A Tale of Two Pumpkins

Last year, we took our first trip to a pumpkin patch. I was hugely pregnant with Zach and wasn't sure how I would do. Thankfully, I was able to haul myself up into the hay wagon, out to the field, into the patch, and help T get her pumpkin. The energy wasn't there for carving, though. So we compromised by painting the pumpkin instead- which was very fun.
 
This year, a trip to the pumpkin patch wasn't going to happen. We just ran out of time. So, we headed to the grocery store and picked out 2 pumpkins- one for Teagan/Mommy and one for Zach/Daddy. The down side to a grocery store pumpkin is that you miss out on the outdoor adventure, the hay ride, the pumpkin train, and so on. The up side is that it costs less, you don't sit in an uncomfortable, stinky hay wagon pulled by a loud and smelly tractor, and there aren't any thorny plants waiting to attack you! So we pick out our 2 pumpkins and bring them home.

At first, Teagan was very unsure about the process. She didn't mind Mommy cutting open the top... but the expression on her face wasn't too excited once she saw the pumpkin guts...

Thankfully, she was ok with cleaning out the insides with a large spoon. And Zach was very intrigued to see what Big Sis and Aunt Christy were up to over there...

And Zach didn't mind the pumpkin guts in the slightest. In fact, he had a great time taking them out of the pumpkin and putting them into the pan.

And banging spoons together. And banging spoons on pans. And on pumpkins. And on Daddy.

And tasting the pumpkin lid. Raw pumpkin- tasty.

Teagan dictated how the eyes and nose and mouth should look. She wanted a sad-faced pumpkin with a squiggly mouth. Then she actually did a good bit of the "punching" before Mommy and Aunt Christy did the actual carving. I used a Sharpie to draw the face so that the lines would be easier for her to see and follow with the little plastic punchy thingee.

And the final product... Teagan's Sad Faced Pumpkin.
 

And Daddy's Big Grin Pumpkin.

And I couldn't bear to take pictures of the next part of our tale. It seemed somehow... immoral. Our pumpkins were the victims of smashers. Inconsiderate people- I assume teens but who knows, really- came along after bedtime and took our pumpkins from their porch perches and smashed them at the end of our driveway. I was ticked. Teagan was mad, too. Our poor pumpkins...

So, lesson learned. Next year, when I pull in the candles from inside the pumpkins, I'll move the pumpkins to the back deck. Or set up some kind of weird "catch 'em" trick... maybe I'll coat the pumpkins in vaseline or some kind of invisible dye. Or we can rig them so that they give off a strong electric shock if touched. Or a light and alarm system. Or some kind of pulley system that would depants whoever picked them up. Or string up the person who picked them up!

Have you had a pumpkin problem? Have any grand ideas for protecting your defenseless future jack-o-lanterns?

P.S. Be sure to check out Jeffardy for Dad's take on the pumpkin smashing debacle.