Destinations

It’s officially fall, yall! Or autumn, if you prefer. This is by far my favorite season, which is kind of odd because I’m cold natured. The colors of the leaves on the trees are gorgeous and the cool, crisp air is so refreshing. When we lived in a house with lots of trees in the yard, we had more than our share of leaf piles to jump into (and rake – ugh) this time of year! Just thinking about sharing a warm cup of apple cider or green tea on the porch while curled up in a chair all wrapped up in my favorite sweater has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. Our oldest daughter still loves pumpkin spice lattes, but has really been into chai tea lattes lately. All of these give you that warm cozy feeling reminiscent of autumn. Fall = Family I find that during this time of year we all seem to naturally draw closer to each other as a family. I don’t know if it’s holiday season kickoff, cold weather, warm drinks, or coma-inducing food, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Why not take advantage of this naturally occuring time of closeness by having some outings as a family? I share 5 of our favorites below: 1. Visiting a local farm’s pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins. This is probably our number 1 fall activity that we do without fail every year. Some of us go for a good ol’ orange pumpkin and some of us go for those pretty white ones. Most times the white ones are gone before we get out there, but if we walk around long enough we find one that’s just right. We take them home and carve or decorate them together. The years we have a toddler, it’s always fun to see their reactions when we pull the guts out of the pumpkins. I wish I had a picture to show you! It’s super fun and doesn’t require a lot of planning. We’ve made it a family tradition that we all get excited for. 2. Wander around a corn maze (but don’t get lost!) So, we’ve been to a few corn mazes and they are tons of fun! This is probably one of the more common fall activities. Once we visited a farm that had multiple mazes: one for adults, one for families, and a really tiny one for small kids who were brave enough. We found it’s a great way to work on your sense of direction! We have yet to get lost in a corn maze, but I have personally been terrified in a haunted corn maze! That’s not one I’d recommend for small kids obviously, but it makes for a great date night. 3. Going to an Apple or Harvest Festival or go apple picking. When we lived in Western Pennsylvania, there was literally an annual apple festival around the corner from our house! They sold all kinds of apples, fresh ground flours, and had craft and food vendors as well. The local library had activities for kids and there was a petting zoo and pony rides. One of the coolest things about this festival is the 1907 antique apple press that they run just once a year to fresh press the cider on site! It is such a sight to see and the cider was delicious. I might have been more impressed than our kids! We have yet to truly go apple picking – fingers crossed it’ll be soon! I’m so excited to do this and I KNOW the family will enjoy it because they all love apples! 4. Go on a camping trip. We personally think that camping is the best during the fall season. If you’re camping in the forest, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to hike and take in the fall foliage. Depending on the location and elevation of the campground, it can be near perfect temperatures during the day. I prefer that over summer time when it can be sweltering outside and inside your tent. The evening temperatures are great for getting out a cozy sweater to sit around the fire. We’ve done this to much the kids race each other to gather twigs and pinecones. Dad starts up the fire teaching them as he builds it. We have hot chocolate and roast marshmallows for s’mores. You could even tell a scary story or two if your bunch can handle it! Find tips for first-time family camping here. 5. Take a drive just to look at the beautiful leaves. Some call it leaf-peeping, but I find it just plain relaxing. It’s amazing the range of colors that you can witness in nature. The yellows, oranges, reds, and browns can be so vibrant. Some of the ultimate locations for this are in the northern New England or upper Mid-West areas of the U.S. and areas of Canada. Really it’s very humbling to see trees change with the seasons. Leaves fall in autumn so new growth can burst through in the spring. It’s symbolic for our boys’ birthdays, both in the fall, and reminds me that they are changing and growing. We usually find that while we’re in the presence of all the natural beauty our minds have time to wander and conversations with our kids just flow. “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” F. Scott Fitzgerald When you see the leaves changing color and falling remember just how fast your kids are growing. That all these moments you are spending with them are a gift to your whole family. These memories are priceless. Does your family have a fall tradition? We’d love to hear about it below!