The Pumpkin King, in Pictures

Today, with the playground feeling slightly soppy and an entire afternoon looming before us, the kids and I decided that it would be a good idea to carve a pumpkin. Never mind the fact that I have never carved a pumpkin before in my life (and the kids certainly haven't, as their parents probably wouldn't let them near something to potentially dangerous as a knife, a gourd and a candle) - we were on a mission. I bundled up the littles and headed to the local organic food store; when the parents came home and killed me for making a mess of their children, at least I could tell them that there were no pesticides involved.

We found the perfect pumpkin. A plump, round, 15 pound giant with a nice smooth face for cutting out a design. Getting it (and the stroller) into the store was enough of a challenge -- getting it the 5 blocks home was gonna be impossible. So we came to a solution: Rebecca and the pumpkin strapped into the double stroller, and Peter helping me to push and making sure the pumpkin didn't roll out when we went down sidewalk declines.



The rest of the pictures pretty much tell the story of my afternoon. Take a look and see for yourself:



Rebecca, smiling with a crude version of "cheese"



Peter giving me his Jack-O-Lantern face



The mess that we made (god help us if the parents walk in the front door at this moment)



Look, it's me! And I'm a bit of a slob. (Yes, I let a four-year-old use my digital camera, and yes, I recognize the inherent risk. But it kept him occupied for ALMOST AN HOUR)



And this is the final product - a semi reasonable Jack O Lantern for the family. Boy was I proud of myself :D



So that was my day. Here's a cool link for you all: Try to beat my insane and incredible carving ability by testing your skills carving this online jack-o-lantern: http://www.toilette-humor.com/flash/carve_pumpkin.swf