The Halloween party

NOTE: As I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the greater part of the evening and rarely thought to pull out the camera, most of the party photos featured here were taken by Miss V's friend Olivia C., who graciously allowed me to use them for this blog entry. Thanks, Olivia!

So I've made reference to the fact that Miss V had a giant shindig here the weekend before Halloween. And now that I've had about a fortnight to recuperate from the event...

See, for quite some time now Miss V has wanted to have a really big Halloween party. This year, instead of having a birthday party with friends, she decided she'd like to put all her efforts toward having a Halloween party instead. And when I say "all her efforts," I mean ALL her efforts. Plus a pretty good chunk of change. And lo, many and varied were the preparations.

Decorations going up before the party.

The spectacular rise of the Leaning Tower of Cupcakes.

Even the bathroom had a special guest:

Dead Dora! Looking especially dead (and finally complete)!

As guests arrived, they were invited to play with the many boffer weapons that Captain Midnight had crafted for the occasion.

One of V's guests was dressed as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Spiffiest costume of the evening.

After the guests had arrived, Miss V swiftly took charge and guided them to the first activity of the night:

traditional bobbing for apples. It went pretty well.

Lots of running around in the dark ensued. Party music got played. Someone broke out the lightsticks and pretty soon the front yard looked like a rave party.

Brave souls lined up to be hit in the face with cream pies. (Face hole artwork by Miss V.)

Get your pies for the Great Pie Fight! *squish*

Several partygoers then tried to eat donuts off a string, with marginal success.

Miss V had an idea about creating a huge pumpkin shape from orange balloons, filling the balloons with paint, then inviting the guests to play darts. This went pretty well, and though I have no actual footage of the event...

...we have several new panels of modern art to commemorate the occasion.

Jackson Pollock would be proud. Or envious. Not really sure which.

Another adventure of the evening was Dress the Scarecrow, where teams had to race back and forth dressing "scarecrow" volunteers with bits and pieces of our old clothes.

About this time it was getting dark and cold enough that the party moved indoors...

...where a ghoulish feast had been set up.

Mmm, eyeballs!

Random body parts!

And what Halloween party would be complete without a bubbling witches' brew? Not this one. We also had spiced apple juice and Mexican hot chocolate for those who needed warming up.

The party games continued indoors...

...including the Jello-slurping contest.

I only wish I had taped a video clip of this so you could all hear my favorite sound of the night: the mighty chorus of multiple vials of lime Jello being slurped through straws.

Then it was time for the mummy roll!

Several people were transformed into Egyptian pharaohs in mere moments.

They were all pretty good sports about it.

Then, to vent any remaining frustrations, they waled the tar out of a poor harmless piñata and ate its innards. A truly heartwarming and horrific ending to a Halloween party, right?

Anyone who was still bored (really?) was free to join us in watching the evening's movie: the 1945 adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. But about that time, parents began to show up, and guests departed, one by one... until there were none.

Thanks to all those who helped make this party awesome!

As for me, I think I'm gonna go lie down now.