Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Last year the kids were obsessed with the characters from the Chronicles of Narnia. This year, their Halloween costumes reflect one of their new obsessions: The Wizard of Oz. There are very few movies that we have in our home that do not fall into the category of "animated Disney" movies. Those exceptions include movies like The Sound of Music, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Pride and Prejudice, and now, The Wizard of Oz. The need to purchase the Wizard of Oz came after Nick and I saw the Broadway Musical Wicked and started listening to the soundtrack in our car. The kids fell in love with the soundtrack and started asking questions about the story of the two witches. After explaining the ins and outs of the story a hundred or so times (that is no exaggeration!), we decided to let Grandma Hoskins get them the Wizard of Oz for Valentine's Day. Now, some eight months later, the kids still love the classic tale and were happy to dress up as the four main characters for Halloween. Here they are:

Dorothy



The Tin Man



The Scarecrow
(Emma was a little bummed not to have a pretty dress like Maddi; however, she received so much attention over her cute scarecrow costume (yes it is home-made!) that she got over it pretty fast!)



and The Cowardly Lion. (Yep, this is the Aslan costume from last year. Hooray we could re-use it!)



And can you believe this photo we got when we went to the Haunted Forest at the Children's Museum! It was perfect!



The kids loved Halloween, and Grandma and Grandpa Hoskins have a special Christmas surprise for them that will be the perfect ending to their adventures in Oz: Wicked tickets. We're going on a trip to Chicago right after Christmas and we'll see the show while we are there. Nick and I can hardly wait, and the kids will flip when they find out! I'm half tempted to let the kids wear their costumes to the show; however, seeing as how we had to get special permission to even get children into the theater, I'll probably go for something a little classier for their evening attire. In the meantime though, don't be surprised if you stop by and find us sleeping among the poppies or having lunch in the Emerald City. In fact, I've got to run right now, a few munchkins are ready to be tucked into bed.