We've had a welcome change in the weather the past few days. We'd been suffering through a nasty heat wave, then, all of a sudden, we had a bit of rain and cool weather. Autumn's here, which means it was time to get the Halloween box down from the garage shelves. Charlie's now tall enough to do this himself (growing like a weed), and immediately started pulling out old costumes. Before I knew it, we had a space alien visiting. Charlie takes Halloween very seriously and has been known to wear his costume around the house for a week. (Yes, it gets pretty interesting around here. Chance the dog doesn't mind costumes, but he draws the line at hats.)

Here's a list of Charlie's past costumes starting with age 2. (The homemade ones are cooler but sometimes a bit too cumbersome.) Also, it was a little challenging coming up with this list from memory as Charlie likes to wear costumes even when it isn't Halloween. We certainly know he likes to wear different hats.

Age 2 - Bear. Great costume (catalog order). So great, in fact, that when he wanted to be a kitty the next year, we told him that it was a kitty costume. We called him a kitty bear. Even at age 3 he was a bit skeptical but played along with us.

Age 3 - Kitty Bear (see above).

Age 4 - Lion. Borrowed from neighbor. Not as good as the bear, but not bad. In fact, pretty cute.

Age 5 - Iron Giant. Homemade by Dad. Charlie adored the movie "Iron Giant" as did we. We spray-painted cardboard boxes metallic grey (one for the body and one for the head), used dryer vents for the arms, and battery-powered bicycle reflectors on the front of the costume. Very cool, but hard to maneuver in. He gave it his best shot and was successful in his trick-or-treating.

Age 6 - Mummy. Homemade. Dad again (he's much more clever than I) wrapped a torn-up sheet around him from head to toe (and used a bunch of safety pins). This was a simple yet tricky costume (the "bandages" didn't want to cooperate). Looked great and he was able to maneuver pretty well.

Age 7 - Oogie Boogie. Awesome costume, made by our neighbor-of-many-talents, Violet. This was from the character in the "Nightmare Before Christmas" movie. A sight to behold in green, with spiders sewn all over, Charlie looked great, but it was a bit hard to maneuver in (he waddled). On Halloween night it started to rain, putting an early end to his trick-or-treating (but he looked great while it lasted).

Age 8 - Skeleton. Store bought. Pretty good costume. Looked scary, easy to maneuver in.

Age 9 - Alien costume. This was a thrift store find (couldn't have been easier or less expensive). Two pieces: a robe with hood and alien mask. He liked this one so much he wore it for a week (at least).

Age 10 - Harry Potter. Charlie had a great big Harry Potter-themed birthday party and used his robe, Gryffindor tie, wand, and glasses to go as his favorite wizard. He even has a little scar on his forehead (a souvenir from our cat Minnie when he got too close - bad kitty).

This year, we're still in the formation stages. He's still undecided (as are many voters out there). What's your favorite Halloween costume memory?

---