Perfectly Planned Pumpkin Carve

I'm a little behind on blogging (what's new!) but I definitely didn't want to miss posting about another one of our most favorite fall activities ..the Annual Pumpkin Carve hosted each year by our sweet friends, the Davises. Every October as the pumpkin lots begin to pop up all over town, the first thing our kids start asking is, "When is THE pumpkin carve?" Quickly followed by,  "We are definitely going, right?!! I mean we can't miss it!" I believe this was the 6th year that they hosted 50+ adults & children for a night of food, games, treats, fellowship, fireworks, and, of course, carving pumpkins! Never mind that they have 7 children (ranging in age from 10 years to 4 months,) each year the event gets bigger & better. They always love to surprise & wow the crowd with something new & amazing! This year did not disappoint...come & see...

Pumpkin prep at home before the party...we have learned, the more pumpkins you have to carve, the better it is to "gut" the pumpkins & do all the messy work at home beforehand. This year we even let the kids search online for cool carving ideas (thanks Pinterest!) & we printed a template for each pumpkin at home. Armed with 4 clean & empty pumpkins & 4 carving templates, we were ready to go!

More importantly, Lucy's ready, so we are on our way!!!

First up, FOOD, of course! The wonderful hosts provided yummy chili & spaghetti for all & everyone brought a side dish or dessert to share. 

As soon as bellies were full, it was down to business, pumpkin carving business! Our kids had kind of a Disney theme going on this year...Darcy chose Tinkerbell, Sophie chose Rapunzel & Drew chose Lightning McQueen.

Jack chose the red Angry Bird & did all of his carving completely on his own.

 Throughout the evening there was plenty of fun to be had...tossing a football & tackling each other, playing inside, playing outside, playing upside down! Organized games & general merriment! This year one of the new additions was a huge cake walk.

Drew really liked the cake walk...here he is enjoying his prize, a yummy chocolate cupcake with loads of bright blue frosting!

Finally the pumpkins were carved & ready for lighting!

Lightning McQueen, lots of Jack-o-lanterns, Tinkerbell

Red Angry Bird, close up of some of the pumpkins, Rapunzel
The creativity displayed in all of the pumpkins was amazing & really beautiful! 

And the grand finale...a dazzling display of fireworks!

Thanks to Stephanie & Jeff, as always, for their graciousness & hospitality. This year's Annual Pumpkin Carve was another roaring success & a great time was had by all!

It's Not Fall Without It...

Any guesses as to THE thing that is the pinnacle of Autumn in our household?

If you know us & our traditions, you know that it isn't truly fall until we have made our annual trek up to the mountains to go apple picking! 

Technically, I don't even think it was even autumn yet when we made our apple picking trip this year. The apple crop has been running a few weeks ahead of schedule this season & we like to pick them early when there are plenty of apples dangling within easy reach of the kids. After consulting our quickly filling fall calendars, the weekend after Labor Day was settled upon. Earlier in the season also means warmer temps, which we will gladly take over the cold. {Little fingers sure turn numb quickly when trying to pick apples on blustery, cold, rainy/sleety days...been there-done that!} As in recent years, this year we planned to enjoy our apple picking adventure along with many other families from our life group at church. Alas, the weatherman was predicting rain & more rain on our scheduled day to go, so the class event was canceled. But we are not ones to be deterred by a little rain {and our calendar didn't hold a promising make-up date,} so we decided to brave the elements & pick anyway! As I mentioned earlier, we have picked apples in cold rainy/snowy weather before, so the chance of rain on a warm day was not too unpleasant. We loaded up our van to the gills with extra changes of clothes, rain coats & boots, umbrellas & anything imaginable that may help us weather a storm. {And we prayed that the day would be filled with fun memories & family time, and not a total bust!}

I mentioned our busy fall calendar & our chosen day was not only our apple picking day, but it was also our fall sports season opener. Darcy & Jack had their first soccer & football games, respectively. This was Darcy's first soccer game ever & she had so much fun! She is having a great season. Jack is playing flag-football again & still thoroughly enjoys it. {Their games happen to be at the same time almost every week & so I am often running between two fields or keeping up with little ones, so somehow I haven't managed to capture a good photo of Jack yet this season.}

After the games were over, we were excited to be on our way! The orchard we go to every year is about a two hour drive away, so we had a cooler full of a yummy lunch to eat in the car & a brand new movie to watch as we traveled. We surprised the kids with Cars 2 since it had just come out on DVD. Drew had not ever seen it before & to say he was enthralled would be an understatement...he watched intently giggling & smiling & commenting on Mater's crazy antics the entire time. 

We departed under beautiful blue skies & mild temps, so we were hopeful the nice weather would continue. Further & further we drove, higher & higher in elevation & the blue skies followed us. Then, all of a sudden it got dark, very dark, and the sky.opened.up! We went through a huge rainstorm {slow down on the interstate & turn on your hazard lights kind of storm} about 30 minutes outside of our destination, but we could see that the sky was clear on the other side, so we were still hopeful! And sure enough, when we emerged from the rainstorm, the sky was once again blue with puffy white clouds...and we didn't see another drop of rain the rest of the day! Praise God! 

All of the rain gear remained in the car, there were no mud-puddles to fall in to {probably Drew would have rather enjoyed that!} Just a beautiful day on the mountaintop, perfect for picking apples...and as an added bonus, the rainy forecast kept the crowds away...we could walk right up to the counter to buy the {Oh-SO-delicious!} apple cider donuts which often warrant an hour-plus wait in line! And the warm temps made cooling off with an apple cider slushy on the ride home, all the more perfect!

Here's a look at our apple picking adventure...It's just not fall with out our trip to Sky Top!

How Tall This Fall? 

It's been eight years {& three more kids!} since we first took pics in front of this sign!
Click here to see last year's apple blog & here for a retrospective on the previous 8 years of apple picking outings!

Making funny faces!

Here we go...off to pick the biggest & best apples!

Everyone hunts for their perfect pick!

Lucy gets a little help from Daddy picking the perfect apple!

Then she had lots of fun "sorting" them!

Funny thing happened..all the big kids turned into monkeys & took to the trees! All the best apples are at the top!

One of my favorite things about our apple picking trip is that the kids all have so much fun just being together, cutting up & acting silly! I pray that we will all enjoy this tradition together for many years to come...perhaps one day with a whole bunch of grandchildren!

Taking a little break from all the "hard work" to enjoy the fruit of our labors!

Balance!

Our fun didn't end once we had filled our baskets with apples...nope, there was the bamboo forest to explore...

And "wild: animals to observe & feed...i.e. the petting zoo/farm animals!

And lots of swinging, sliding & playing to be done on the awesome playground! The day was full of smiles a-plenty! We are already looking forward to our trip back again next fall...and now I'm headed into the kitchen to cut up a nice, juicy apple!

It's The Great Pumpkin Carve

I'm typing this to the smell of freshly toasted pumpkin seeds, and I would be sipping a nice warm mug of apple cider, but I didn't realize that we ran out like two weeks ago! (So I'm sipping a cup of cold water.) The house is quiet, everyone is sound asleep (with visions of pumpkins dancing in their heads) worn out from a busy day of football & pumpkin carving.

This evening we attended the Annual Pumpkin Carve that our wonderful friends, the Davises, have hosted for the last 5 years. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe we have attended all five years, and it is surely one of the highlights of our October! Pretty much around October 1st the kids start asking when the Pumpkin Carve will be. They do not want to miss it! Tonight there was a crowd of over 20 adults and 40+ kids, plenty of delicious food, and lots & lots of FUN! It is a great evening for kids & parents alike, as it gives us a chance to fellowship with friends old & new.
Our awesome hosts, Jeff & Stephanie (with six sweet kids of their own!) go ALL out in planning, organizing & setting up a great event! In addition to the general merriment that happens when you have 40+ kids in a big back yard, I'm talking games, "bobbing" for apples, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown shown outside on a big screen, and of course the carving of the pumpkins!

 A little trick we have learned from experience...we "gut" our pumpkins at home before heading to the party. Jeff & Stephanie are always super organized & have tables set up for the messy part. However, in trying to keep track of all of our kids, it helps us to do this prep work at home in advance. 

 Sophie helping get all those yummy seeds out of her pumpkin!

 We arrived at the party & there are friends everywhere playing & having fun!

 Supper time! Everyone brings a dish to share & the selection this year was mouth-watering! Everything I ate was delicious & I don't think anyone went away hungry! 

 Of course Darcy is eating a chocolate covered pretzel first...

 This was seriously the most pleasant face Jack would make for the camera!

Drew wanted to go exploring in the woods! 

 Our sweet pumpkin!

 Three little pumpkins all in a row!

 Owen, Nolan & Lucy...just a few of the sweet babies at the party!

 Linked up like a little daisy-chain!

 These cute babies are starting to draw a crowd!

Drew is really giving Lucy a hug, not body slamming her! 

 Drew talking to his girlfriend, Blythe

 Yay, Lucy's pal Trinity joins the group!

Pumpkin carving is serious business... 

 I was proud of Jack, he drew out his own design & carved his pumpkin all by himself. 

 Lots of pumpkin, lots of carvers!

 Cute bunch of kids running around while the parents finish carving the pumpkins!

 Pass the Pumpkin (think: musical chairs)

 Pumpkin carving station

This castle was a team effort for Sophie's pumpkin...she found the design in a pumpkin carving book, Jeff drew it on the pumpkin & I carved it out.

 Jack chose to draw the cross & tomb where Christ was buried, along with the big stone that was rolled away when Jesus rose from the dead.

 Darcy wanted a butterfly

 Our 3 pumpkins

 Time for "bobbing" for apples

 Sophie got one!

  I LOVE the creativity displayed in all of the pumpkins!

 It is fun to see how the pumpkin carve has grown...the first year all of the pumpkins fit on the top of one bench!

 The Davises are always thinking of fun new things to make the party extra special... 

 And what makes more of a bang than a few fireworks!

 Butterfly, Castle & Cross/tomb 

 The kids LOVED it!!!

 All the kids checking out the pumpkins up close

 And to end a great night on a sweet note...

All the kids got a little treat bag to fill with candy or trinkets on the way out the door.

We are already looking forward to next year's Pumpkin Carve! Thank you SO much to Jeff & Stephanie for hosting such a wonderful event! You guys do a great job!! We know it is a lot of work, but all of your efforts pay off in a very enjoyable evening for all!