A Whole Lot of Pictures

Get ready for a picture-laden post - full of lots of shots of a very fun evening.

Albeit it a little late, here we are, having boarded the crazy wagon train - Mikayla's girlfriends all lined up, looking gorgeous:
And, there is the crazy driver, Walt - he is so NOT kidding when he tells you to hold on tight. You know that if a ride is entertaining to the hilt seven 9-10 year old boys - it is reckless!
Walt, executing a sharp turn:
Here's a picture to prove I was part of the festivities - with Jackson at my side, who participated on the wagon ride with his mom, Amy:

Once safely deposited at the pumpkin patch (on solid ground) the kids looked for pumpkins and Mikayla posed with her "Gilham Girls":
Jack, proudly hoisting his prize:
And, Ellie, looking quite pleased with her choice as well:
This is a pic of us pulling back into the shop area - such a great location:
And, could I have dreamed of a better day to plan this event?
Once back at our house, we tried to get the kids to be patient as we got 14 of them fed:
This is the table spread complete with "Witch Fingers" (Taquitos), "Frankenstein Fingers" (Cheesesticks), "Broken Broomsticks" (Pretzel Sticks), and "Monster Mouths" (Apple Wedges)
These "Monster Mouths" are made with red-food-coloring added to cream cheese and marshmallow cream to make the inside mouth, red apple wedges tooth-picked together to form the lips, and marshmallows as the teeth.
Traig, sporting his own Monster Mouth:While the boys were in the garage dunking for apples, we did a quick spider craft with the girls - here's Mom helping Ellie. Bless Mom and Dad's hearts for helping - I think the noise and energy level were a little overwhelming to them, but just having them there was wonderful for me.
And, Erica - showing off her Balloon Spider:
Here's a shot of some of the garage decor - I covered the fluorescent light panels with an orange vinyl tablecloth to cast an orange glow.
When we let the kids come in to eat their meal, we had the Fog Machine going, so the whole the whole place was filled with a ghostly orange mist... Once we got the kids settled down in the garage to eat, we played a corny ghost story on the CD "Stop the Coffin" - if you ever find it on a Halloween CD, it's a good one for all age levels - not too scary, and a funny punch-line ending.
We had planned to do carving in the garage, but with everything else going on, we chose to just run the apple dunking out there. Despite the order of the pictures, the boys went first. They nabbed their apples in record-breaking, competitive times, while the girls went at their own place, with lots of encouragement given to each "dunker". Here's a pic of Christina with her prize:
This is Kyle - I love the water dripping off his face as well as the apple:
I love this shot of Brayden, with Andrew and Carson looking in - Brayden took the longest to get his apple - let it be said that "speed" is really not Brayden's strength...
One for the scrapbooks:
Tanner is just so photogenic!
A final parting shot of the girls in the garage: