About 43 kids too many for me

It's Halloween! Here are a few photos from the party we attended on Friday. There were 44 kids at this party. I wouldn't be surprised if Anne had a good stiff drink when all was said and done - she certainly deserved it. The party has become an annual tradition at her house. Proof positive - I ran into Anne and her kids at the superstore on Friday morning - and the kids were already in costume. You know they're looking forward to it when they're wandering through Housewares dressed as sharks and princesses and Dorothys.

The pre-party warmup involved getting Liam accustomed to his costume. This was also the first Halloween party that I had been to in ages, so I dressed up, too. I expected all the moms to, but alas, I was the only adult in costume (and I think the looks I got from the other moms were more sympathy than approval). Not to worry, I had fun! Liam did better than I expected him to at the party. I thought he might be upset by all the kids and noise and costumes, but he just drank it all in, and then fell asleep the minute I buckled him into his car seat - must have been sensory overload.

Chad dropped in for a few minutes on his way home from work. Liam was glad to have his hood down, and let his sweaty little head air out a bit, but yikes dad, could you be more gentle next time??

So, what does a Halloween party for 44 kids look like? Well, there are lots of Timbits and cupcakes and chips. There's a DVD playing (what, I don't know). There's bobbing for apples and scary-music musical chairs and also scary-music Freeze Dance, which I think is a Cowan invention that is quickly spreading to the masses. And there are just a whole lot of kids in costumes, some of which I recognize and some of which just illustrate how woefully out of touch I am with kiddie culture. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Look closely - notice that there are two Scooby-Doos here (with that many kids there is bound to be some overlap!):

It didn't occur to me until late Sunday night that we haven't carved any pumpkins yet. We do have a fake as backup, but Halloween wouldn't be complete without some carving. Liam and I will get on that later today.