Pumpkin Carving!

Our afternoon activity today was pumpkin carving! This morning we went to breakfast with Ray Ray and So So and then drove around Leipers Fork and Fernvale (dreaming of owning a house out there one day), after we discovered that the pumpkin farm where we were going to get our pumpkins didn't open for two more hours. We sang songs, and went over lots of bridges (one of the kids favorite things) so they were entertained and were pretty well worn out by the time we got home for naptime, after just picking up pumpkins at the grocery store. They took a good nap and then we set out to carve our "punkins." The kids have been enamored with pumpkins and scarecrows as we have driven by them so I was anxious to get some of our own that they could see every day. They really weren't impressed with the process as we tried to cut the tops off (why is that so much harder than I remember every year), but started to think it was pretty fun when we got to scooping! After dinner we put them on the front porch with candles in them and went out to look at them (Lance trying to get them to say they liked his better than mine) and they were mesmerized. I have been trying to talk up Halloween (along with letting them watch Yo Gabba Gabba Halloween edition every morning) - getting them to tell me their costumes, teaching them trick or treat, etc. - in hopes that they will a) actually wear their costumes that I have so far been unsuccesful in getting them to put on, and b) make it not seem so strange when we tell them to go knock on the doors of strangers! We had a good time, and the kids were great (other than Tyler figuring out how to turn the faucet on full blast and soaking them both, much to their delight). We moved the whole operation outside (surprisingly warm today) when we quickly realized that these are no longer the days when pumpkin carving can occur on the coffeetable without a huge mess!

Tyler wasn't too keen on getting his hands dirty. Katie on the otherhand loved playing with the pumpkin goop!

They really were good helpers - Tyler loved throwing stray seeds away, and Katie was enjoying digging in and scooping. They were good little scoopers!

And both were so proud of their spoon scooping abilities!