Tag Archives: holiday

Chick Chat: All Dressed Up for Halloween

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Happy Halloween, boys and girls! Or is it ghosts and goblins? Perhaps there are some vampires and zombies out there reading this as well.

Or maybe you’re reading this thinking, “ahmahgah, it’s Halloween and I have no costume! What am I going to DO?” while slapping your cheeks, a la Kevin McAllister in Home Alone.

Okay, probably not. But whether you’re looking for inspiration, a chuckle, or reading this simply because you love us (which I suspect is all of you), this chick chat is all about dressing up. Read on for some of the Chicks’ favorite costumes of yore…and more recent yore!

Meri

I had two tried and true costumes when I was a kid: gypsy and hippie. Some might say that they are very similar and to that, I say, true. My mom liked easy costumes and I usually just went along with it. Hey, when you’re getting to eat candy (a rarity in my house growing up), you get what you get and you don’t get upset.
Hottie-boom-body!

Hottie-boom-body!

Now that I’m an “adult” (loose interpretation), it’s less about me dressing up and more about the kids. We let them choose their costumes at this point.
Adora-kids.

Adora-kids.

My boys are cuckoo for Halloween so we begin discussing costuming options in September. This year they settled on being a pirate (surprisingly the harder of the two costumes to track down) and the werewolf. Not what I would have picked but I suppose we need to allow for independent thinking and all that.
Vic
Every summer, my sister would start planning her Halloween costume. She always created intricate, creative and unique costumes over three to four months. I was always impressed. She labored over what she would be months ahead of time, and she would repeatedly ask me about my plans. My response was ambivalent.  I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I usually figured it out the week before trick-or-treat night.  And while my sister was always stylish, I regularly placed comfort before style.

 Over the years, I was a genie, a vampire, a 50s rocker, a prairie girl. I was a turtle, a ballerina, a witch and Underdog. But most often, I dressed as a ghost.

As a young girl, I was obsessed with Casper the Friendly Ghost. I know I am totally dating myself here, but I loooooved Casper. Perhaps because he was bright, happy being in a season where the goal was to scare one another.  I think I went as the neighborhood’s friendliest ghost for three or four straight years – I used a plastic mask and a hand sewn… uh… sack, which I think was made from a white sheet.

I loved to trick-or-treat with friends and family, to flee from house to house gathering all sorts of goodies, then sorting them into piles once I was back home. Now, I love to hand candy out to the kids who come to my own door. (Albeit, six kids usually knock on my door. Those kids get awesome candy.)

I rarely dress up for costume parties as an adult. Trust me, when you’re an October baby, costume parties get really old, REALLY FAST. It – however – has happened several times. I’ve been a 60s mod girl, Little Red Riding Hood, but most often, I wear scrubs and pose as a doctor or surgeon.  Hubs has gotten in on that action as well.

BEST COSTUME EVER. I add a plastic stethoscope and voila. I am good to go.

Brooke

I have always loved Halloween, because I love dressing up and playing make-believe, and also it’s in the same month as my birthday, so it feels like a very long celebration. The candy is okay too.

We used to trick-or-treat at the mall when I was a kid, and my mom dressed me in some pretty cool costumes. One year, my brother and I were the cutest ever Raggedy Ann and Andy. When I was seven, my mom let me dress as a punk rocker, complete with pink streaks in my hair. My favorite though, was the year I turned six. My mom made a movie star costume for me, and let me wear dangly “diamond” earrings, a sparkling necklace and my grandmother’s fur coat, which was the softest thing I’d ever felt in my life. And she let me borrow her HIGH HEELS. I felt so special; wearing pretty make-up and mom’s shoes and jewelry.

One of my favorite adult costumes is one I wore last year, when I was pregnant. Josh dressed as Linus and I made a t-shirt with Snoopy’s face on my belly.

How cute is this?

How cute is this?

Jess

I have possibly the worst memory in the world, tied only with my mom (thanks for passing that along, Mama Jess), so it’s hard for me to drudge up the various things I dressed up as when I was little. There is one gloriously strange costume that sticks out for me, when I was 7 or 8. I was a bunny. And not just any bunny. I was Hammer Bunny. As in MC Hammer, people. I was kind of obsessed. Not sure why I had to throw the bunny angle in there.

You might wonder what this costume consists of. It goes a little something like this: a super-stylish white Hanes sweatshirt and sweatpants, most likely bought at Costco; white bunny ears attached to a headband (headband headache, CHECK); a rubber bunny nose with buck teeth that should have been called Sweat-Maker; and, of course, sunglasses. That was the MC Hammer part.

I wish I had a picture of that, but I’m sure I burned them all somewhere along the way. I did manage to dig up a random picture of me in what looks like a pilgrim costume, however.

I'm the short pilgrim.

I’m the shorter pilgrim.

I kind of lost interest in Halloween once I was too old to trick or treat. But since having Bug – and since this is his first Halloween, AHHH! – my love for this holiday has been renewed. Probably because I get to dress him up, parade him around, and then eat all of his candy. Hey, he’s too young for now! I’m doing him a favor.

My sweet baby elephant.

My sweet baby elephant.

All right, Scooters, it’s your turn! What are you going to be for Halloween this year? What was your all-time favorite costume? Tell us in the comments!

Happy Independence Day!

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Happy birthday, America!

The ScootaDoot Chicks love a good party. And what better summer holiday celebration than July 4? Fireworks, parades, food … sounds like heaven!

We’ve rounded up the Chicks and asked each to share special holiday childhood memories with you. One Chick couldn’t make the chat party but wishes you a happy holiday. She’s having a blast making new holiday memories with loved ones.

MER

When I was small, the days seemed longer. My family and I would spend the majority of the summer at our swim club and on the fourth of July, we’d participate in special events there. Swim races, finding coins on the bottom of the pool, water balloon tosses, bounce houses and cotton candy.

Memorial Day weekend was when the pool club opened but July 4th is when summer was considered to be in full swing. When I was young, time was based on holidays. Now it’s based on waking up and going to bed. The days are fast, no matter what the month or the season, but they are happy.

This is a picture from last year’s 4th of July, one of my favorite days as a mom and quite by accident. The days that stand out to me are the ones where you don’t necessarily have anything planned but everything falls into place. The only thing I had on the agenda last Independence Day was a hot and humid 4 mile race through town and watching the subsequent parade that followed.

It was ridiculously hot so we set up the water slide for the kids. I played lifeguard and they spent hours climbing up the back wall and sliding down together. Over and over. We were out there for hours. We barbecued on the grill and then randomly decided to wander over to our town’s fireworks display. Pooks had always been very frightened of loud noises but he did beautifully, as did Littleberry.

The days are long for them; they base time on holidays, on birthdays. And days like the 4th of July remind me to slow down, embrace the length of the summer day, and enjoy.

Mer4thofJuly

The Berries enjoy the water slide last July 4.

CAM

As a kid, I spent the 4th on my street with sparklers. As a young adult, I began spending the 4th with my best friend Jason and his family at the river. We stayed in Cottonwood Cove but would drive in to Laughlin, Nevada to sit on the grass and watch the big fireworks show. The rest of the weekend was spent on the river, attempting to water ski or playing bumper tubes. We celebrated our country by jumping from cliffs into the sparkling blue of the Colorado River and hiking in the heat of the Arizona sun. Since I’ve had children, it’s been more difficult to get back to the river for the 4th, but these trips are among my most cherished memories.

Cam4thCam’s river montage

BROOKE

My Fourth of July memories involve swimming at my grandparents’ house and lighting fireworks in the street. We rarely ventured out to any celebration because there wasn’t one in our city at the time, and the others were so crowded.

My husband LOVES fireworks (Shouty caps are totally necessary). Before we had kids, we always threw a huge party; complete with margarita machine, some of my favorite baked goodies and the best fireworks we could find.

Brooke4th

Brooke and her then-fiance Josh at their July 4 party in 2006.

VIC

Most of my childhood Independence Days were spent at the Sweetest Place on Earth. You got it, chocolate-lovers. We went to Hersheypark!

As young kids, my sister and I raced into the park, jumped on the kiddie rides in Carousel Circle, the now-defunct Giant Wheel and begged our parents to let us ride the park’s famous looping coaster, the sooperdooperlooper. (Fun Fact: It was the first looping coaster on the East Coast when it opened in the mid-70s.) We were never allowed because “we might fall out,” according to my father. We both secretly sneaked rides when dad wasn’t around.

As teens, we scoffed at the ‘looper and set our sights on far more thrilling rides – newer and faster roller coasters like the Sidewinder, spinning thrill rides and water rides galore. We played arcade games – yeah Skee Ball! – skipped out on shows, and searched out friends with summer jobs at the park.

We always went as part of my father’s annual company picnic, so the day included a BBQ cookout inside the park, ice cream and Hershey-themed door prizes. One year ALL FOUR OF US won door prizes!

And because my parents didn’t waste a penny, we went rain or shine. I recall one year, when I was 11 or 12, when we braved a constant downpour and walked onto every ride imaginable. Until the thunder and lightning arrived that is.

The day always ended at dusk, “one last ride,” (usually on the Tilt-a-Whirl) and fireworks. And of course, we ate some chocolate.

vic4thFive-year-old Vic on the bumper cars in Hersheypark

JESS

Every important (and non-important) event happened at my grandma’s house. It was someone’s birthday? Let’s all meet at Gram’s. Christmas? Gram’s. Third Thursday of the week? Dinner at Gram’s house!

When I think back to the summers when I was little, I think about ice-cold veggies and ranch dip, about my grandpa’s “bullet burgers” (they were so overcooked that they were hard as bullets). I think about about doing hand stands and somersaults in the pool with my cousin, Charity. I can almost smell the chlorine and feel the heat of the pavement we stretched out on to warm up after what felt like HOURS of swimming.

If I close my eyes hard enough, I can hear the adults – I use that term loosely! – laughing and yelling because inevitably someone was trying to push someone else into the pool. All of that was the soundtrack to my childhood.

I don’t remember a specific 4th of July at my grandma’s house, but I know that we were there. Where else would we have been?

jess4thUncle Rob gives little Jess a boost in the pool

Do you have any special July 4 memories? How do you plan to spend Independence Day this year? However you choose to celebrate, the Chicks hope you have a wonderful holiday!