Best Halloween Ever... so far.

We may have this whole Halloween thing figured out, just remind me of that next year when I'm wishing for it to be over. Between baking for 3 different kid parties, school parade, church party, 2 birthday parties, a pretty sick Owen and getting ready for a little shin-dig at our house on the actual 31st of October, I was ready to be done by Saturday night. Luckily I awoke Sunday with a whole new attitude - I think I could feel that this would be a night to remember.
By Sunday night Owen's body had recuperated, but his poor little voice was still struggling. At one point as he ran from a house I asked him if he had thanked them and in his best whisper/yell said "THANK YOU!" I had forgotten that he had no voice. A moment that made me want to cry and laugh. (Background of this picture: I think Peter Pan was a little nervous about Owen's ninja skills AND college football fever is in full force around here. Kirt requested that I re-plant the flower beds in tribute to his beloved Utah Utes. I'm a sucker.)
Our little frog and her bestie Wendy. We had quite the Peter Pan theme among friends this year!
We started the night with a group of friends and a big pot of taco soup in our driveway which turned into a neighborhood event. The Nielsen's brought a popcorn machine and at one point trick-or-treaters were standing in line waiting for their share. Random trick or treat chaperones were snagging brownies or cookies off of the table and drinks from the cooler. It was hilarious.
Here is a portion of the kids that trick or treated with us at some point in the night. Cal went out with 3 different sets of friends throughout the evening (none of them are pictured). We were also one of the earliest groups out and as we hit the first few houses people freaked out a little bit. (I think it was a combination of scrambling to get the candy bowl filled and the sheer number of plastic pumpkins being shoved in their faces.)
The neighborhood did not disappoint and everyone came home with full bags of treats. I tried something new this year: I let the kids each pick 10 pieces out of their candy that they really wanted. (Those are in a name-labeled baggy.) The rest went into a communal pile. From there I filled our go-to treat bucket that we use for little sugar fixes and sent a heaping bag with Kirt to work. He'll be the most popular guy in the office for a few days.
Speaking of Mr. Popular - homeboy pulled off a serious haunted house in the garage. He spent most of Saturday (in between college football breaks) lining the garage in black plastic sheeting and broke it into 2 rooms. He had a strobe light, spooky sounds in the CD player, ghosts suspended from the ceiling and a spider's nest that contained the candy bucket. When the kids went to get their candy a giant spider on a pulley lurched at them. It was legit. Kirt and Cal are already talking about improvements for next year.
So if I forget and start complaining next October, remind me of how fun this was and that I would stay up baking til 2am any day to make memories like this with my family and friends.