the princess and the shark

A few weeks ago I was at a park with my friend Ali and we took turns going to the garage sale across the street. It was there, hanging in the tree, that I spotted these two costumes, each for a deal. I took them down off the branches and decided my halloween costume shopping was done. The kids would be a shark and a princess. They were thrilled and the anticipation has been building all month.

But today I had them try these costumes on. And even thought the shark costume says 3T and even though I thought Ivar might be able to squeeze his 4T (and sometimes 5T) self into this suit, it still was too small. And even though the princess dress looked tiny, at second glance it is actually a fairy costume, size 8. Since Elsie is a size 3T, this is problematic. It is supposed to be a short dress on a taller girl. Apparently I couldn't tell this when I saw it hanging in the tree.

Today we had a trial run of our costumes and it went down something like this. Ivar hates things that are tight. Or five inches too short, tight in the crotch and tugging his neck down to accommodate his body.

 
Elsie loves her dress, though it is hilarious. She is proud and walks like the beautiful girl she is. I figure I may have five solid years with this little costume. We might as well break it in now.

But Ivar is another story. I am not sure what we are going to do between now and Friday. He is set on being a shark. I'm wondering if I may have to decapitate the hood to make the tension between the legs and the neck a little less for this very angry shark. Whatever we end up doing on Friday, I am so glad I had my camera today.