Halloween Pumpkin Carving and candy prep for Disney

What a beautiful October day here in Florida! It sunny and warm, which is the perfect weather to be outside and carving Halloween pumpkins! And look who is here! Uncle Jacob! We've been carving pumpkins with him for years and he's out here in Florida nearby so he can come carve pumpkins with us! 

And when I say we've been carving pumpkins with Jacob for a while, I mean it! Here's a photo of us carving pumpkins together in California from 2012! 

This year, the kids are getting a bit more independence with their own carvings. Tracing their patterns onto the pumpkins and even using sharp metal tools to cut and carve... 

Many of us are just going to take the top layer of skin off the pumpkin, giving a two-toned appearance. Ian however needs 3 tones for his, so he's carving all the way through it. That means he needs to take out all the pumpkin guts! An ice cream scooper works surprisingly well for taking all the stringy bits off the inside of the pumpkin. 

And despite lessons in knife safety about always cutting away from you and not using a lot of pressure, we still had a small mishap. Just a light nick. Nothing some neosporin and a bandaid can't take care of. The lesson was heard, but now it's been learned about knife safety. 

Pumpkins complete! Alli adores Pikachu! Her pumpkin is a tribute to Pikachu! Ian has a Pokeball which will look great when it is lit up at night. 

Theresa has spent her year focusing on fitness and weightlifting. She is paying tribute to her new gym here in Florida. She's a powerhouse. 

What did Jacob carve this year? Well, Jacob has had a big change this year and is making a big move! He has bought a 5th wheel RV and just became a Full-Time RVer a few weeks ago! His pumpkin is the logo for his new Brinkley RV! 

And just like we have named our RV and truck (Beauty and Beast), Jacob has also named his. His truck is named Thor, which pulls around Asgard (RV)! 

For my pumpkin, I've carved silhouettes of both Hercules and Hades. I'm usually wearing some tribute to my favorite Disney movie every day, so it's appropriate. 

And zooming in for a little detail, I kept the silhouettes smooth, except for Hades' hair, which has a little texture to look like flames. 

Excellent job pumpkin carvers! 

For dinner together, Theresa and I made homemade Chinese food. Sweet and Sour chicken from me, with homemade sauce and fried chicken. I loved the recipe for the sauce this time with the Rice Vinegar. Theresa made a mushroom and broccoli chicken dish, which was tasty, but not as pretty. She also said she has a few changes she'd make to the recipe, so no need to post it here. 

All that to give us energy to lead into the final part of our evening. Last year on Halloween, the kids went to Disney World at Magic Kingdom and did some reverse trick-or-treating. They gave out 375+ bags of candy to Disney Cast Members as a way to say thank you for making all our Disney days magical. 

This year we've got a whole bunch of candy ready to do the same thing! But first they need to go in bags!

Everyone got into a different position for a job. 

So much candy! The inside of the RV smelled like chocolate. 

And we certainly didn't HAVE to, but it does look much prettier when all the candy labels are facing the same side and the candy bars are lined up, doesn't it. 

Halloween is going to be a super fun day, handing all this out to Cast Members!

The kids did a scavenger hunt around the RV for us to find homemade decorations. When they were done, we put them all together. 

And we mentioned how Alli loves Pikachu. There might only be one thing she loves more. Pikachu in costumes! Pokemon Go has an AR (Augmented Reality) feature that lets you see Pokemon through the camera! Alli holding a dressed up Halloween Pikachu!

...which just so happens to match the plush Halloween Pikachu Ian bought her in Japan!

We're all set to have an awesome Halloween!