Trick-or-Treating Under the Big Top!

For those who know me, we always do a theme for Halloween each year.  This year the theme was "Under the Big Top" or alternatively, "Calvin's-previous-halloween-costumes-recycled-to-fit-a-new-theme."

In case you don't believe me, here is Calvin in 2007 (on the left) when the theme was "Clowns" compared to Violet this year (on the right):

Here is Calvin as a lion in 2010 when the theme was "Zoo animals" (and look how sweet our little Oliver tiger was!):

And even Calvin's own costume was recycled (and modified just a little) from 2 years ago!  Here is Calvin in 2010 as Captain Hook when we had the "Fairy Tale" theme:

And because I'm feeling nostalgic, here are the kids from year's past . . .

2011: Sports Heroes

2010: Fairy Tales

2009: On the Farm

2008: Zoo Animals

2007: Clowns! (You'll recognize Evelyn's costume this year was Miss Ella's back in '07 -- the only one Calvin hadn't previously worn)

And 2006: Pirates (look how adorable Calvin is!)

And that's it!  I love watching how the kids grow each year, both in size and number!  And a HUGE thank-you to their oh-so-talented grandmas who make the costumes each year!

So back to this year. . . We met at Grandma Jo's on Sunday evening with the whole family for pictures and some delicious soup.  First, Jackson helps out with Miss Evelyn's make-up.

Our two "Big Cats", Oliver and Ella!

And the tamer of the Big Cats joins the crew!

Grandma Jo & Grandpa Denny's grandkids (somehow the actual grandparents managed to avoid the picture!)

And Grandma Cheryl & Grandpa Kermit with their grandkids:

Evelyn was having so much fun, she could hardly contain herself!

There was tons of loot to be distributed at Grandma's house!

And the only time the kids sat still all evening was while they were waiting for said loot to reach their hot little hands.

As if the kids didn't get enough goodies on Sunday, yesterday was Halloween itself!  So we did a little trick-or-treating to see some of our favorite people.  First, we visited Grandma Shirley & Grandpa Evan (and we got some of Grandma's famous snicker-doodles!)

 While we were there, we met up with Joy and her kids.  Before I continue, I have to share a brief aside.  Joy and I are notorious for dressing alike.  In fact, if we are going somewhere together, we will often call ahead to make sure we aren't wearing the same thing.  Well, this is how we showed up at Grandma Shirley's, and the funny thing is that we weren't even aware that the other had this same shirt!

Group picture with Syd & Jack before we took off for our next stop. . .

 . . . which was Grandma Virginia's house!

 She always has plenty of goodies, especially for Miss Violet.

 We went from Grandma Virginia's house to Ammie's, Russ' 94-year-old great-grandmother.  She has Virginia by a year.  These women are truly amazing.

 What a great Halloween!  In addition to the grandparents, we trick-or-treated at all of the aunts and uncles and the kids brought home enough candy to feed a small country for a year.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!