As You Wish: Halloween 2022

I was going to save the details of our Halloween costumes for my monthly recap post, but I realized I had too much to say and too many photos to share to combine it with all of our other activities from the month. 

You will remember that we have done a family Halloween costume for every Halloween since 2008 when Aaron was a baby. It has become a tradition for our family and something we plan for and anticipate every year.

But there is a vast difference between planning costumes for three people versus eight. As we have added children to our family over the years, the impact of a theme has become more epic but also so much harder and more labor intensive.

After last year's groovy costumes (maybe my favorite of all time), my kids quickly agreed that we had to do Princess Bride this year. It is a male-dominant story (always a must with our family!), and it happens to be one of our family's very favorite movies and books. My kids watch it on almost every road trip because we have a DVD of it, and they can quote almost the entire thing from start to finish. It was just too perfect.

But even though we knew what we wanted to do months ago, we didn't do anything about it until the second week of October. At that point, putting together eight unique costumes felt really daunting. In fact, Mike was not on board at all. He doesn't mind dressing up, but he dislikes spending so much time and money on something we'll wear one time as a family (and usually only for a few minutes together before everyone scatters for trick-or-treating). 

I agreed with him somewhat, but it has also become a beloved tradition for me, and I love looking back at the photos of our costumes over the years. I wished I could just make all of the costumes myself and not bother him with it. But I knew that I couldn't. I wasn't trying to pass the buck. I was being realistic and admitting that I didn't have the creative talent needed to create some of these costumes. I was willing to split the responsibilities but not take on the full load.

Clark had his hopes firmly set on this family theme, and Clark works hard on people to get what he wants. After much persistence  and incessant reminding, we finally rallied and buckled down to the task. And I have to say, when we finally all got into costume and pulled our group together, I was pretty ecstatic. Eight coordinating costumes is a ton of work, but eight coordinating costumes also looks amazing.

Here's a rundown of each costume:

Mike: Fezzik the Giant; all pieces were borrowed from our friends who did this same theme last year. Bless them! A pretty convincing giant, I have to say.

Amy: Buttercup; if we had even one daughter, I'm sure I would have been relegated to Valerie (Miracle Max's wife) or the booing hag. There are perks to being the only girl in a family. This costume was also borrowed from the same friends. Honestly, it was so nice not to have to give a single thought to two costumes and just be able to check them off right away. (And no, for those asking, Mike does not like me as a blonde.)

Aaron: Inigo Montoya; I purchased an "Inigo Montoya" costume. Borrowed the sword from our friends. Easiest costume ever. (And I feel like it's actually one that might get reworn on its own in the future, so I was fine paying for it.) 

Maxwell: Prince Humperdinck; the tunic, cape, embellishments, and leggings were all thrifted. Pretty proud of this one actually. Savers is kind of a magical place for Halloween costumes. The slippers were his own. We bought the crown, wig, and sword. We tried to curl the wig to give it loose waves, but curlers didn't do a thing. But I did give the bangs a quick trim.

Bradley: Wesley (i.e., the Dread Pirate Roberts); already owned the black shirt, pants, and gloves; borrowed the mask, belt, and head scarf; purchased the sword. Maybe the most recognizable character in our group; Clark was sad that he ditched us during trick-or-treating.

Clark: Vizzini, the Sicilian; definitely the most challenging costume of the lot, which meant it fell to Mike to recreate it. Clark was the most invested in these costumes out of everyone, so we felt like we couldn't do a second rate job with his. I purchased a bald cap/wig, but it didn't look great. So Mike bought another bald cap and added hair to it himself. It was better than the first option for sure, but our makeup skills with blending were amateur at best. For Vizzini's signature outfit, Mike started with a thrifted vest, which he then painted to look like the fabric in the movie. He added trim and bought green velvet fabric for the sleeves which he attached to the vest. Clark wore a white dress shirt underneath. I thrifted the leggings and the boots. (I'm pretty proud of the boot find, to be honest.)

Ian: The Impressive Clergyman; this was my creative contribution, but you didn't find me handpainting fabric to look like the brocade in the movie. Instead, I took one of Mike's white dress shirts and used it as a base. I cut off the collar and shortened the sleeves. I made the sash, priestly vestment, and hat. I think he was recognizable even without his costume being completely authentic. 

Silas: a Rodent of Unusual Size (R.O.U.S.); I purchased a basic gray mouse costume, and then Mike dyed it brown (it took two attempts because we tried the wrong dye first). 

I had everyone put on their costumes the day before Halloween so we could take some photos without having to compete with trick-or-treating. We had fun acting out a few of our favorite scenes, which you can see below.

"Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."

"Mawage, that bwessed awangement. That dweam within a dweam."

"Stop that rhyming, and I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"

 "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you." "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."

"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise."

"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed."

"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders--the most famous of which is, 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia--but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go against a Sicilian 

when death is on the line!"

"To the pain."

"You know how much I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it; I’m swamped."

"Mostly dead."

We have a couple of ideas for next year, but we are also realizing that it might be time to retire the family costume. Our kids are still very agreeable to it, but it's much more difficult to go around as a group than it once was. Also, I think I am done trying to make obscure costumes. I just want to be able to buy or borrow everything. So stay tuned. But if this was the last year, at least we are ending on a high note.