The McDonald Clan » Pumpkins

2011 Engraved Pumpkins

Mike — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:02:51 +0000

Our engraved pumpkins turned out really nice this year. About a month before Halloween we went to Rutiz Farms to engrave still green pumpkins. We chose the pumpkin that we liked and then used a ball point pen to scratch the surface of the pumpkin skin. Then as it matured the scratch hardened and turned a brown color. We really enjoyed our pumpkins and we plan on making this a tradition in our household. Disclaimer: These photos were taken a while after Halloween and that is why they are looking kind of old. They were in great shape when we picked them up.

This is our family pumpkin:

This is Dylan’s Pumpkin:

And this is how Aubri’s turned out:

We made this one for the baby before we knew what little Daphni was going to be:

Please click here to view these photos in our gallery.

Raspberry picking and Pumpkin Engraving

momitomi — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:47:06 +0000

Today we headed out to Rutiz Farms in Arroyo Grande. We saw when we went pumpkin picking last year that they also do pumpkin engraving. This year the time frame to engrave the pumpkins was really short, only one week. They said it was due to a cooler summer so it was maturing the pumpkins faster. I thought it would be fun to head out there and engrave a couple of pumpkins and see how they turn out. We did one for Dylan, one for Aubri, one for our Family and one for the new baby. Here are our pumpkins.

Dylan Jack 2011

Aubri Idelle

Baby McDonald 2011

The McDonald Clan 2011

After pumpkin engraving, we decided it would be nice to pick some fresh raspberries. We ended up picking three baskets full, and they were delicious. I was a little worried how the kids would do picking the berries since they are so fragile, but they did great Both the kids wanted to snack on some of the berries on the way home so they each held their basket. Before we had even made it down the road, Dylan informed me that he finished his entire basket and he wanted to make sure that I would share mine with him. We are planning on heading back to pick some more berries this week if there is still picking available. To see more photos from this day, please click here.

Aubri filling up her basket

Dylan working on his basket

Full Basket

Aubri with her berries

Pumpkin Carving

momitomi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:32:12 +0000

On Halloween morning we decided to carve our pumpkins so they would be ready to be put out for decoration on Halloween night. It took a little while before Dylan warmed up to the idea of sticking his hands inside the pumpkin to pull out the guts, but after he realized it wasn’t going to hurt him he seemed to have fun cleaning out his pumpkin. Aubri on the other hand never seemed to get the hang of cleaning her pumpkin out and she preferred for someone else to do it for her.

Dylan really wanted to carve a “face” on his so that it would look like a Jack-o-Lantern. He gave it his best shot of trying to carve it on his own, but really the knife just ended up going up and down in one spot. He didn’t seem to realize that he wasn’t doing any carving though and really had a good time. Mike ended up finishing carving his face for him and he just pulled out the pieces as Mike cut them free. Aubri chose the cat for her pumpkin to be carved into, and I think they both ended up turning out great. Dylan couldn’t wait to get to put the candle in his so that it would light up. He was quite proud of his pumpkin and pointed out all of the pumpkins that had a face like his while we were out trick-or-treating. The next day Grams roasted up all of the pumpkin seeds with a little bit of garlic and everyone thinks they are delicious. Click here to see more pick of the kids carving pumpkins.

First pumpkins of the season.

Mike — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:42:14 +0000

Tomi, Dylan and Aubri went to the Avila valley Barn to check out the animals, feed a couple of them and most likely grab some ice cream, which is so good there. They were not counting on encountering the first crop of pumpkins to be available. They had a ton out and were expecting more the following weekend. This is THE place in the county to get your pumpkins so they have a ton. It wasn’t even October yet so it was a little early to be buying our big carving pumpkins but Tomi let the kids each pick out a small one to take home.

Of course Dylan picked out the smallest one, because he is weird like that. And Aubri got a real nice perfectly round one. These were some of the most perfect pumpkins I have ever seen. Usually the little ones are all weird shapes but I guess it pays to beat the crowd. They had their pick of the litter.

They will be going back for more this weekend because Dylan says that he wants to bring a pumpkin to all the kids in his preschool class. I feel sorry for Tomi because he can be so picky it might take awhile to pick out the 10 or so pumpkins he will need. A new post will be coming when they get their carving pumpkins, with pictures of their creations.