No, I didn't dress up this year.
It's too much work and effort - maybe when the kids both get big enough to do most of their dressing up by themselves...
Alex wanted to be a zombie. He had been trying on the scariest masks he could find. Grandparents (bless their hearts) were dead set on him being Jack Sparrow (like half or more of the other kids). We had already bought blood and face makeup, so we compromised - he would be a zombie pirate.
We had a t-shirt we were going to cut and put bloody bullet holes in, but lo and behold, the fake shirt that came with the jacket costume was a fake, and only sewn in to the front. It couldn't be taken off.
I didn't look at the grandparents as Bethany (my wife) said, "Cut It." I didn't look as I cut, but I wish I had a recording. She said her stepfather had a look on his face as if I was cutting HIM.
Fake blood went in and on and around. Grandparents were mortified.
I wasn't sure the night could get any better.
Thing is, they bought a pirate costume for the boy who didn't want to be a pirate, while the other one did! Joseph made their grandparently hearts warm with his straight-as-Errol-Flynn pirate.