80s ski party, Pumpkin carving and Halloween Extravaganza

The Magee's have been quite busy the past few weekends and in the spirit of Halloween, dressing up has been involved. Last weekend we celebrated my friend Margaret's birthday at the 80s ski party. You might remember my post from last year involving my attendance at this E.P.I.C. event. Well it just so happened that this year the party fell on my friend Margaret's birthday and she decided it would be a great way to celebrate. All the proceeds from the event go to First Descents and last year they raised enough money to sponsor a whole summer camp.

This year's ski party was much better than the last I thought. Tickets were $45 but Chad and I were able to snag a deal of Zowzee so we only had to pay $25 each. Once again there was an open bar but this year's event was sponsored by Bud Light and Pucker so there was an assortment of beers from shock top to (my personal favorite) Landshark as well as a shot ski and ice luge.


They had flip cup tables set up and a lot more food than last year from local organic vendors with everything from sandwiches to pizza.

There was a live band called, That 80s band that sounded so amazing you thought it was a dj playing the actual 80s song and not the cover band. Best of all were the costumes and they did not disappoint. As usual the men were better dressed than the women as some of the women missed the "ski" part and dressed in just 80s aerobic ski apparel.




There was lots of neon:


And lots of people partying:


The Magee's were stylin':


And did I mention there was a photobooth?




Saturday night was our second annual pumpkin carving extravaganza party. I kept the party small this year intentionally because honestly having people carve pumpkins in your house is quite a mess...but it was awesome. We skyped with Kelsey's family and judged their pumpkins and they judged ours. No costumes were involved but lots of creativity and of course holiday themed food.




let the carving begin:



the finished product!


With pumpkins carved and one round of dressing up complete there was only one event left to celebrate...Halloween!

Since Halloween is on a monday this year we of course celebrated Saturday night. Last year was kind of a disaster since we had no plans and bar hopped all night so this year we decided to buy tickets to the Exotic Ball at Casselman's sponsored by Alice 105.9. The venue was decorated with pirate ships and skulls everywhere and there were enough bars set up that you never had to wait for a drink. I had never been to Casselman's before but I enjoyed how large the bar was so that you never felt too cramped. We actually got a hotel downtown for the night so that we didn't have to worry about driving and my best friend Lyndee and her husband got a hotel as well. So we met at their hotel once they got downtown to pre-drink and get ready and of course take some photos!

Me as...

The black swan!

Wednesday Adams and the black swan:


Chad and I:

Can you guess what he is?


We didn't want to be the first people at Casselman's so we went to the Matchbox beforehand for some drinks:



Then it was finally time for the real party. My favorite part of Halloween is seeing what everyone is dressed as and you know when you are going to an event where the grand prize is $2500 for best costume you won't be disappointed.


Lyndee and Medusa - she won second place

They took first place:


Lyndee and skeleboner



oh yeeahh


shots shots and more shots!




Lyndee and our awesome bartender:


If you don't watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force you probably have no idea who this is but I love master shake:



sexting:


Winning!


Getting a hotel downtown was a smart idea and allowed us all to have some fun responsible partying. Of course not driving leads to being over served but hey when you are an adult it's "Liquor Treat" not "trick or treat" right?

Happy Halloween everyone!

Rugged Maniac 5k and rugged hiking

It was an absolutely beautiful October weekend for a 5k adventure race and some back country hiking. Saturday my friends Lyndee, Mark, Meaghan, James and Margaret, Chad and I all ran the Rugged Maniac 5k which was held at the Thunder Valley Motorcross track. We were team gold bandits:



and yes we did run with beers in our hands


there was quite a bit of cheek showing as we ran

you need muscles like these to run in a leotard


the guys loved their gold shorts

post-race and meaghan and I forgot pants to change in too....that was quite the mistake.

Drinking at a bar looking like homeless people...mud in hair and all.

Then today (Sunday) Chad and I took a hike along part of the historic Colorado trail. The plan was to head to Estes Park but after the fun we had Saturday night, getting up at 5am was not reality. So we enjoyed the beautiful weather and the fall colors changing:






Here's a good look at The Castle from Wellington Lake. It's such a challenging climb it only sees 2-3 ascents a year. There are so many beautiful rock formations in the Lost Creek Wilderness area.

All in all a fabulous weekend with some amazing people. I couldn't ask for a better kick off to one of my favorite months out of the year.

It's beginning to look a lot like fall....

While I am most definitely sad that summer has come to an end here in Colorado this in-between time is my most favorite time of year. Our falls are incredibly short here in Colorado so you have to catch the beautiful Aspen's changing at just the right moment. Hike too early to see them and they won't be a brilliant yellow yet, go too late and all the leaves will be lost in the wind. Here's some beautiful photos from a hike I did at the end of September:




This lake was supposed to be frozen but as you can see it isn't yet!






as you can see one of our 14ers already has a dusting of snow

I'm enjoying the beauty of fall here while I can before the snow moves in and blankets everything for the winter!