We were invited to a pumpkin carving party on Saturday night. We had never been to such an event before and did not know what to expect. Normally, we just carve some sort of face into our pumpkin and call it a day. A party with a contest for the best overall pumpkin made us rethink our carving approach. Would the party-goers be professional pumpkin carvers?
I decided to find J a little something more detailed to tackle figuring we’d be up against some crazy competition. I searched high and low for an interesting, free pumpkin stencil pattern online and finally settled on Yoda. Anyone who knows us knows that Star Wars is huge with our kids so I knew my selection would be a crowd pleaser (at least with our family).
While J was hard a work with a margarita at his side, I cruised the activity stations with the boys. We hit the cookie decorating table first. Of course, we did.
The boys each chose a mini pumpkin to paint next. They both took their time to create a couple of lovely works of art. The pumpkins now reside on our front porch.
By the time we had finished making the rounds at the bouncy house and swing set, J had finished Yoda. We went inside to partake in some yummy food. The hostess made two delicious soups to share: chicken noodle and curry harvest. I tried the curry one and fell in love.
I brought a batch of monster eyes. There were none left in my serving bowl at the end of the night so I’m taking that as a testament to their yumminess. There were lots of other wonderful treats like a Thai noodle salad, cornbread casserole, chili, rolls, brownies, cakes, etc. It was all so good. I definitely over did it and was thankful that I had run the causeway earlier that day.
When the sun went down the jack-o-lanterns were set out on some hay bales in front of the house and lit with candles. Yoda came to life! J did a wonderful job carving him!
All of the pumpkins that were carved were pretty amazing. See the one three to the right of Yoda? That one was my favorite. It was Lionel Richie! It says “Hello” at the bottom. How random and creative! A couple of us were even inspired to sing a few bars of the song.
Glow sticks were handed out to the children while the parents voted on the pumpkins. Somehow they came up with the idea to link all of the sticks together to form a giant glow ring. I thought it looked pretty awesome!
Toward the end of the evening, Cutie Pie finally warmed up to the idea of having his face painted. He asked for a dragon. The hostess’ mom is quite the talented face painter, no? Cutie Pie ended up falling to sleep with the green monster on his face. Sadly, much of it had rubbed off by the morning.
While Cutie Pie was getting his face done, a very flamboyant guest burst into the Puff the Magic Dragon song. He knew every single verse. I was impressed.
The pumpkin carving winners were announced at the end of the night. One of my friend’s won for the prettiest pumpkin. Another friend won for the scariest pumpkin. And J won best overall! I was so proud of him! His prize was two adult tickets to SNOW and ICE at the Gaylord Palms resort!
Adventures of Four 