Pumpkin Carving 2020

With Halloween on the horizon, we thought this weekend was the perfect time to carve our pumpkins and show a little holiday spirit. 

Sadly, due to the pandemic, the family-run pumpkin patch we have gone to for years and year and years isn't open this year. (Oh COVID, you just keep giving and giving, don't you??) Instead, we picked up pumpkins at a local grocery store and called it good.

In years past, we've had squirrels see our pumpkins as a buffet. My plan to thwart them was to keep the pumpkins in the basement until we were ready to carve them. A few days ago, Finn was nowhere to be seen... after a few moments of hunting, I found him gnawing on one of the pumpkins.
Animals = 1, Me = 0

Eric was the first to figure out his pumpkin design, and what a clever design he came up with! He went into our back yard, came back inside with some sticks, and went to work making arms for his pumpkin creations. How clever is he?!?! I didn't get any shots of him mid-creation, but do have a photo of his final results. 

Eric's pumpkin creation

I was a bit stumped on what I wanted my pumpkin's look and feel to be. I figured EVERYONE would have a mask-themed pumpkin, so didn't want to do that. I almost made a "VOTE" pumpkin, but then started to think that's what I did before the last election. Instead, I turned to my good ol' buddy Pinterest and swiped an idea from a post I saw there. When I saw the photo, I knew it was what I wanted to do ... carving and sewing all in one. How me! 

My creepy, yet crafty pumpkin

As the kids have grown up, they've taken on more and more ownership of their pumpkin designs and the actual creation. We still worry about potentially lost fingers, so closely watch them, but they are now old enough to do most/all of the work on their own. Spread you wings, little ones!! (PSA: Just keep the sharp knives pointed away from them. Please... for the love of all that's holy! We really don't want any pumpkin carving-related ER trips. Now or ever. But I digress....)

After much contemplation, Conor decided on a mad scientist design for his pumpkin. (Note: his pumpkin scientist's forehead "scar" is courtesy of Finn... please see the gnawing reference above.) Conor cleverly incorporated our Harry Potter glasses and mad scientist wig in his final design. 

Sketching out the design

Gooey!

Keep the sharp parts pointed away from you, bud!

The proud artist

The wig completes the creation

Annika's pumpkin was partially inspired by the Illuminati coupled with a cartoon character named Bob (I think). She incorporated a bit of herself in the design by including outlines of her hands right in the pumpkin. She worked incredibly hard on her pumpkin and completed the entire process on her own. Her creative process was "let's see how it goes", with very little preparatory sketching. She had a vision in her head and went for it. 

Scoop, scoop, scoop

The artist hard at work

Adding details

Ta da!!

Seeing everyone's final pumpkins was a lot of fun, but what really made the day special was hearing the kids reminisce about Halloweens gone by. The giggled about some of their earliest pumpkin-carving memories and the silly things they remember doing. There were countless "OH YEAH! I remember that" moments. 2020 has been a pretty odd year, to say the least, but having days like Sunday so full of family fun, tradition, and smiles made things feel much more normal.  

Pumpkin Patch 2019

On Sunday, the Olson Four made our annual trip to Fairbank Animal Farm/Pumpkin Patch. As I've said in past posts, Eric and I started going there before we had the kids ... possibly before we got married. It has become part of our fall to-do list and one we all look forward to each year.

It is with great enthusiasm that I can report we didn't get rained on. Talk about a pumpkin miracle!!  It rained on our way there and on our drive home. Not a DROP during our time there. We were geared up - boots, rain coats, hats! We definitely needed the boots because of the mud, but not because of any rain.       

Eric and Annika on their way to the farm
(Can I just say how much I love that she still holds our hands?!!)

We peeked at the various animals (a bit quickly, knowing the weather was not going to be kind to those who dallied and because the farm was rather packed. (Our "there won't be many people there because of the weather" theory turned out to be completely wrong!) We saw a mama pig with her brood and another mama pig who was ready to have babies at any time. (That poor girl looked miserable ... even while napping!) We saw the ducks, geese, peacocks, and pony before darting into the barn. (Back in the old days, we were allowed into the stalls, but insurance regulations put an end to that a number of years ago.) We contented ourselves with petting the calf through the gate... fortunately, it was close enough for everyone to give it a little love and enjoy how soft its nose was. We also got to pet (with one finger!) some ducklings and chicks. The bunnies were constantly busy, so we just waved as we hopped along. (Ha! See what I did there??)  We also took a few minutes to watch the newly-hatched chicks in the incubators.

MOO!

The calf was particularly interested in nibbling on Annika during the visit!

Our cute chickies with the chickies

Fluffy ducklings

Knowing our time between rain showers was probably rather short, we high-tailed it to the pumpkin patches to pick out THE perfect pumpkins to take home. Because of the recent rain. many of the pumpkins were rather squishy, so the hunt evolved from a "is it a good size and shape?" to "is it a good size and shape ... and is it not decaying?". We do have standards, ya know!

On our way out, Eric paid for the pumpkins while the kids and I took advantage of the photo op boards around the property. (Yes, the kids are less enthusiastic about this part of the outing than they were when they were younger, but they are still good about humoring their dear old mom!)

On our way home, we stopped at MOD Pizza for a warm-up sort of lunch to celebrate our great pumpkin adventure, the lack of rain while we were out and about, and, oh, my 46th birthday. :)

Our 2011 Pumpkin Patch Adventure

There's a pumpkin patch/petting farm that is about 20-ish minutes from our house. We've been there numerous times over the years, even before we had kids.... possibly before we were even married (way back in ancient times!). This morning, we packed up the kids and went on an adventure.

One of the perks of this pumpkin farm is the animals. The kids can feed the birds and pet baby farm animals; one of the highlights from today's visit was petting the calf who was born on 10/1/11; she was very sweet, had a wonderful nose (I love cow noses!!!), and huge gentle eyes. The kids petted baby chicks, baby ducks, goats, and the cow. They also saw ducks, chickens, roosters, turkeys, geese, peacocks, and pigs!

After wandering through the animal portion of the farm, we chose a cart and headed to the pumpkin patch. We had lots of pumpkins to choose from (it gets to be slim pickings the closer it gets to Halloween ... we've learned that the hard way in years past). After scouring the patch for THE perfect pumpkins, we chose two to bring home, paid for them, and headed home... tired, but glad for a fun outing as a family.

Annika getting to know a goat

 Annika and Conor giving loves to a goat

 Oink!

Who knew we'd have to tell Conor not to lick fences at a farm??

The world's most adorable scarecrow

Our cute little pumpkin

Conor considering which pumpkin to take home

Annika showing the pumpkin who's boss

Annika convincing Eric this is HER pumpkin

Eric and the kids pumpkin hunting

Conor communing with the pumpkin

 Hauling our pumpkins away from the patch