Roll to the Rescue!

When we first asked Eli what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he quickly declared, "Batman." With a smile I said, "That will be easy enough!" I started to get my costume wheels turning of how the rest of us could dress up to support the leading (bat)man. 

Just before I started going forward with costume prep, I asked Eli one last time to give me a solid answer of what he wanted to be for Halloween. "Batman...actually Bumblebee." was his answer. After one evening of looking up Transformer costumes on Google, Eli was sold on Bumblebee, and there was absolutely no talking him out of it.

For the first time in my life, I almost retreated to the complicity of a Transformer costume and resorted to buying one. But before giving into store-bought temptation, I tried my hand at creating a morphable car costume. 

Bumblebee was coming along quite nicely, so I moved on to making an attempt at Optimus. I wasn't as ambitious with Carson's look. He didn't actually transform because I didn't think Carson would be as patient with all the bulky boxes that would have been required for a morphing ensemble.

These beauties literally took me an entire month to make. And I must admit -- I am proud of the result.  
Carson totally loves his costume (and so do I)! It turned out way cuter than I expected it to.

Don't tell him that his costume doesn't actually transform. He doesn't know the difference.

Also don't tell him I bought his shirt and pants from the girls' section at D.I.

Please note those are working headlights. Bonus safety feature!

When the boys have their costumes on, they go into full character. They don't talk. They only make transforming noises and strictly, robotically call each other Optimus and Bumblebee.

Here's Eli in "vehicle mode."

Mid transform.

Aaaaaaaaand "Bot Mode."

Here's Carson trying with all his might to transform into a semi truck.

 Eli making a transformer face.

Surely all the Rescue Bot fans out there recognize who I am!!

I was Dani and Jeff was Chief Burns. Here's a visual for everyone who doesn't have a 4-year old boy.

If only white mustaches were less than $15 on Amazon, Jeff would have been rocking one.

So I spent hours. Hours. HOURS! Working on Eli's costume. Then I got a letter from his preschool telling me they were having a Halloween party where the kids were supposed to dress up. But "accessories were not allowed." Ummmm....Eli's whole costume is an "accessory."

In a last-minute attempt to give Eli something transformer related to wear to his preschool party, I spray painted a Transformer logo onto his undershirt.

As luck would have it, he loved that shirt more than his costume. In fact, he began rejecting his costume because it covered up the logo on his shirt. Blast.

We were all decked out and ready to go to my Grandma's for her annual Halloween party. Eli loved showing off his costume for all the new on-lookers.

Carson was crying when we first got there. At first I thought it was because he had just woken up from a nap, upon further realization, perhaps he was scared of his grandparents' new look.

 My cute grandparents keep the Halloween spirit alive.

Another family themed costume under our belts! Now to start thinking about what we will be next year with a new Baby Bot in the mix...