. This gave us the golden body, arms and legs. But the C3PO head was missing.

I started shopping around at Halloween stores. Nothing. I called a half dozen other stores around LA and slowly realized that the only way to get a C3PO head was to order it on-line. And it was Thursday. I refused to pay $30 overnight shipping for a $6 plastic mask. 

So then we began to brainstorm how to create the same look. I found a white vinyl mask at Goodwill, which we cleaned up. Kip spray painted it and used a Dremel tool to fashion two spray paint tops into C3PO eyes. And finally, late Thursday night, we had a C3PO costume.

Our daughter wasn’t so difficult this year. She found a very authentic pair of 80’s punk rock pants at a thrift store. Then she added a pink feather boa and decided to be a rock star.

I settled on a Sacagawea costume, about 5 minutes before we headed off to a fabulous homeschool Masquerade Ball Saturday night. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the Masquerade Ball, but it was lot of fun and certainly showcased the LA homeschooling community's flare for creativity.

 

 

 

Winning most creative costume at the Cub Scout Halloween bash on Friday night, day one of our three-day celebrations.

Most creative trophy

We had an extra friend for the Halloween weekend. One of my best friends had an opportunity to get out of town for a weekend, so we said, sure, we would love to have an extra kid for a few days. Actually I was a little concerned about candy consumption because sugar used to be a big taboo for this kid.

But when I asked her mom how they were handling Halloween candy this year, she said, "I'm sending her to her friend's house." Thanks. : )

She was the happiest Goth I have ever seen.

C3PO and our serious rock star

I'm Sacagawea, not Pocahontas. He is C3PO, not the tin man. And she is a rock star, really.

On Sunday the kids dressed in their costumes for a third day in a row and we went to the Costume Carnival hosted by the Oasis. It was all-out fun with music, food, an inflatable obstacle course, rock wall and mechanical bull. It was totally free and also a little crowded, but still some of the best not-exactly Halloween fun this side of town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C3PO sheds his constrictive shell and ascends the inflatable rock wall.

That kid was loving the upside down jumpy thing.

Racing through the obstacle course.

Kip, being an incredibly good sport, holding bits and pieces of the kids' costumes while they played.

Sacagawea getting in on the obstacle course action. It's really nothing after scaling the Rocky Mountains with a baby on her back.

This little cutie rode the mechanical bull like it was a penny pony.

Ready

Set...

GO!

No hands, Mom!

Then, despite being exhausted after days of costumed fun, and for Kip, running 13 miles in marathon training on Saturday and playing guitar at four back-to-back church services on Sunday, we took the kids trick or treating.

And finally the trick or treating. Everyone loved C3PO's costume.

I'm hoping this wasn't a bad idea.

And then they ate dinner.