About this time the costumes were starting to pick up steam and creativity and the neighborly donations had begun. Which led to another sort of problem. Sometimes we weren't really sure what we had, and what the best use of various props and outfits might be. For example, Day 19 - Dressing Up for the Show was a bit of a combination of props. The hat and coat were loaned to us, but they definitely needed some bling. We don't have much in the way of bling, so Dale pulled an ornament off a paintball trophy and hung that around his neck. The cane he's holding is pretty cool, from his own collection of canes. I do believe it might be a special "sword inside" kind of a weapon cane. And those shorts? Well, yeah, I think he had those left over from the 90's.
Day 20 - Feeling Kind of Raggedy was a loaner costume, but I think he "borrowed" the sucker from a stash of Ryatt's candy. Ryatt doesn't eat much candy, so it tends to gather dust.
Day 21 - Go Padres! is not so much a costume but an everyday look for Dale. We both grew up going to the "Junior Seven Up Padres" games at Jack Murphy stadium. Driving there from our San Carlos neighborhood, my family would usually drive around a corner in Allied Gardens where there was this old hearse parked, full to the roof with old newspapers. Maybe images of that old hearse planted seeds for Dale. That, along with the fact that he's always thought of hearses as the ultimate surfing vehicle. And after the Padres games? Thrifty ice cream cones. At least that was my family's tradition. And on that particular day last year (September 23rd), the Padres really were in first place. Doesn't happen often.
Day 22 - Donkey Kong spawned a few discussions about the fact that we had Donkey Kong in the title, but the character was actually more of a Mario (red hat=Mario, green hat=Luigi?). But whatever. Maybe the title had less to do with the costume than the individual wearing it? I'll admit that Donkey Kong was more my era, and Mario Bros was my kids'. I was in junior high school when the first Donkey Kong arcade machine was released and in high school when my cousins (see Waving at Ozz) somehow got a full-size Donkey Kong machine at their house. So cool!
And this week's Flashback Friday award goes to.... Day 18 - Cleaning Up.
Not because it was the best costume (many people suggested he looked like Moses from a distance), but because having your dad wave at you in a bathrobe and shower cap is so much more embarrassing than the Chargers helmet could ever be.
I'm completely convinced that my daughter would absolutely quit high school over something like this. She can barely stand for me to pick her up at cheer practice :)
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