So, three weeks ago, dd 6 found THE PERFECT cat costume at Walmart.  I was in a hurry and didn't want to spend the full price on the costume and promised her we would get the costume later when the price dropped.  Well, after several weeks of trying to talk her into using some existing leotards and such to create our own cat costume, we finally had to go get a costume as we had a Halloween party today.  We went to every store in town and none of them had any cat costumes.  I was getting a little worried at this point, because I still didn't want to spend the $18.86 on the original perfect costume, and we hadn't found anyting!  The Halloween party was in 2 hours.  We finally ended up at Walmart by default.  I was grumbling to myself about spending so much money on such foolishness.  Imagine my surprise when we couldn't find the cat suit anywhere.  They had sold the entire rack of them.  Dd wandered from rack to rack more and more gloomily, head drooping more and more, slouching and moving more slowly.  I felt terrible.  I asked her what she wanted to do and she replied, "I guess we'll just use the black leotard like you wanted, Mom."  Just like that.  Not sassy nor rude, just defeated.  My heart sank.  We slowly walked toward the exit of Walmart not saying a word, shuffling along, when we noticed one last rack of costumes just in the entryway of the store.  Dd fingered some of the costumes as we passed them, her face blank and void of emotion.  Suddenly, she straightened up and her face lit up like nothing I've ever seen before!  "Mom!!! Here it is!!! Oh, Mom, I love it so much! I'm so glad we found it!"  Everything let go and relaxed inside me. 

It was the best $18.86 I have ever spent.

We miraculously made it to the party on time as well.

Imagine my cat (dd 6) and my two little bees (twin girls - 20 months) bowling...

It was a hoot.  Thank goodness for bumpers!