pumpkin moonshines

One of my kids' favorite books to read during the month of October is Pumpkin Moonshine. The Tasha Tudor classic is beloved almost as much as the season.  I think it's usually the first book that sees action when the autumn book basket appears.  

Likewise, one of the favorite activities of this season is making our own pumpkin moonshines. Unfortunately, this month is typically very busy for us with 2 birthdays and our anniversary.  Last weekend, we threw in a camping trip too.  And we found ourselves, over the weekend, mere days from Halloween, with no pumpkin moonshines.

Even though Finn was the only little guy around this weekend, as our other kids were with their other parents, we tackled the annual pumpkin moonshines.

Finn's favorite part, of course, was the seed and pulp removal.  In fact, he happily played in the bowl of seed goop for the better part of an hour while daddy carved the large pumpkins.

He attempted carving his own pumpkin with "triangle eyes, a triangle nose, and a 'big grinning mouth with horrid, crooked teeth'".  (He borrowed the mouth description from the book.) Finn quickly realized how tough those pumpkin walls can be!

No matter!  Daddy helped him with the "horrid, crooked teeth".  Soon our kitchen table looked like this: a whole family of pumpkin moonshines!

We impatiently waited for the darkness to descend, lighting them at least an hour before sunset.

Eventually the chilly darkness fell and we ran out to the driveway in our sock feet to take a quick peek before dashing back for the warmth of the house.

We didn't wait "to see how terrified the passers by would be", but I'm quite certain they were.