Being an assistant to a pumpkin carver basically means you get the priviledge of scraping the inside of the pumpkin while the artist works on the details of the face. Our pumpkin this year weighed in at 264lbs before we started, so let me assure you, there were plenty of innards to be removed.

It was a fun event and a number of important lessons were learned that should come in handy the next time we get to carve a giant pumpkin. First, the walls are very thick. You simply can't scrape too much from the insides and you can't cut too deep on the face. Second, a 12" saw would have been useful in place of a straight-edge knife. Third, pick a design with bigger details.

All in all, we had a good time and we got a lot of nice compliments from the huge crowd in attendance regarding Michelle's design and carving. We're both looking forward to next year.