Once Again with the Monster Mash

Halloween Greetings to All Heroes and Villains of the Internet.

Tonight the Houghs held their seventh annual Halloween Party, which was, by far, our most elaborate to date (and our second-biggest in terms of attending guests, coming in behind our epic '80s-themed party from 2019.)  This year's theme - because yes, we theme our parties around these parts - was Heroes and Villains.

We wanted to offer more this year, because - God knows - the last couple years have been much smaller affairs on account off Covid (which, by now, isn't much of anything to worry about.)  Kris and I had planned for about a month out for this evening's festivities, creating a series of activities for our guests in order to make the night as entertaining as humanly possible.

They are as follows:

1. Backyard Scavenger Hunt (for little kids in the 2 - 10 range.)  As Kris worked on prepping food, my brother Chris and his two nephews helped me hide eyeball ping pong balls and little skulls throughout our park-sized backyard for little kids to find.  They had to collect a certain number of each in little brown, paper bags in order to receive a prize from our Prize Table (we had stocked up on large candy assortments - the $3 ones you can buy in the store that have like ten or twelve pieces in each - as well as little toys and other such crap from store like Five Below.)

2. Photo Scavenger Hunt (for the middle and high schoolers.)  We printed off a checklist of tasks and put them in page protectors and handed one off to each group of like 3 - 6 kids (there were three groups of kids that went out but the third group's pics were in a weird format and I couldn't upload 'em - my apologies), and sent them off into the neighborhood.  They had to take pics with their phones of each thing off the checklist before they could come back and collect their own prizes from the Prize Table (a pic of someone jumping, a pic of a skeleton, a pic of a stop sign, etc. etc.)

3.  Costume Contest (for the adults, with kids only voting.)  We purchased a voting box, ballot cards, and ribbons for various costume categories (Funniest, Best Couple, Scariest, Best Group, etc.) off Amazon, and special ordered a fancier Best Costume trophy off of Etsy (for like $25.) Kids then voted throughout the night and submitted their ballots in the ballot box.

4. Beer Pong.  I decided to pull out this old college favorite and set it up in the garage as a last-minute thing for adults to do, totally on a whim.  Having talked to a lot of the other dads in our group, this wasn't necessarily something a lot of them used to do in college (I guess not everyone went to Western Michigan University) but surprisingly enough it ended up being the highlight of the night for most folks.  Totally didn't see that one coming in the slightest - safe to say Beer Pong may become a staple at all of our parties from this point forward.

All in all, it was a lot of work for Kris and I, and with Kris facilitating the events and Yours Truly working on documenting the entire party via my trusty SLR, we definitely didn't get to enjoy the party as much as our guests did.  But that's what happens when you host, I suppose.  We'll definitely have to tweak things a little bit for next year's party, but this was hands down one of our best parties to date, and a hell of a lot of fun.

So check it out, folks: The Houghs' 7th Annual Halloween Party. . .

Alayna and Abby helped Kris in the kitchen with some of the Halloween-themed snacks and entrees for the party throughout the afternoon.

Making 'Thor's Hammers' - cheese cubes with pretzel rods sticking out of them.

Taking a piano break - this kid's been into playing themes from TV shows lately, pulling the sheet music from her phone.

This is one of my favorite fall beers - combining traditional pumpkin notes with the spiciness of habaneros and a higher ABV.  I generally don't get down on overly-pumpkin beers, but this balances nicely.

Sam 'helps' set up the scavenger hunt for the little kids, which basically entailed chasing Watson around the backyard with a sword.  Chris and Nicole knew they wouldn't be able to stick around late with their kids, so they came over early in the afternoon in order to maximize their hangout time (and help us set up crap around the house.)

Kris, and her friend Kim, work on meal crap in the kitchen (a.k.a Kris' office.)

Testing some flash settings in the Study. . .

Abby, Mikayla (Kim's daughter), and Nora.

The twins spent most of the afternoon brawling on the trampoline.

The disgust in their dad's face is palpable.

Nora the Dragon on the trampoline.

Kim (a pirate), Mikayla (a witch), and Kim's friend (as Wonder Woman, and who's name escapes me.)  They, too, came over early because they didn't plan on sticking around very long.

The Larsons as some of the characters from The Avengers: End Game (left to right: Sophie as Groot, Jackson as Dr. Strange, Morgan as Fat Thor, and Danielle as Thanos.) 

Alayna and her friends, Cristina and Lexi, all dressed up as different Spider Mans from the Multi-verse movies.  This pic is from some famous meme that I guess exists on the Worldwide Web.)

The Houghs. Once again, our kids didn't want to do a family theme, so we each did our own thing.  Yours Truly went as the villainous Comte de Rochefort from The Three Musketeers (since I had most of the existing pieces of wardrobe from previous costumes, and I got to wear one of my swords - always a bonus.)  Abby and Kris teamed up for an Alice in Wonderland thing, with Abby as the Cheshire Cat and Kris as the Mad Hatter.

Kris made most of her costume from stuff she found at thrift stores (she enjoys making her costumes by hand), while the girls each ordered theirs from Amazon.)

Even though I tried making good use out of the costume pieces I already had, I still ended up dropping about $100 on mine, which Kris gave me serious shit for.)

Spiderman takes a rapier through the chest.

The Nadgaudas themed as 101 Dalmations (with Omkar as a dog-catching henchman, Deanna as Cruella De Ville, and their kids as dalmations.)

The Johnsons didn't get a family theme going, either, but Courtney and Erik did a Beauty and the Beast thing with Courtney as Belle and Erik as Gaston.

Their daughter, Ella, went as the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

The Three Amigas

One thing that's great about this friend group is that these people can frickin' cook.  Erik slow-smoked some pork belly and wrapped it in bacon for the party, which was awesome.

Belle helps set out the various spreads that start to accumulate in the kitchen.

Around 5:30pm or so we only had like four families there, and the weather was so nice that folks just wanted to sit outside and enjoy the eerily nice weather (low-60s and sunny.)

The Garage, all set up for Beer Pong. . .

Chris and Nicole were forced to leave around 6pm, before most of the folks showed up, due to their kids literally falling apart with exhaustion and over-stimulation.  Next year they plan on dumping kids off with Mom in advance so they can actually hang out like adults (little kids are rough.)

Some festive side dishes.

The basement is the designated hangout area for kids, and Kris set up a bunch of kid-friendly food down there in order to cut down on traffic in the kitchen. 'Mummy Dogs' (hotdogs wrapped in crescent roll strips), butter noodles, 'Monster Balls' (meatballs), the previously-described 'Thors Hammers,' etc. 

The evening's planned scavenger hunt activities for the kids was on standby until more families showed up, so that no one was left out.  Kris bought that color-on table cloth for kids to pass the time with, which went over well.

The Bardens embraced the Alice in Wonderland thing as well, with El as another White Rabbit, Rylen as Alice, and Amy as the Queen of Hearts.

Meanwhile, back outside on the patio. . .

As more people began to show up, Kris decided to gather together all the older kids and give out the instructions for the photo scavenger hunt.  Being this late in the year, daylight was limited, and we wanted to give them as much time as possible outdoors while it was still light out. 

Unleashing nearly twenty kids into the neighborhood and out of the house was a stroke of genius - it kept the teens happy and cut down on the amount of time we'd have 60 bodies inside our house.  This group here consisted of Alayna and her four friends that had showed up by that point in the evening (here they're getting their required 'Picture with a Fire Hydrant' shot.)

Rylen asked for her older sister, El (who's a sophomore) to stick with her, and Abby and Sophie joined them for the evening.  Here's a 'Picture with a Stop Sign.'

Lexi and a 'Pose as Your Costume' shot (safely done in the middle of the f***ing street.)

'Pose with a Tree.'

'Pose as Your Costume.'

'Group Acting Scared.'

'Spell Out a Word' (this is supposed to be 'Hello.')

'Use a Person as a Bench.'

Kim wanted a picture with me because she thought I was a pirate, too (I spent the entirety of the evening explaining to people that I was not a pirate, but a literary villain - but that's what I get for trying something high-brow, I guess.)

'Picture of a Dog.'

'Picture of Someone Upside Down.'

'Pose with a Tree.'

The Griffins as The Little Mermaid's Ariel and Prince Erik.

'Picture of Someone Getting a Piggyback Ride.'

Spelling out 'You.'

'Pic of People Balancing on Something.'

'Pose as Your Character.'

'Group Pic on a Slide.'

'Group Pic on a Playground.'

'Group Looking Scared.'

'Pose with a Skeleton.'

'Pic of People Jumping.'

'Pose with a Round Object.'

The Colliers as X-Men's Wolverine (Ryan) and Storm (Mees.)

Like the Griffins, their kids disappeared shortly after arriving to our house, so they had to get a decent family picture later.

Around 7pm-ish.  The older kids were off on the photo scavenger hunts, the younger kids were tearing around our backyard on their scavenger hunts, and the adults were feasting.

We had emptied out most of the furniture from the Study to open up the area as a dance floor, but no one really utilized the room that much.

Mitch digs in.

'Take a Pic at the Corner of Lund and Plymouth.'

Post-food dad hangout in the Study: Lonnie Big Balls, Collier, Morgan, and Omkar.

'Group Pic on a Slide.'

'Group Pic on a Playground.'

The Sheahans (minus Nora) as Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman.

As always, the wives staked claim to the Living Room.

Kim and Kris

This group popped into the Barden residence at one point to get their 'Pic of a Cat' shot (which Abby clearly didn't like, as she's deathly allergic to cats, just like me.)

Meanwhile, back in the basement.

The younger kids played the PS4 (Fortnite, most likely) and feasted after completing their scavenger hunt in the backyard.  The Duplo mess is courtesy of my twin nephews, who threw the blocks everywhere before they went home - that was fun to clean up. . .)

(I think this is just a random picture, but I could be wrong.)

Not sure about this one, either.

Out in the Garage, ready to kick off the evening's bout of Beer Pong. Morgan and Erik teamed up.

vs. Omkar and Tom

It's harder than it looks.

Omkar looks like he broke his wrist, here - not sure what's up with that throwing technique.

The guys asked me if I could plug in this old analog TV out in the garage (that no longer works) so that they could watch the evening's big MSU vs. U of M game.  Collier would eventually run back to his house in order to grab a small monitor and his Youtube streaming device.

Morgan looks like an overweight, space Jesus.

Lonnie and Mitch step up to the challenge (the game now streaming in the background.)

(BP and I also teamed up, but we didn't get any pics of that game.)

The Colliers finally find their children, who also dressed up as X-Men.

Elise as Jean Gray, Myles as Cyclops, and Teagan as Rogue.

The Boses (sans kids.) They went with a Caddyshack theme this year (no surprises there, seeing how Mitch is a pro-golfer.)  He went as Bill Murray's groundskeeper character from the movie, and Kelli went as his arch-nemesis, the Gopher.

BP, Erik and Lonnie watching Beer Pong. . .

The Bos girls finally show up.  Audrey went as a cheerleader and her older sister, Maddie, as a Gryffindor student from the Harry Potter series.

Ryan and Omkar

The Mad Hatter and Space Jesus

Losers take a drink

SPORTSBALL

Back at the house for one, last shot - 'Group Pic on a Bridge.'

No idea why all these kids are sitting around on the floor like this. . . or why they're not in the basement where they belong.

An assortment of Alice in Wonderland characters. . . 

Tom is gay for Big Balls. . .

Disney Couples pic of the Johnsons and the Griffins.

Wives, cluckin'.

The dads, still beer ponging in the garage.

Later on in the evening, Courtney, Sam, and Kris sat down and began to tally up all the ballots cast by the kids for the adult costume contest (the kids had been voting on and off throughout the entirety of the evening up to this point.)

Susan tries to decipher sloppy kid handwriting.

Ryan, Audrey, and Teagan check out the Halloween Photo Album slideshow (courtesy of Google Photos) that I had streaming on the TV all evening (compromised of Halloween pictures from the previous twenty years of Halloweens.)

Danielle and Mees come out to try their hand at Beer Pong.

Losers take a drink.

BP and Tom, watching the game.

More spectators in the garage by this point.

Some action shots of the game. . .

More gratuitous food pics for ya. . .

Kris saw this smoking pumpkin decoration idea on Pinterest.  She bought a metal, orange pumpkin from Target, spray-painted it white, and put a light-up oil diffuser inside that changed colors and emitted nice-smelling vapors into the room.  For $40 total, a pretty cool piece of Halloween decor. 

After Kris, Courtney and Sam tallied the results from the ballots, they had this group of kids announce the winners.  In a surprise showing, a lot of the little kids voted Kris as having the Best Costume, the biggest prize of the contest.

Best Costume, 2022.

She was a little embarrassed to win the grand prize at her own party, and went out of her way to make sure folks knew it wasn't rigged (which was totally unnecessary, as Courtney and Sam had been right there with her counting ballots.)  So the trophy gets to stay in-house this year, which is pretty cool.

Samwise dressed up as Serena from A Handmaid's Tale - definitely a villain.

The DeBoers (minus Delia, who, like her dad, also went as a Ghostbuster.)

The Winners of the 2022 Costume Contest (Kris insisted we use this backdrop for this group pic, who knows.)  Belle and Gaston (Best Couple Costume), Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter (Best Group Costume, minus all the kids who participated in the Alice in Wonderland theme), Cruella DeVille (Most Original Costume), Le Comte de Rochefort (Scariest Costume), Fat Thor (Funniest Costume), and the Mad Hatter, again (Best Costume Overall.)

Back to Beer Pong

The DeBoers and I hung out in here for a bit, catching up.

A rare glimpse into the teenage hangout room.  Kris and I moved our bedroom TV/Firestick in there so they had something to do (seeing how they'd rather die then hang out in the basement with the younger kids.)

Mitch brought along this fancy bottle of bourbon to share with the guys - not sure what it cost, but knowing Mitch I'm sure it was a lot (he definitely appreciates good bourbon.)  It was something like 100 Proof (or 50% alcohol - more than twice what whiskey usually is.)  We each did one shot and called it good - something that strong will sneak up on you fast.

At one point later on in the evening, Kris went into full-blown selfie mode, taking selfies with several people throughout the party.  And yes, I took off my wig and hat by this point in time - I was sick of the wig itching my forehead and my hat constantly falling off.

A weird selfie with Danielle and Amy

With BP

With Mees

Inside Abby's room, where the second-oldest group of kids hung out for part of the night.

Hanging out in the kitchen

Kris and Sam, watching the dads play more beer pong.

Kelli's back was hurting her pretty bad at this point - she's been suffering from a pinched nerve or something like that since Labor Day, almost - so she laid down on the couch and snuggled with Samson towards the end of the evening.

Audrey and Teagan, playing on a mom's phone.

Another shot inside the high school room, where Gabby had recently arrived.

Back out in the garage, Collier - who, by this point in time, was feeling pretty good - found one of my swords that I don't really want anymore but have never been able to sell for a decent price.   He ended up cutting someone on the finger on accident, which is funny because that's the second time this sword has drawn blood (I accidentally cut Kris with it back in like 2007 or something like that.) 

After playing around with the demon sword for a bit, he discovered my leaf-blower and insisted on bringing it into the house (which I allowed only because I knew it was out of gas, having used it up a few days prior to this.)

Wouldn't be a Halloween Party without breaking out the ol' leaf blower. . .

Back in the garage, these two were definitely having a good time.

Another selfie, this time with Courtney.

With Amy

With Kelli

A very, very crowded kitchen, towards the end of the night.

(Sophie looks thrilled.)

Not sure why I'm posing like this. . .

At the end of the night, with only a few families remaining, Mees and I tried - in vain - to get everyone to play a game of Flip Cup with us (set it up and everything), but no one was biting at that point.  It had been a long, long day.  Oh well - we'll just say I won. 

- Brian