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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Halloween Part II - Pumpkin Smashing



Each year in October we have a pumpkin carving party at our house. It's a great tradition that includes wonderful food, lots of friends (anywhere from 75 to 95), pumpkin carving, hay rides, a bonfire, and a spooky trail through the woods. Some years we've had fireworks (thanks to some friends), and this year a friend added impromptu graveyard tours at the old cemetary on our land.

This year we weren't sure about having the party. We've had a busy year with lots of family battling health issues, a busy Harvest time on the farm, and the third open-heart surgery of the year for our family was looming. We hemmed and hawed and finally decided to have a party, but change things up a bit and do it in a way that would better fit into our busy life this year. 

Instead of our usual pumpkin CARVING party a week or so before Halloween, we planned a pumpkin SMASHING party for the weekend after Halloween and invited our friends and family to bring their carved pumpkins to be smashed! 

This guy, enjoying the party here with his beautiful daughter, threw in the surprise of impromptu graveyard tours. He'd been helping on our farm throughout the fall, so was very familiar with the land and the old cemetery, and decided to take folks up there for respectful, but spooky little moonlit walks through the deteriorating old cemetery. It was a fun little addition to the night!
The party is a family-friendly event and there is something fun for people of all ages! Our friends Erin, Joe, Leo and Abram smiled for a quick photo for me! (Well, I'm not sure Abe is sporting a smile, and Leo's is a silly one, but they're all having fun!)


Cliff built a Trebuchet for launching pumpkins and it worked wonderfully! We only had a couple of flops where the pumpkin didn't release from the sling or released sooner than expected and it was so much fun watching the pumpkins fly through the air! It was hilarious to watch the kids launch their pumpkins because they had to pull with all of their might to get it to launch and then most often the kids ended up on the ground, watching in amazement as their pumpkin soared through the air!  




This year, we encouraged costumes and although not everyone came in costume, it was fun to see those who did! This is my neice Katelyn, my niece Renee, me and my sister Liane!







Thanks to my sweet friend Alli for these last few photos! She and her family are always so much fun to have around! 




I have just a few more photos that my sister Liane took that night that I might post later on when I have access to that file drive!

I know it's almost Thanksgiving and I am still posting Halloween pictures, but technically the party was in November so I'm really not THAT far behind... right?

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