Thursday, November 4, 2010

Halloween 2010: The Princess Bride

So, this year for Halloween, we used "The Princess Bride" as our theme. There were some other contenders, but everyone was happy with a role offered by this 80s cult classic, so we embraced it.

Here's the breakdown:

Maia is easily the most laid-back child ever to exit my womb (you like that image, don't you?). She was on board with whatever we talked about, but genuinely seemed pleased to get to be Valerie, Miracle Max's wife. She nailed the voice and memorized a few of her memorable lines. We used an entire bottle of white spray on her thick tresses and they were still quite brown. That Hunter hair's lusciousness knows no bounds, I tell you!

Mason was thrilled to choose Miracle Max as his role. He loved the balding/gray-haired wig and the wizard-y hat. He ran around smiling, with his robe billowing out behind him.
Marlee refused our other theme ideas this year because there was nothing scary in them (sorry Mary Poppins, and The Cat in the Hat--you're too tame for my seven-year-old). At first, she said she wanted to be a shrieking eel, but I suggested the R.O.U.S. instead (thinking an eel might be slightly harder than a giant rat for Mom to make). She happily agreed to be the R.O.U.S.
Thankfully, Mackenna wanted to be Buttercup. How could we do "The Princess Bride" without the actual princess bride? When I asked her which of Buttercup's outfits she wanted to wear, she shocked me. Personally, I would choose the blue dress Buttercup wears at the end of the movie when she jumps out the window into Fezzik's arms--and I'm not 1/10th as girlie as Mackenna. But she didn't want that dress. She didn't even want the red dress from the kidnapping/Fire Swamp scenes. No, she wanted to wear a peasant garb from the very beginning of the film. I tried to change her mind, but that task is nigh to impossible with my five-year-old. Farm Girl Buttercup it was.
Michael tried to put up a fight about being The Man in Black, but, thankfully, I am able to change his mind (or rather, ignore his protests). He even grew out his mustache for a few days and fashioned his sword handle out of a twisted coat hanger. I think he looked smashing.

As for me, well, it wouldn't be Halloween if I didn't get some left-over/cross-dressing role. But this was a good one and I had fun with it. I was Inigo Montoya, of "you killed my father, prepare to die" fame. Thankfully, letting my own mustache grow for a few days wouldn't have given the needed results, so my dear generous friend, Cari, hooked me up with a pseudo-'stache. And I rocked the hair, n'est-ce pas?

Here we all are, together in our glory:

Until next year...

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

i live for your halloween posts. i was patiently waiting to see what awesomeness you came up with this year. as usual, i was not disappointed. you all rocked the princess bride! thanks for sharing!

Amber Mc said...

Your family's costumes have become one of my favorite parts of Halloween!

Jennifer Lovell said...

Mendy, I love your theme. I'm glad that each of those fun characters got represented, too--especially the princess bride and the R.O.U.S. So much fun. Too bad I'm such a party pooper when it comes to Halloween, but at least I can enjoy seeing other people having fun with it :). Thanks for sharing!

Corinne said...

Seriously, your husband in that getup is FANTASTIC. The best Halloween costume I have seen this entire year, hands down.

whitney allison said...

Fab. U. Lous. LOVE Maia's nose! And your hair looks stellar!

laura said...

could not love this more. one of your family's best. the mustaches, and lacing up shirts are beyond words. you totally nailed it.
loved the cousin trick-or-treat. wish halloween was on sunday every year!

Heidi said...

I always love to see what your family does for Halloween. I'm going to have Princess Bride quotes running through my head all night!

(My favorite idea has to be the R.O.U.S. Awesome!)

nicole said...

Why Mendy, why do you always have to make the rest of us look bad? Seriously though, I saw the word Halloween on your blog in my blog reader and it was the first thing I clicked on because I couldn't wait to see how you would amaze us.

Mary said...

YOu take it to a whole 'nother level, but I love it everytime and am green with envy over your many crafty creative talents.

Anonymous said...

I don't know you, but I came across your blog, and I love the princess bride! Your costumes are amazing. I only wish I could have thought of this first.

Unknown said...

Wow! Princess Bride has been my favorite movie since I was a child. I am delighted to find it thriving with a new generation. Your costumes looked great and it seems a fun way to bring/tie the family together for Halloween. Bravo!

Katrina said...

I love the costumes and the building your in I recognize they all look alike. lol

Melinda said...

I was directed here by The Princess Bride page--love your costumes, and laughed my head off at your comment about growing out your own mustache. I also love that your kids all have "M" names; my sisters and I are all M's, too, and I even have a sister named Maia--the only person, other than actress Maia Danzinger, that I knew of with that name spelled the same way, until today.

Thanks for the smiles!

marikoy said...

Hi! I found your blog via The Princess Bride site. Nice Halloween theme! I love The Princess Bride, especially the "as you wish" parts, because that's how my husband was. :-D

Deb said...

awesome. another halloween success, mendy!

carilarkins said...

Did I thank you yet for giving me credit for your 'stache? I appreciate it. Over 4,000 people know I have a mustache collection now. They're all going to come knocking next year.

Cami said...

Truly awesome. Love it.

Anonymous said...

This is such a great theme and I bet it was so much fun! Props to you Mendy for making all those lovely costumes!!

Anonymous said...

This is about the cutest thing I've ever seen! We did see a family/group at the Disney World Halloween party last year that was dressed as the Aladin entourage, with Princess Jasmine being the largest, lankiest man of the group (he told us he lost a bet). This is great inspiration. Keep up the good work!

Quotation of the Month

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.

-Jill Churchill