HALLOWEEN BASH: 2016

Party Prep:

Costume Contest Awards

Kiddie corner: Great Pumpkin gummies, glow sticks, and Dum Dum lollipop ghosts

These gummies (spiders and snakes) were given out as Scavenger Hunt prizes

The sunroom got cleared out for the green screen photobooth and kid movies

 Party Pictures:

Emma (tiger), Cara Beth (geisha), Elle (TMNT), and Cora (Bagheera) watching Book of Life and eating popcorn

James (Slappy, after a costume change due to a safety pin coming undone in an unfortunate location...) and Coltin (Squirtle) modeling the ghost lollipops for me

The party kids (most of them!) ready to complete the skeleton bones Scavenger Hunt

I put Kara in charge, and she in turn passed out the clues in order (after each bone was found) so that most of the readers in the group (those who wanted to) could have a chance to read a clue out loud. I was cracking up at Coltin and James repeatedly reading silently over the other kids' shoulders and running off to hunt the bones before the clue was even finished being read!

Success! Skeleton man (12 bones, so, not a complete skeleton by any means) assembled and kids ready for candy!

I thought the sunroom made a good "kid room" this year - we set up the popcorn/movies and a bunch of kid-sized tables and chairs (and cleared out pretty much everything else, in hopes there would be no bike crashing incidents or puking kids coming off the teeter-totter!)

The Donut Chomp game... After the Scavenger Hunt, I retreated to the house to finally eat some dinner and put Jay in charge of this one. He said it took forever to set up (luckily he had some help from fellow tall guys) and then was over in less than a minute, but that the kids (and their parents) seriously loved it, so we'll definitely be doing it again. After he lined up the kids under their donuts, he told them to close their eyes and imagine eating it, then he flicked the string and sent all the donuts flying as he told them to GO! And then Coltin quickly won. Pictured here (thanks to Mike) are Cora, Olivia, Emma, Abigail, James, and Rohan. There were enough kids to fill in the entire front of the carport, but they didn't all make the photo!

The Delta Brewers talkin' shop

Hammerschlagen... Adults only game, don't worry. Apparently Lumberjack Lawrence was best at this, though Jay told me when I tried it after all the party-goers had gone home that he was amazed I could hit the nail so many times without missing (but then, perhaps he was also amazed how many hits it took me to get the nail into the log...) There were multiple rounds, and eventually a glow stick was incorporated for ambiance (or something).

Cora and Emma (and Grady, just off camera) shut the party down with patio dancing and singing. They even convinced Mr. Beane to play them a song on Cora's ukulele while they put on a show.

Forget Elsa and her ice poses, she's all about Elena and Latin dancing now!

A fuzzy bear between the Sarahs...

Me, Sarah, and Christina (whom I didn't get to talk to nearly enough tonight!)

Henry the tiny pikachu - come on, you know you want to catch him!

 Party People:

Costume Contest Winners (we chose via committee this year rather than waiting for everyone to vote). Most Unique: Brawny Man and a package of paper towels, Best Theme: Frozen (Anna and Elsa, as well as Sven and Olaf, were included in this win), Most Obscure: Marla and Tyler Durden from Fight Club (they took the title away from the long-standing pun champion), and Highest Effort: Ash Ketchum, little brother Pikachu, and his mama Pokemon catchers (costumes handmade/hand-crafted for all 4 of them)

Beanes: Clark Kent and Peter Pan

Burkhalters: Cheerleader and Football Player

Donohues: Olaf and Sven

Hopkins: Bat Family

Gaurav: Runner who did NOT survive the Run for Your Lives zombie race

Foshee-Fields: Pokemon Family (Pikachu inside the Poke ball carrier!)

Hancocks: Pokemon Family (with Emma the tiger)

Hearns: Witch and Geisha (Carl was home with a sick Sammy)

Kennedys: Anna and Elsa (Al and Will were on their first Cub Scout Campout!)

Larsons: TMNT Girl Power

Lindsays: Jungle Book

Lucketts (neighbors): Alpine Santa and Cat (kitty Angel was not interested in taking a photo)

Newells: Error 404 Costume Not Found, Flamingo, and Flamingo Wrangler

Prices: Mavis (from Hotel Transylvania!) and Eddie (of Grizwold's fame)

Rices: Super Family

Rowes: Stick Figures (their special UV tape glowed in the dark!)

Heather: Beer Fairy

Van Zomermans: Package of Paper Towels and the burly Brawny Man

 This year was our biggest party yet (23 people/couples/families, we just didn't get everyone posed for green screen photos) and we LOVED IT! Next year we'll go even bigger and better! Most things will stay the same (mish-mash of friends from all walks of life, potluck buffet, beer by the keg, games for kids and adults alike, movies in the sunroom, green screen for photos, etc.), but I think we'll invest in some additional outdoor seating  and I'll plan to make a couple big crockpot/casserole entrees to balance out all the appetizers and desserts. Also, fingers crossed we don't have a 3rd year under burn ban so that we can have a bonfire and roast marshmallows, and that it's not in the mid-80s at the end of October so that fuzzy bears don't melt... Happy Halloween friends!