Pumpkin Fest 2009

The wait is finally over! I know you've all been glued to your computers since Saturday wondering about our pumpkin and the Fest. "Did they win?" "How much does it weigh?" "What is it decorated like?" "I simply must see more pictures of those adorable Wardle kids!" These are all thoughts that have been running through your head for days now, and I am ready to present you with the answers you've been seeking! Feast your eyes on this:


Jason's 4 loves all together in one picture: his three wonderful children and his big giant skull-faced pumpkin. It's not the best pic of my kids, but I figured it would give you an idea of how big this sucker is. This was taken just before Jason and his brothers loaded the big guy into the back of Scott's truck to haul to the Pumpkin Fest, where several bales of hay were waiting to display our treasure.


Don't be afraid. It's just a 275.5 pound pumpkin painted to look like a giant skull. It won't hurt you, unless it rolls off our porch and squashes you, of course. I'm thinking that more than one little trick-or-treater is going to run screaming from our house after being greeted by that thing on Halloween. I can't wait!


He looks a little menacing compared to Alayna's princess pumpkin and Isaac's fisherman pumpkin, don't you think?


After much business getting Alayna the Princes all prettied up, Isaac the Mummy all wrapped up, and Eli the Frog shoved into his little costume, we made it to the Pumpkin Fest. We actually had to wait our turn to get our kid's picture in front of our own pumpkin as there were so many other people taking pictures with it!


Eli was cheering, I think. He's really happy about wearing googly eyes and a tongue on top of his head.

Or, maybe not so happy to be wearing stuff on his head. It really bothered him at first, but after about an hour, he got used to it.

So now we come to the part about the Pumpkin awards.

Alayna's princess pumpkin didn't win anything for her age group, which prompted a 20 minute sobfest on her part. We have very competative children and they don't take kindly to loosing, so it was very sad. She didn't win last year, either, but next year we are going to paint a pumpkin so fierce, those judges will have no choice but to award her a gold metal! But I digress...

When it came time for Isaac's age group, I was very nervous indeed. I already had one child sobbing into my thigh and one child trying repeatedly to rip his costume off his head, I didn't need any more drama. First place was called, and it wasn't Isaac. Second place was called, and it wasn't Isaac. There was a slight pause by the judges and my little boy was standing right below the stage wringing his little bandaged hands in anticipation. Third place went to....Isaac Wardle! Thank heavens! He ran up onto the stage like a bullet from a gun!


This is him posing on the stage for some pictures. He looks a little stiff. I'm guessing I wrapped him a bit too tight.

Jason's skull pumpkin won first place in the 18 and over category, which wasn't really a shock. There were only two entries. But it was definitely the best decorated pumpkin there, for sure.

The only other pumpkin that could compare was the other pumpkin Scott and Jason grew. The big one. The great pumpkin. The one that weighed a whopping 392.5 pounds! Yep, they boys succeeded in growing a nearly 400 pounder this year, but I forgot to take a picture of it! They used that one for a "Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin" contest, and I didn't take a picture! Silly me. But, if you go to Scott and Tammy's blog, I think you can see it there.

And now, the costume contest:

Hayden, Alayna, and Alyssa in the 2-3 year old age group. They looked fab, but didn't win.
Isaac in the 4-5 age group. He looked great, but didn't win. He did get candy, though, as you can see.
After all the contests and games and whatnot, Alayna and Eli sat down to relax and have some candy. Eli had already finished his so he decided to go after hers. He succeeded, too. If you can't tell, they are a theme: the Princess and the Frog. Cute, huh?

And this is the best shot of all the cousins I could get. We are still missing the big boys in this picture, but this is most of the kids. Alayna's best cousin friend, Alyssa, had a mini birthday party on the grass after the Fest, so they all got cupcakes to go along with their popcorn, cotton candy, and Pixie Stix. Thanks Kristin! No really, it was fun. Happy Birthday, Alyssa!


And this is us making our exit after stopping to look at our prize winning pumpkin one more time. Eli was very much done, as you can tell by the fact that he's punching the air with his little baby fist. Isaac was almost completely unravelled by this point of the night and had grass stains and hot chocolate stains on his wrappings, which he had been dragging on the ground behind him for some time. Alayna still looked beautiful, though!

It was perfect weather, perfect crowd size, lots of good fun. We did have to miss our ward party and trunk-or-treat, but I'm pretty sure there weren't any gold metals at the ward party, so the kids didn't mind. Now, only like 362 days until next Fest!