Fall
has always been my favorite time of year. As a kid it was mostly due to the
fact that I have an October birthday. That is still a reason that I love fall,
but now I love it for more than that. As I watch my kids explore this glorious
season, I am taken back to days of my youth. Here are the top 10 things
that I make sure we do, as a family, every fall.
1. Nature Walks
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| Our
kids on the suspension bridge at Zo-El Annett Woods. |
We love nature walks all times of
the year, but the changes that occur in the fall are the most amazing to
observe. Changing leaves. Decaying foliage. Walnuts. Acorns. Hedge apples.
Animals preparing for the upcoming winter. Cooler weather. All
of this combined makes for a great educational experience...bonus the kids
don't even realize they are learning. They just think they are getting out of
the house to run & explore. Sometimes we do scavenger hunts for different
elements, but mostly we just explore in a completely unstructured
manner. Nothing compares to watching your kids rejoice in the Lord's
creation that is this wonderful world in which we are blessed to be part
of.
2. Leaves
This one has two parts. The first part is raking the leaves in your yard and is not as much fun as the second part will be. This is hard work, but make sure that your kids help with this chore, so that they can take more joy in the second part of this fall activity. The second part is jumping into the piles of leaves. Please, please, please take part in this with your kids. Just as it is important for you kids to appreciate the hard work that goes into raking up all of the leaves, it is even more important that you relish in the joy of play after hard work. Trust me, you will not be sorry that you joined in on the fun....and your kids will think that they have the coolest parents ever!
3. Small Town Friday Night Lights
The first time that my husband
suggested that we go to the local football game on a Friday night, I
didn't understand. I had at least 30 other things that I would rather do than
go watch a high school football game...after all, I'm not a 17 year old
anymore. But once we got to the game, it all started to come together. There
were people at the game that I hadn't seen or talked to in years and it was
great catching up with them. The kids had friends that had also come to the
game with their parents, and they were excited to get the chance to
run and play with them. The energy was electrifying. By the time the
second play of the game was in progress, I found myself yelling and
screaming...just as I did as a 17 year old. Then I looked at my husband and was
taken back to him as the varsity quarterback, myself as the stat girl, and the
undeniable chemistry between us. Attending this one game helped me remember that
no matter how rough life gets at times, we still have each other and an amazing
bound between us. I would have never guessed that spending a Friday evening at
the football field would yield in catching up with old friends, our kids having
fun with their friends, and myself falling for my husband all over again!
4. Bonfires
The cool crisp fall air, the
glow of the fire, the crunchy exterior & chewy interior of the perfectly
roasted marshmallow, all add up to the perfect fall evening with family. Throw
in some hotdogs and hot cocoa and you have magic! At least once during
September and once in October (I try for more, but sometimes it just doesn't
happen) we ask the kids to help pick up any sticks that have fallen off the
trees into the yard. It is miraculous how great of a job they do at cleaning up
the yard debris when there is the reward of a bonfire once the chore is
completed. Just as with the leaves, this teaches the kids that their hard work
has positive consequences, and it reminds us adults of the power of play after
hard work.
5. Fall Decorating
As I walk through the stores, I
notice an array of fall decorations that are beautiful. However, not one of
these can even be compared to the impressive decorations that my kids create to
decorate our home. Pumpkins and black cats made out of construction paper, bats
made from egg cartons, witches with felt hats, and ghosts made from cheesecloth
are just a few of the astonishing decorations that adorn our humble abode every
fall. We have tried scouring Pinterest for ideas, and we have let the kids run
wild with their imaginations. And while all of the décor is creative and a
product of our kids' enjoyment, I personally love the things that come straight
from their imaginations. These pieces didn't come with instructions or even a
picture of the finished product, besides the image that our child had in their
head.
6. DIY
Haunted House
Whether it is the garage, the
basement, or just one room of the house, letting you kids runs wild with the
ideas of things that frighten them, and they believe will frighten
you, will be wildly entertaining. My husband and I sit and laugh as we overhear
the whispers of the kids as they secretly plan out how to scare us when we
enter their haunted "house." We know that there will undoubtedly be a
child hiding under a pile of stuffed animals, another in a closet of behind a
door, and one that will, for sure, jump out screaming way louder than
necessary. For the most part we know what to expect, but other
times we are surprised by their ingenuity as we see a toy rat go across
the floor tied to the top of a remote control car. It doesn't matter if we are
surprised or not, we are "scared" by every part of their creation.
And we relish in knowing that all four kids worked together to complete a
project that they fantasized all on their own.
7. Pumpkin Patches & Corn Mazes
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| Our kids enjoying the hay bales at The Harvest Barn pumpkin patch & corn maze. |
No fall would be complete without a
trip to the local pumpkin patch & corn maze. with zip lines, hay bales,
mini golf, feeding the goats, seed corn to play in, corn stalks to get lost in
the middle of, picking out the perfect pumpkin, sampling homemade fudge &
locally made beef sticks, and smelling the hand-dipped candles, there is
something for everyone in the family at most pumpkin patches and corn mazes.
I'm not sure if my husband or my kids have more fun on the zip lines, and I am
fairly certain that my competitive nature gets the best of me as we partake in
mini golf. After hours of family fun and a good 15 minutes of picking hay off
of the kids and getting corn out of their shoes and socks, we are all wiped and
fully exhausted, but we would never ever imagine not engaging in this fall
favorite!
8. Pumpkin Decorating and Carving
Now that we have the perfect
pumpkins picked out, we get to begin the decorating and carving stage. We give
the kids the choice of painting their pumpkins or carving them...I think they
only chose to paint once and later ended up carving out their paintings. This
is another activity in which the whole family loves being a part of. The
younger ones draw their design on the pumpkins, and an adult cuts out the
design exactly how it is drawn...even if it doesn't make for a clear picture of
anything. We have tried many fun ways of carving over the years, and the older
kids have decided that using a metal cookie cutter & hammer is way more fun
than using any knives that come in the pumpkin carving kits. We have also come
to the conclusion that using glow sticks instead of candles adds a completely
creepy aspect to our jack-o-lanterns.
9. Pumpkin Seeds
Before you throw out the seeds that
you just removed from those pumpkins, STOP! Try your best to remove the seeds
from the rest of the "pumpkin guts" and put the seeds into a bowl of
water to rinse them off. Once rinsed, soak the seeds in salt water for 8 hours,
I like to do this step overnight. Next, pat the seeds dry,
season, and bake 12-15 minutes at 350. We have 3 family favorites for ways
to flavor the seeds before baking them. My personal fav is to just sprinkle the
seeds with salt and bake. My husband likes them best when we coat the
seeds in a concoction of Worcestershire sauce and seasoned
salt before baking. And the kids' favorite is to coat the seeds in a
cinnamon and sugar mixture before baking. These are for the perfect on the go
snack as we go on our nature hikes.
10. Trick-or-Treating
Every
year I try to help the kids pick out the perfect costume and come up with the
best joke, and every year all four kids pick a different costume, than what mom
thought was best, and make up their own jokes...not all of which make sense.
But in the end, seeing the kids dressed up going door to door telling their
jokes takes me right back to being 8 years old and my own trick-or-treating
experiences. I may laugh harder at their jokes than I probably should, and I
definitely smile more than necessary as I watch them trade candy with each
other at the end of the night, but I do all of this because I know how
important these memories will someday be to them.
It is hard to believe that all of
these have remained family favorites over the years, and it is even harder to
believe that these activities now hold greater meaning to me every fall than my
birthday does. As a child, all I could do was wish for the fall days to go
quickly until my birthday at the end of October, yet as an adult, I wish for
the days of fall to slow down and allow me more fall family days!
