Lakewood Ranch residents Vaughna Wells and her husband, Sam Thoyre, sing "Baby Shark" to their 16-month-old daughter, Kaija Thoyre, twice every day.Â
So, of course, when Kaija Thoyre was looking at costumes for Lakewood Ranch's annual BooFest Oct. 25, she had to pick a shark.
"It's her favorite song," Wells said. "It has been since she was 4 months old. ... When she picked out the costume, we had to get matching costumes."
Thousands came out for BooFest at Main Street at Lakewood Ranch dressed as princesses, superheroes, Mario Brothers characters, "Toy Story" characters and more for a night of fun, candy and live performances.
Lakewood Ranch resident Carrie McQueen dressed as Cruella de Vil from "101 Dalmations" to complete her years of being Disney evil queens for Halloween. Last year she was Ursula from "The Little Mermaid,"Â and the year before she was the Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland."
"I love any good excuse to wear a costume," McQueen said.Â
McQueen's daughter, Jaden, 6, joined in the evil dressing as Celia Facilier from Disney's "Descendants 3."Â
Lakewood Ranch's Valerie Stolte, 10, shows off her handmade jellyfish costume. Stolte made the costume with her mom.
Lakewood Ranch's Carrie McQueen dresses as Cruella de Vil, and her daughter, Jaden, 6, dresses as Celia Facilier. McQueen has been dressing as Disney evil queens — such as Ursula, the Queen of Hearts and Maleficent — for years.
Parrish resident Avery Hull, 3, enjoys Boo Fest dressed as a pumpkin.
Andy, Miguel, Clara and Ana Corpora visit from Miami and dress as Egyptians for Boo Fest. Ana Corpora said they try to dress in a family costume every year.
Sarasota resident Asa Wade, 5, and his dad, Stewart, march around Boo Fest as dinosaurs. Asa Wade loves being a dinosaur.
The Williams family — Ben, Rich, Blakely, Dale, Brayden and Blaine — love "Toy Story 4" so much they decided to dress as the characters. Brayden, 4, is Buzz Lightyear, Blaine, 2, is Woody, and the rest of the Williams are aliens.
Bradenton 10-year-olds Rylie Herranz and Shaniah Stewart walk Boo Fest as a two-headed zombie.
Lakewood Ranch residents Vaughna Wells, Kaija Thoyre, 16 months, and Sam Thoyre dress as sharks because Kaija's favorite song is "Baby Shark." The family sings it twice per day, and it is part of Kaija's bedtime routine.
Mike Jones makes balloon pumpkins for Boo Fest attendees.
A cowboy costume was the only one Sarasota resident Emmett Yong, 2, would pick.
Heather and Gabriel Vasquez have been teaching their sons, Dante and Liam, how to play Super Mario Bros., so Dante wanted to be Luigi, and Liam wanted to be Mario.
Sarasota resident Kevin Grady bring his English cream golden retrievers, Henry and Finnegan, dressed as Captain America.
Bradenton resident Janiah Rodriguez, 8, pets a puppy at Nate's Honor Animal Rescue's smooch a pooch booth.
Sarasota residents Kris and Kristen Bowman have their kids, Owen, 6 months, and Laney, 2, dressed as Bam Bam and Pebbles from "The Flinstones."
Lakewood Ranch's Aiden Storey, 6, attempts to balance himself while climbing a ladder in the kids' zone at Boo Fest.
Lakewood Ranch's Emma Inboden, 9, dresses as a flamingo while Lake Wales' Kathryn Smith, 6, goes to Boo Fest as a unicorn.
Sarasota's Jadyn Wade, 7, and her mom, Sam, dressed as peacocks. Jadyn chose peacocks because she had to write a book report about them.
Sarasota residents Ryan, Jessica and Landon Featherstone, 20 months, and Yong Stewart dress as Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan.
Lakewood Ranch resident Avery Scherzer, 3, has her face painted to match her Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" costume.
Jessica Linares and Miriam Ortiz, both with Truly Nolen, give candy to Sarasota's Chandler Swain, 3. Linares is Sally from "Nightmare Before Christmas," and Ortiz is the girl version of Edward Scissorhands.
