Jack-O-Lanturns

Jeff grew up here and we have been in this area almost 8 years now, and we never knew there was such a thing as a 'Pumpkin Walk'. And who knew it was so popular? We had some friends that told us about this fun activity the city was having and told us we should go. So Saturday at 8 PM (when the kids are tired and not so cooperative) we decided we would run over there. We thought it would be a quick walk around and see a few jack-o-lanterns. OH-NO. We had to stand in line for a half and hour or more just to get in and then it took like another half hour to walk around the park. There were sooo many people, and sooo many pumpkins. Our kids had a great time looking for their favorite characters like the 'Cars' characters and Diego and the Transformers. There were over 1200 carved pumpkins all done by neighborhood groups, youth groups, businesses and other volunteers. It was pretty fun. They had pumpkins carved out like Lightening McQueen and Mater being chased down the hill by a the big bull tractor pumpkin like in the movie. There were even some very detailed ones like these pictures. There were even pumpkins carved out like Joseph Smith and Gordon B. Hinckley, and they were very well done. It turned out to be so fun, even though it was a rocky start. Maybe we'll make a tradition out of this.
By the way, did you know that if you spray the inside of your pumpkin with Lysol it slows down the decaying process? And, if you cover it with petroleum jelly it protects the carving?

And a quick pumpkin cookie recipe...1 box of spice cake mix, 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin and choc chips, mix, bake at 325 for 14 min. and voila- cookie!

Just some fun little facts I learned while standing in line waiting to see the pumpkins!