Sunday, October 17, 2010

Pumpkin Party Pictures

What a fun night Friday turned out to be!

Annabelle and her BFF, Allie Claire, hosted the party we’d all been counting down for! We had the invitations designed by the Etsy store, “Chickabug”, and I think they turned out so cute!

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Our little Pumpkins got to run wild and free (followed closely by Grammy, Granny and Aunt Nen before the party started and while Carrie and I were finishing up last minute things…) pumpkin1

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When the guests arrived, they were welcomed to the Lodge by two big “pumpkins”… DSC_0692 Annabelle’s Pappy painted two hay bales orange for us, and 30 minutes before the party started, I was down at the end of the drive way painting on the faces! Nothing like last minute! Ha… The pumpkins turned out so cute, and I so wanted to move them in front of our house, but they hay plus these cows means only one thing…and it wouldn’t end well for the hay.

 

We had so much fun planning and setting up for the party. I think the orange streamers, lanterns, and candy corn trees gave the party the “kid” feel we were going for… 

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We made the candy corn trees using old paint cans (thankfully, Carrie just painted a house, so she had plenty to use)…then I cut some branches and spray painted them black. We stuck them in styrofoam and packed newspaper around them to make them stand up straight and topped them off with candy corn. The kids LOVED being able to sneak candy corn! I’m not so sure the mommas appreciated it very much! Ha…

DSC_3412 We had pumpkins everywhere… even hanging in the trees!

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Carrie even found a pumpkin piñata…DSC_3444

The food table was as a “fall-ish” buffet of chili, hotdogs, and baked potatoes with all the toppings…DSC_3410

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AB’s Daddy & Pop (my Dad) firing up the grill…

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The dessert table was filled to the brim with yummy kid-friendly goodies…DSC_0800

Our guests started to arrive and we were so happy to have them! We had over 50 people…Mommas, Daddies, and even some grandparents were on hand to have some fun! Of course Allie & Annabelle invited theirs! Here’s AB with her Grammy, Pop, Pappy & Granny after the party. DSC_3515

 

We’d planned a few things for the kids, including the corn trough. We did this for our family reunion a couple weeks ago, and the kids loved it. It was a hit at the pumpkin party, too! From the oldest to the youngest, everyone enjoyed playing in it…DSC_3464 DSC_3472

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We’d also planned a hayride. The hayride banner that Carrie did was one of my favorite things at the party! DSCN2164 Uncle Adam drove for us, and Pappy called up the buffalo really close to the trailer so the kids could get a good look at them! The cutest was when Ryleigh (aka “Cowgirl Jessie” from Toy Story) wanted to know if we could get a pink “buckalo”…) ha…

We had so many kids that we split the hay ride up into two groups. Here’s the first group heading out…DSC_3488

and the second group loading up…

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Thanks, Uncle Adam for driving! You always make everything fun! DSC_0745

(I had to steal this picture from Aunt Nen because it was too sweet!)

When the hay ride was over, it was time to get down to business…pumpkin carving business! 

We had each family (that wanted to) bring a pumpkin and knives for carving…

First they started at the “Guttin’ Table”… we’d covered both the “Guttin’ and Carvin’” tables with newspaper to keep things a little less messy.DSC_0724

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Things got serious over at the Carving table…DSC_3439

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Some of the finished pumpkins lined up waiting for the judging…

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The “judges” (my older niece and nephew), chose one family to win for the best carved pumpkin. The McKenzie’s scored a gift card to Dairy Queen. The judges also chose a costume contest winner. They couldn’t chose just ONE, and since we’d only gotten one prize for the costume winner (also a DQ gift card), I had to call for back-up… I hit AB’s Pop and Pappy up for some cash. Everybody knows that Grandaddy’s always have cash on hand, and are more than willing to shell out a little bit when their darling Granddaughter is in need for some! :)  All of the kids were so precious in their costumes, but the judges picked Ella & Audrey (The Dalmatians), Braley (The Scarecrow) and Gus (the mexican) as the winners.

Nobody left the party empty handed though… AB and AC sent all their friends home with goody bags…DSC_3432

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We attempted to get a big group photo of all the kids (and some of the mommas keeping them together), but it was pretty much impossible! ha…DSC_0806

We called this the “First Annual” pumpkin party, and even put it on everything from the water DSC_0796 to the goody bags in hopes that we have started a tradition.

After the fun we had on Friday night, I’m pretty sure we have!

~amw~

15 comments:

Surrounded-By-Boys said...

We had a great time at the pumpkin party!!!! Boys have talked about it all weekend! Thank you for inviting us!

Julianne Hendrickson said...

So much fun! I love the water bottle labels--how did you do that? The centerpieces were adorable as well.

Danielle said...

Oh, it was such a GREAT time!! Thanks again for having us! We can't wait to come back next year!! :)

SaraBeth said...

You girls did an AWESOME job at planning the pumpkin party. I have to say that I love Chickabug. I have used them several times!!! So glad everyone had a great time.

Mallory said...

Move over Martha Stewart! You girls blew her out of the water! How precious, looks like such a fun time!!!

Crystal said...

We had a great time too, you girls did an awesome job of getting all that together! Can't wait till next year!

Immeasurably More Mama said...

I'm thinking y'all should go into the party planning business! I loved every single detail but the hayride banner was one of my favorites too! :) and I'm pretty sure D's love language is a trough filled with corn! Ha! Thanks again for inviting our family!

Tania said...

Looks like you all had a fun time. Enjoyed looking at all the pictures. Everyone was so cute in their costumes. You and Carrie did a great job.

Stephanie said...

We had a GREAT time thanks for inviting us! We are DEFINATELY looking forward to next year!

Aleta Kaylee said...

I am so impressed with all the decorations and all. You and Carrie...I mean Allie and AB did a great job :) It looks like the kids had a blast. Those girls were sure cute. And I loved the dinosaur costume. Too cute.

Sarah said...

What a great party!! You did such a wonderful job. Looks like everyone had a time to remember!

The Marino Family said...

We had such a wonderful time!! Thanks again for inviting us and we look forward to next year!!

Carrie said...

It was a fun party! I can't wait for next year. Allie is still talking about the pun-kins and all the playing in the "can-y corn!"

annalee said...

i've wished we were real life friends before, but oh how i wished it all over again when looking at each of these pictures! fabulous party!

Seizing My Day said...

Wow... What a wonderful annual party idea!! You guys went all out... love it!! esp. loved the painted bales of hay!! too fun!