Lightsabers, camera, action...

Halloween approached and our boys' facsination with Star Wars, Jedi, and lightsabers in particualar, combined with the increased asthetic sense that greater maturity brings, led to the wife moving on from the store bought Jedi costumes of last year to something a little more...elaborate for 2006.

She spent weeks making the costumes seen here and NO that is NOT me in the Vader outfit. In order to get more bang for the buck we took them to a local comic con the week before Halloween and then to Wizard World Texas this past Saturday IN COSTUME. This photo was taken at the Dallas Comicon where the kids won second and third place in the kids division of the costume contest. They were beaten out of first by a baby in a Poison Ivy costume. Go figure.

In between these two pop culture events at which the boys were a big hit, was Halloween night. There is a tradition, it seems, in Texas of taking children to certain neighborhoods which are somehow mystically designated as the 'place to be' for Halloween. Last year we took them to a recommended Trick or Treat locale only to be lost in a sea of humanity. It was a mob of costumed children and the kids literally waited in line to get candy at each house. It was overwhelming. This year, I thought of a neighborhood which we had discovered that took Christmas decorating pretty seriously. I surmised Halloween would get a similar treatment.

I was not proven wrong, as we had once again found one of the 'special neighborhoods'. While not as bad as last year, it was still unbelievable as police officers were there to direct traffic. It was a more upscale neighborhood and not quite so crowded and therefore resulted in a more satisfying and less frustrating experience in general.

The costumes are a little over the top but these times won't last forever. The oldest will be eleven on his next birthday and I'm sure the desire for this aspect of Halloween will begin to fade soon. I guess knowing that drives Taura and I to enjoy these times as much as possible. They are growing up so very, very fast.