Pumpkin Time

I have taken Karlee to Jack-o-Lantern Lane in Lafayette for the past two years to pick her pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch. She has always liked it but it has always been HOT on the days we went. The other day we were driving around town and she spotted pumpkins at a Farmers Market. She was excited and said "look at that pumpkin garden." I then realized that we would not be making a trip to the real pumpkin patch this year. Picking out pumpkins in 90 degree weather just did not sound appealing this year!

So, when I picked Karlee up from school Monday, we headed to Shakey's pizza for lunch and then to the Farmers Market. She walked all through the pumpkins and picked the perfect two. One for her to decorate and one for her and daddy to carve. I much preferred the one minute walk through the pumpkins rather than the hour spent at the pumpkin patch in 90 degree heat!

I broke out the paint when we got home and let Karlee just go at it all over the pumpkin. She was so proud of her creation. She jumped in Chip's arms when he came home from work that night and immediately said "Come look at my pumpkin. I made it pretty."





Karlee could barely sit still through dinner. She was ready for her daddy to help her carve the big pumpkin. They started with cleaning the inside out.





Then they moved on to making the face. Chip just couldn't draw a simple set of eyes, a nose, and a mouth. He told me to find cookie cutters for different shapes. He used those for the eyes and the nose. Then, he used a serving platter and a funny shaped acrylic bowl to draw the mouth. I guess he was putting his building science degree to use! Karlee was trying to trace cookie cutter shapes herself on the other side of the pumpkin!





While Chip and Karlee were concentrating on the face, I was busy picking seeds out of the pumpkin goo. I tried my hand at roasting pumpkin seeds for the first time. I remember roasting them in grade school and really liking them. Karlee tried one while she was eating a before bed bowl of cereal (something she has started asking for lately-maybe she's gonna get some meat on those bones!). She immediately dove into the pan for more. She was a big fan of pumpkin seeds!