Dorothy...

My baby has come a long way from last year's lobster fiasco.
And by "a long way," I mean this year she knows how to fight back.

So in brainstorming for Halloween costumes, I decided it would probably be a good idea to try to remedy the trauma inflicted when we put her in a pot.

Enter Dorothy.

Blue plaid dress? Check.
Red shoes? Check.
Mullet perfectly conducive to pigtails and ribbons? Check.
Little black dog? Checkity-check.
Comfortable enough to trick her into thinking she wasn't dressed up? Checkity-check-check-check.

Who knew Halloween could be so easy?

Since it was pouring rain, Reece was dying of the stomach flu and I was feeling lazy, my family and I took Lola to University Mall for her first trick-or-treating experience.

And oh, what an experience it was.

First of all, Lola was exhausted and not feeling great.
Good thing she had papa, who served as her "Jazzy" for the day.
But she was such a trooper.
I think she was fascinated by the sea of little monsters, witches, Disney characters, animals and such. 
And once she figured out the result of a simple "trick or treat," she really started to perk up.

Mall candy has come a long way since I was a kid.
No more gross chocolate coins.
Now, you get the good stuff.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I laughed for a good 15 minutes when my eyes happened upon the following sign.  I need to get one of them for my house.

The funniest part was trying to convince those handing out the candy that we really did, in fact, have a trick-or-treater with us.
I suppose that happens when you have six adults rifling through each treat bowl in search of the perfect loot for a 15-month-old.

Despite the massive crowd, stifling heat and lingering aroma of bad body odor mixed with Bath & Body Works, our mall trick-or-treat was a huge success.
We realized the true brilliance of this decision later in the evening, when at the sound of the doorbell, Lola scrambled under the reading chair in terror.

Apparently she doesn't like THAT kind of trick or treating.