Whomever said "all good things must come to an end" really put a damper on things for the rest of us.

Of course, our evening concluded with customary trick-or-treating. The decorated, musical, strobe light-flashing wagons assembled in the driveway (leave it to the dads to trick those wagons out!), kids crawled in, parents scurried around for buckets and cameras, and our group was off without much time lost. After all, the night was young, and there was candy to be had!

At the end of the night, after most guests had left, we sat in the backyard on our hay bales in the company of family and munched on some candy, popcorn, and nachos. We took it all in one last time before the magic disappeared and daylight was upon us, urging us to get started with the take-down process. In spite of all the hard work (said exhausted Daniel) and dollars (said budget-conscientious Emily), it had truly been a fun celebration that we would do all over again!

In seven years.