Louisville Zoo Halloween

It is billed as the 'World's Largest Halloween Party!' and is a 'must do' event every October for our family. It's the Louisville Zoo at its finest; all dolled up and ready to show off for trick-or-treaters young and old. Yes, the candy isn't the greatest, but the atmosphere is to 'die' for. We have always gone with great friends, which is the key to a wonderful and memorable spooky night. We went on Friday night. Rich had to work until 5 PM so I visited the orchard with the kids, got them dressed in their costumes in the parking lot, drove to an empty lot by the freeway to meet Rich and applied Trey and Matt's make up there. Nothing like creating skeleton pirates and the Grim Reaper with my fingers and small paint brush next to a homeless man panning for money and truckers pull over enjoying some McDonald's food from next door. We are building memories here. Lots and lots of good memories....
Matt's half way completed look.Brynn loved shouting, "I TINKERBELL!"
Kristi eased my worries when she agreed to bring some rubber bands to the zoo for Kaitlyn's hair. I tried to smooth her pony tails and snapped both bands. She was Sleeping Beauty (my favorite Disney princess.)
We spent the night with the Hamiltons. It was their final zoo Halloween since they will be leaving the Bluegrass in June. It is hard to believe that our old original Louisville group is dwindling. Eight wonderful years and hundreds of priceless memories, but it is time to see a few of us finish and move on to the next stage in life.Trey was the grim reaper. I told him he should say he was a Dementor from Harry Potter. They are WAY cooler.Matt was a skeleton pirate. It glowed in the dark. The costume came with a mask, but I hate, hate, hate masks. I was happy he agreed to let me paint his face. I was going to only make him a pirate, but he insisted he needed to be a skeleton too. It was clearly the right choice.Josh the awesome ninja.Kaitlyn as Sleeping Beauty. The pigtails helped the crown stay put. I was amazed she left it on all night. Brynn as Tinkerbell. Her wings light up. They are my favorite part of the all the costumes. Plus it was VERY easy to spot her in the dark, crowded pathways. Bonus.My very own pretty princesses.I love this scene. I could have stared at it all night.The Jackson crewTrey, Matt and JoshThe whole gangTime for candy!Snow White is Kaitlyn's favorite princess. Ariel is Brynn's favorite.Anna as Ariel and Kristi.I loved this too. I am a HUGE lover of Pumpkin Masters. In fact, for years and years I have hosted a pumpkin carving party and have amassed quite the collection of templates and tools. They revolutionized the art of pumpkin carving. I never let a year go by with out creating our own masterpiece from their books.The zoo tram's path is marked by a wide yellow winding line- The Yellow Brick Road to be exact. Here we are with Glinda in the Wizard of Oz section.Kaitlyn's other twin.I had to laugh when a random mom in line referred to Trey and Matt as the 'scary boys' while talking to her son. I thought they looked fun, not nightmarish. Rich wasn't quiet so sure about Trey's look.More treatsMatt fit in perfectly with the Pirates of the Caribbean crew. I loved hearing the Yo Ho Ho song from the Disneyland ride playing on the overhead. I got to hear the real thing with my own ears just hours before when my dad called me on his cell phone while they were on the ride in Disneyland.One, two, three, four, five. Thank you very much. We had quite the stash by the end.Here we were walking out. Kaitlyn's face says it all. A perfect night celebrating a wonderful holiday with best friends. Happy Halloween!