On Sunday we took part in that well known, tried and true Halloween ritual of carving pumpkins. 
After dozens of years of partaking in this activity ourselves you'd think we'd have been prepared for the slimy mess it can produce, but our memories go back only so far, and clearly they didn't include visions of toddlers up to their shoulders in pumpkin guts. Well, now they do. Unlike our friends' children, who'd we had heard were, at best, "uncertain" of the cold wet stuff inside the big orange balls, Calvin had no such qualms about
charting this unknown territory. It was all we could do to keep him from grabbing the (safety) knife and helping us cut out the lid, and there was only a brief moment of questioning wonder before he reached right in. He loved the fact that spoons were involved, but did not quite grasp the concepts of emptying and sorting and spent a lot of his time trying to put the goop back in (here, Mr. Pumpkin, you need this!). When all was said and done 
(read: all three pumpkinds empty) the newspapers were scattered, the floor slippery, and the laundry promising to be interesting. Calvin was bored by the actual carving part of the evening, but was clearly pleased with the results. After his bath we lined them up on the coffee table, dimmed the room lights, and brought them to life with tiny candles, and he was absolutely thrilled. We have to admit that we are pretty pleased with our handiwork, too.
The 2007 Ophoff Jack-o-lanterns:
Want to see more? Visit the Oct 27-Nov 2 album... there are also pictures from our Sunday visit to two different farms and pumpkin patches.