THE PEANUT GALLERY: Our Monster House

My Director and I host Christmas Eve. That's a big deal in my family. But Halloween is still our favorite. Before Peanut - hell, before marriage - we'd have an annual Halloween bash complete with gummy worms soaked in vodka and a witches' cauldron filled with a very spiked punch.
Those parties were epic, man. Punctuated by the year - our first in our condo - that two people in those crazy inflatable costumes had a breakdancing competition right in our living room:

Inflatable Breakdancing Hilarity

That was also the year a guy dressed as Howard Stern wheeled another guest - one of my co-workers - into the apartment in a shopping cart. Randomly hilarious. I am shocked we didn't get brought before the condo board:

The guy in the cart is a dad now.
I have no idea who or where Howard Stern is.

Once Peanut came, we had one last party when she was a baby. Then, unfortunately, we realized it was time for us to grow up. For now, at least. So we've transformed the party into a Peanut-palooza. We invite her friends over for games, food, and a pinata. It's great to see little kids dressed as pint-sized superheroes and princesses take their best whacks at a paper mache Frankenstein.

Not so scary after a few whacks with the bat.

One of the main reasons we keep the tradition going? We need to put all of the decorations we've accumulated over the years to good use. Some day, when Peanut is older and able to fend for herself on - or is disinterested in - Halloween, we will have a drunken adult party again. The keg will flow, the gummy worms will soak, and maybe, just maybe, Howard Stern will return with another friend in a shopping cart.

Until then, here is a quick picture tour of the DKL household, spooked up for the holiday:

I'm very proud of the outside.
THIS is how men decorate.
Fancy, eh?

The witch hands that replace our sconces are my favorite.

(That pumpkin guy replaces my Emmy on the mantle.)

The breakfast bar in the dining room.

(Because saying "breakfast bar in the dining room"

makes our house sound bigger than it actually is.)

Now My Director is REALLY
scared to go in the kitchen

This guy is ready to dive bomb us
at every meal.

BRAINS!

These pictures are just the major highlights. For more evidence of how into Halloween we are, check out this post.