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  I spent the past two days on my feet for six hours a day handing out candy to thousands of the most adorable children Pittsburgh has to offer. Zoo Boo 2009 was a huge success and it's one of my favorite events to participate in. We gave out tons of Fun Dip (more on that in a bit) and pens (sorry that we ran out! If you'd like a Pittsburgh Mom pen or tote bag or mouse pad just send me an email to heather@pittsburghmom.com and I'm happy to send one out to you!)

A few things struck me this year at Zoo Boo:

1. We gave out Fun Dip. Yep, that pure sugar wtih a licking stick straight from our childhood. Many of the kids didn't know what it was, but those that did were thrilled.  The parents were less-than-thrilled.   I got a lot of "You're PittsburghMom and you're giving out pure sugar!! Shame on you!"  I'll tell you this, the Zoo provides the candy, and that's what we got this year. And you had to know that if you're trick-or-treating your kid is probably going to get a lot of sugar. Most candy bars are pure sugar, this one just doesn't disguise it as well.  I might as well have been giving out Splenda packets  

2. Kids are polite.  Most kids said Please and Thank You long before their parents told them to. I was so pleasantly surprised at how sweet and wonderful the kids were.

3. The costumes were largely store-bought. Of the thousands of kids I saw go through I'd say less than 50 were home made. And the ones that were were FANTASTIC.  I saw such creativity.  I saw an amazing bird that must have had thousands of feathers sewn on. I asked the mom where she found such a great costume and she proudly replied "I made it".  I saw a homemade PacMan, a homemade robot (so great, it had all kinds of fun stuff glued to the tin foil covered box) and a really awesome peacock. But for the most part? I probably counted 100 identical Spidermen, Pirates and Disney Princesses.

I'm not judging. Hell, my kids are sporting the same Dragon from Old Navy that I saw on at least 50 other kids, but it's kind of sad isn't it? Sad that we just don't take the time to make those creative costumes anymore. Those ones that we have to take a minute to figure out what it even is? I miss those costumes. I'm sort of disappointed in myself for not making a bigger effort to make something original. I'm not sure if it's time, talent or expense, but I just didn't.  Two years ago our entire family dressed up. And it took people a few minutes to figure out what we were, but when they "got it" everyone loved it.  And people are still talking about those costumes two years later.  I am vowing to make something creative next year. 

I better start learning to sew.

So why is it that we don't make Halloween costumes anymore?

If you made one this year, tell me what you made so I can properly pat you on the back.
And if you bought one, tell me why. Was it time, talent or expense that got in the way?

Here's our costume from two years ago, can you figure it out?

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