Sunday, November 02, 2008

Have Pumpkins; Will Travel

Last Saturday, we went to a pumpkin carving party (I am referring to those orange things filled with seeds, not my daughter, Pumpkin). I reluctantly carved up two pumpkins, only to discover that it was kind of fun. I have no faith in my creative abilities, but after whining about the task for ten minutes or so, I got into it. I think I did a pretty good job too!

My daughter, Pumpkin, wasn't at all interested, but later in the week, she asked me to carve up the tiny pumpkin that we picked up on a school field trip, so the idea must have sunk in at some point. Those jack-o-lanterns sat in my flower planters for the week, and were relocated to my mom's place on Friday since her's was the neighbourhood where we did our trick-or-treating. My street has only a few houses on it, and is a bit of a secret from the rest of the world, so it isn't a good area for all things Halloween. My brother actually had to argue with a cab driver about the location of my house as the cabbie was certain that there were no houses where my brother was telling him to go. Anyhow, trick-or-treating in Ma's neighbourhood was a hit once again. Pumpkin was dressed as a poodle, Chichi was stuffed in a sling, and Hubby and I took them out for some good, ol' fashioned begging. It is kind of rare that we ever do anything as a family of four, but I really enjoy it when we do. I am still amazed at how much candy one can get when one travels with cute children. As an added bonus, in true Pumpkin fashion, she has already moved onto the next activity and has forgotten about her candy.

Speaking of the next activity, on Saturday we packed up the jack-o-lanterns and headed to Kingston for a wedding. The wedding was on a farm, and the bride and groom used the jack-o-lanterns as decorations. This was not the kind of wedding that required a professional florist. We were outside for the entire time (read: cold!!!), and with the campfire, potluck, and meat on a spit, the wedding had more of a cook-out type of feel to it. I can't say that the suckling pig was my cup of tea, but neither would you if you had seen last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy. We ate in the barn, which was also where the ceremony was held. As a cool aside, out of the dozens of jack-o-lanterns that furnished the ramp leading into the barn, two of the six that were chosen to adorn the altar were mine! I was so proud. Anyhow, although this was the strangest wedding I had ever been to, I thought it was very cool, and absolutely perfect for the bride, who has always been like a sister to me. The bride, let's call her JoJo, has never been one for following convention. The day had to be a relaxed event for her, which it totally was. Hours before the ceremony, she was wearing cargo pants, a hoodie, a blue Paddington Bear style hat, and was hangin' out with all the guest. She didn't have jitters. She wasn't worried about caterers, or anything like that. There was some order to the whole event, but they didn't follow the schedule perfectly, and didn't care. Children ran around, Pumpkin included, and added to the excitement. We sat on bales of hay during the ceremony, which was delayed due to the bride just not being ready to march yet. The music had already played, the groom was waiting, as were all the guests. I was starting to wonder if we had a runaway bride on our hands, but no one else seemed worried, and after 15 minutes or so, the music played yet again, and this time there was a bridal party to march to it. At one point, I had to drag Pumpkin out of the ceremony 'cause she wouldn't stop shouting. It was already passed her bedtime, and delirium was starting to set in, so I can't fault her too much. Nonetheless, we were able to re-join the service before that whole kissing of the bride thing that they do. Congrats to you both, JoJo and BoBo! We're so happy for you.

Anyhow, lots of driving and Pumpkin wrangling have rendered me extremely tired today. The end of daylight savings hasn't helped much either. For those of you with small children, was this not the longest day ever????

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like my kind of wedding...

actually I thought because of the time change Sam would go to bed earlier...but no it seems later!

Run ANC said...

YES, this WAS the longest day ever. Just when I thought it was over, we had another hour to go. And now I am done.

karengreeners said...

I think that sounds like an awesome wedding. This was a long day for us, but fun too; it was my mum's birthday and the whole fam was here until after 9 (which of course felt like 10). The kids handled it really well, and as I am knackered, it's bed for me too!

Whirlwind said...

Sounds like it was a fabulous wedding!

The pumpkins look great!

Chantal said...

It WAS the longest day ever. Of course I had the bright idea to start some baking at 8pm and it didn't finish till 11pm (midnight in pre-time change) and I was so exhausted.

That wedding sounds kinda cool!

Barrie said...

You are a pumpkin-carving star! I went to a wedding once at Pioneer Village. It was rustic, but the wedding you attended definitely takes the cake. Get it? Wedding cake? Okay. Bad pun. Time for my tea!

Anonymous said...

It's Tuesday and STILL the longest day ever!! LOL! Just wanted to say those are awfully cute pumpkins!

petite gourmand said...

those are awesome pumpkins- nice job.

kittenpie said...

That sounds like a cool wedding. And you are not the founder of the sisterhood of the traveling pumpkins.

Anonymous said...

What happens when you post months after the fact? Will you ever know?

Thank you Tania. Thank you for coming all that way to sit in the cold. Thank you for bringing Pumpkin to our wedding (especially as I suspect at times during the day you wished you hadn't) - how could Pumpkin not have been at our wedding? Thank you for bringing your Awesome pumpkins for our 'altar'. & Thank you for posting a description of the wedding - I'm keeping it always.