My little animals

For Halloween this year, I decided to take the kids to a local mall that had Halloween activities for the kids and trick-or-treating at the stores. This afternoon, I dressed Cordelia and Estella in their costumes (a giraffe and a cow), picked a little leopard (Adelaida) up at school, then headed to the mall.

Adelaida loves her leopard costume and was so excited about trick-or-treating ... until we walked into the mall and saw a person dressed like a potato. Not even a scary, bloody, monster-like potato; just a regular old russet potato with a smile on its face. She stopped, screamed, and then I heard "HoldMeHoldMeHoldMeHoldMe!" and felt her clawing at my legs.

The rest of the mall expedition did not go well. Everywhere she turned, she saw people dressed up in costumes -- a clown, a firefighter, several monsters, Darth Vader, witches, a fairy godmother, and of course the frightening potato. So, I walked through the mall pushing the stroller and carrying Adelaida while trying to calm her fears. She didn't want to do the kids activities (too many people in costumes!), so we ended up leaving after about 45 minutes of me telling her that the costumed people were just people dressed up in costumes, just like her and the babies.

I wasn't able to take any pictures of the girls at the mall, but we did get a few at home. Cordelia is a giraffe, Adelaida is a leopard, and Estella is a cow.


I suspect that Adelaida may grow up with an irrational fear of potatoes (and armadillos, thanks to a well-intentioned costumed character at Texas Roadhouse back in February).

Happy Halloween!