We take pumpkin carving seriously...

Last year, Steve and I went pumpkin picking at a farm near Princeton. Unfortunately, we picked our pumpkin in the rain. It was okay though; we got a good pumpkin and carved a coyote howling at the moon. It was quite a fun experience. This year, we decided to pick a pumpkin from a more local area, as in, a near-by garden center. We got a bigger pumpkin for maybe the same price. However, it rained again, so now its tradition. Next year, we can't pick our pumpkin UNLESS it rains. If we have a drought, we're screwed, no pumpkin haha. Anyway, after many hours of sketching and debating about the design, drawing it out over the course of a few days, we finally settled on something that was to our liking.

We were finally able to open the pumpkin up and clean out the insides. Thus begins 8 1/2 hours of cleaning, pin-holing, magic-marker-outlining, carving and painting with vaseline so it will keep longer.


Had we known how long our design would take us, we would have settled for the easier and more messy design of "vomitting pumpkin."


Perhaps I will plant a garden next year and we will be able to pick pumpkins in the rain at my house.


We took a copy of our design, and poked pinholes into the skin of the pumpkin.


Steve went over it in black marker showing the parts of skin we should carve off.


Just as we are getting started. You can't tell what it is yet can you? I did that on purpose, mwah-hahaha!


What could it be? A horse's head?


A spooky ghost?


Ooh, getting closer...


Voila! In case anyone is wondering, it is a boy. Legend has it that there is no such thing as a female Phoenix.