Jack-o-lanterns

As I've mentioned to some of you, Halloween is not big here. It's possible to find a few Halloween things in the stores, but most people don't celebrate it in any way.

So it was that much more exciting when, after a bit of a hunt, we managed to find Halloween pumpkins! After searching all the big grocery stores and shopping centers (OK, well a few of them), they were right down the road in our great little fruit market! So we had to invite the neighbors over to carve pumpkins.

They did a great job of scraping out the gooey insides, and Eliza is reading a Geronimo Stilton book about Halloween, so she had some great ideas for face designs. Then it came time to actually carve the pumpkins. But the one thing we were missing was a pumpkin carving knife. Thought this sent a great message: "Halloween is this great holiday where kids get all loaded up on sugar, their hands get all slimy with pumpkin goo, and then we give them big kitchen knives." For the safety and sanity of everyone involved, Ann and I took over the carving, and the kids took over the responsibility of eating gummy body parts and taking pictures (see next entry).

I think it was a great success. I told them to take the pumpkins home with them, but then they dragged them back over when it got dark so I could see them with the candle in there. And they were all in their PJs, which made the whole thing even more cute.