Halloween in Windsor

Todd's uncle's family threw their second annual Halloween party.  Last time it was a smashing success and this year it was too!  Todd's family are some of my favorite people so that made it especially fun.

The invite said to bring an hors d'ouvres or dessert so of course we opted for dessert.  We'd been dying to try to make Nigella Lawson's Guinness cake ever since Jess made a fantastic double decker Guinness cake during one of our trips to DC.  In the interest of time and portability we did cupcakes and they came out fantastic.  Todd's grandma very nicely invited us to stay overnight at her house and let us use her kitchen to make the cupcakes.

This is just a tiny, tiny sample of the fabulous decorations. I can't believe how much effort they put into it.  They decorate so that every time you look around you notice another more subtle addition.  I was really impressed.

What rock star-themed party would be complete without lots and lots of Guitar Hero and Rock Band?  I am happy to say that I think I only failed one song.  And we got to play the Beatles edition, which was interesting.  Sadly they had a wide variety of their songs, but not Rocky Raccoon (my favorite).

A lot of effort went into this appropriately themed costume make by Whitney's multi-talented friend who also performs Fire Poi.  He gave a performance at night in the dark and it was pretty awesome.

True to form the Guinness cake recipe made delicious moist cupcakes despite some dodgy timing on the baking.

The next morning Buddy took Dakota on a little tour of the grave yard before we loaded up the car with 200 pounds of kibble that Whitney did us an awesome favor to bring from NH.  Between loading up the kibble and pulling out of the driveway Todd's uncle did us another favor and buffed out the scratches on the back of the car.  It was amazing to watch and everyone - guys and girls - was transfixed while he did it.  I can't wait to see if they throw another party next year.  I think we'll have to be more creative with our costumes because the bar is pretty high.