Carvelicious

Carving pumpkins is a tradition around here, but we cut it down to the wire this year. This is mainly because we normally get our pumpkins when we go to Jaker's and we didn't go. Instead we went to Cornbelly's, which I did NOT enjoy hardly at all. And we did not purchase pumpkins there because it was a zoo and a half, but that is another post.

Instead, the Thursday before Halloween, we got in the car after dinner and headed over to Wilkerson's farm. I have seen it before but we have never stopped. This particular evening, it was really dusty there. I think it is because the parking lot is all dirt, but it looked like there was smoke hanging in the air and there was a layer of dirt on everything. That didn't stop us from having a good time finding our pumpkins. It didn't take us long. The longest part was holding still for Mom to take a few pictures.

Pearl took my phone and ran around taking pictures of all the strange pumpkins she found. It is so interesting how different squash can look. If you think about apples or bananas, they all kind of look similar, but squash can come in almost any shape or size.

Eventually everyone found what they were looking for. I think these pumpkins were a bit pricier than others, but that's what I get for doing stuff last minute. That and a car full of dust.

The next evening (only one day before Halloween) we carved the pumpkins. It was actually quite a relaxed time. Everyone did their own thing and no one needed help. Long gone are the days where I'm basically carving five different pumpkins. 

Only June opted to paint this year. Definitely less messy. I think I'll recommend it to Daisy next year because she is clearly allergic to pumpkin guts as evidenced by the rash she got on her arm afterward.

Here is the porch before and after. I like the transformation from fall décor to spooky creativity.

Now a little closer. I mostly took pictures of the pumpkins with lights inside. Some with both. We had some good creations this year.

Success! And not a moment too soon. But it was actually quite nice to have fresh pumpkins to greet the trick-or-treaters instead of an old moldy batch.