Until the last almost three years, we have been blessed to live in areas where we could easily experience the beauty of the Fall season. We love traditional Fall activities and want to share a few of our favorites with you. These activities are great for families of all ages and sizes from one to infinity. We hope you are inspired to get out there and explore!
Visiting a Farm
Visit a fun farm with lots of photo opportunities and kid-friendly activities. Kids love driving tractors, riding cow trains, and being measured to see how tall they have grown. Giant corn pits to play in are another popular activity at many farms. While a bit messy, it is still better than a sand box. Many of the farms you can visit may also have a hay ride that may take you to a field where you can pick a pumpkin. Usually, this is a good opportunity to rest your legs, grown ups!
2. Do a Corn Maze as a Family
We have experienced some fun mazes over the years, some more challenging than others. I recall one where we were "lost" for a couple of hours inside. Kids will love following the clues or answering riddles to find their way. Little ones will just love running through the corn stalks.
3. Pick out pumpkins at a pumpkin patch or roadside stand.
I love stacks and piles of big orange pumpkins. Don't forget to take some good pictures of the kiddos sitting in a big pile of pumpkins. One of our favorite pumpkin stands had a huge pumpkin "mountain" one year. The kids loved it!
4. Carve the Pumpkins
This may seem like a messy and "dangerous" activity for younger kids, but you can make it safe and fun for all. Let the smaller kids help clean out the pumpkin guts. They will love playing with the messy treasure inside. Our carvings over the years usually are picked by our kids. When we lived in Charlotte, we had big Carolina Panthers fans so my husband carved one into a pumpkin. I have carved Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. into a pumpkin.
5. Pumpkin Painting
Painting a pumpkin can be a messy but safer alternative to carving. Our kids have enjoyed painting their smaller pumpkins they usually get at the pumpkin patch.
6. Apple Picking
The North Carolina mountains are an excellent place to go apple picking. The town of Hendersonville south of Asheville becomes the apple picking capital during the Fall. I love to make homemade applesauce and apple pie. I love apple butter, but I have not attempted making that treat yet.
7. Jumpin' in the Leaves
I just love the joy on kids' faces when they are jumping into a big ol' pile of leaves. It kind of makes the work of raking the leaves a little more worthwhile.
8. Go on a Nature Hike and Scavenger Hunt
We loved these nature trails close to our old home in Charlotte, North Carolina. I made the kids a little Fall scavenger hunt with bags to collect their treasures. They also insist on using hiking sticks.
9. Go for a Leisurely Fall Drive
A drive through the countryside or in the mountains to see some gorgeous Fall colors is a must. A lazy Sunday afternoon is the perfect time for this activity.
10. Dress up for Halloween Once we started having more than one kid, dressing them in themed costumes was a must. Their first year, they were a pirate and parrot duo and another year, they were a policeman and his little prisoner. One of my favorite themes was Ghostbusters when my oldest was a ghostbuster and his little brother was the signature ghost. I handmade the ghost costume and the no symbol. After adding more kids, we started dressing as a family. I loved our Harry Potter year with Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Harry, a dementor, and cute little Dobby the Free Elf. Another favorite costume year was Pac-Man (we love the 80s) and I was a pregnant Mrs. Pac-Man with a little ghost in my "mouth." This one was definitely a fandom year when I made everyone dress like Doctor Who characters. My second son really wanted to be a Dalek so I made his costume. I was the Tardis, my third son was the Doctor, the baby was Baby Stormaggedon "Dark Lord of All", and my husband and oldest son were the other evil villains, the Silence and a Cyberman.
What do you enjoy doing in the Fall? What is your favorite season? Do you have any favorite costumes for Halloween? We would love to hear from you.
October had its fair share of good times and some sad times as we said goodbye to our beloved Grandpa. Our days were filled with a lot of outside adventures as we traveled more with two kids in sports and traveled to be with family. Sometimes, I really appreciate these more mundane memories that would get lost in time amidst the more impressive memories of vacationing and big life events. If not for my posts about these random moments, I would likely never remember them again. When I look back at such posts as these, I always smile fondly remembering what I have forgotten. I am so thankful that I can memorialize these memories for my future self if for no one else's pleasure.
We captured some family pictures as were dressed semi-nice for Grandpa's funeral visitation with family.
I love those boys!
Mattox's cute expressions get me every time.
Big brother Brody is his hero. He copies him picking flowers or doing anything Brody does these days.
Playing with big brother Evan is fun too.
These boys are learning to work together to accomplish some big tasks. They were spreading their blanket on the ground during big brother Brody's football practice.
These sweet boys are basically inseparable. They come as a pair.
We practiced our snorkeling with some special masks we received in our kids' meals.
Yes, we still enjoyed a random beach day because October can be the best month for it here. It is considerably less hot and less crowded than the summer months.
Just building sandcastles together.
Evan guards his sandcastle fortress from the tide.
Just a couple enjoying the beach together even with five kids playing nearby.
Grayson is a shoe thief.
Daddy watches Brody carefully while he practices his wave riding skills.
We love afternoons at the beach in the setting sun.
I love those little toes in the water. Mattox wanted to ride the boogie board too.
I just love the look of sea oats swaying in the ocean breeze.
All of the boys enjoyed this little firetruck while we waited for a store to open.
Grayson is such a cute little driver.
We were having a movie night at home, but I forget which one. I think we also picked up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the way home, but I didn't get pictures of those. We just can't resist that hot doughnuts now light.
I just love hanging out with these sweet boys. Grayson's smiles are the best!
Another rainy day in Georgia. I think Brody has soap bubbles on his face like a beard, but it is hard to see in these pictures. Haha!
Mattox got his hearing aid on this day. He acted like such a big boy and really wanted to wear it.
We took him to eat pizza at his favorite restaurant to celebrate. Grayson points at the pizza man on the wall.
We commemorated Mattox's big day getting his hearing aid.
We had parent teacher conferences at Brody's school, and the little kids loved this little fall pumpkin display.
Pumpkins are so exciting, you know!
Dinner out with all of our boys.
I wish the picture of Evan wasn't so dark because I love his big smile. He is so silly sometimes.
These two cute little boys practiced putting their baby to bed in preparation for their new baby's arrival. I just love pictures of my sleeping babies. I really see some similarities in Mattox's face here and mine and my brother's faces at that age. I always say he looks like Eddie so I am surprised to often see myself in him.
These silly boys were playing in this little shaded playground during one of big brother Evan's soccer games. It was such a hot day!
Mattox liked this little swing that was a very comfortable size for him. Grayson preferred playing in the dirt.
I really thought this little memorial to the people who died on September 11, 2001 was touching and very well done. This was in a very small, rural town in southern Georgia.
I was attempting a pregnancy selfie in the mirror as I was terrible about documenting my pregnancy with Maggie. I just didn't feel comfortable much of the time, but I do want her to know that Mommy loved carrying her. I also appreciated a good bubble bath then and cuddling with my baby boy in the bed. He gets as close as he can when he is sleepy.
All four boys eating breakfast together is rare these days.
My little pirate pumpkin. Grayson enjoyed playing in Grandma's yard during our visit. This yard hasn't changed much since Eddie's Grandma was alive. The house is now the primary residence of Eddie's mom.
Cocoa was enjoying playing with her brothers in the yard.
Just enjoying a seat on the front porch.
The boys love pretending to be pirates so they loved these little masks cutouts from a kids' meal. Big brother Brody made Mattox a little treasure box to hold his pirate treasure, and it is seriously one of his favorite toys. Almost a year later, he still has it and plays with it. I know it may seem like trash to most people, but I cannot bear to part with it because it really is so sweet how they play with it.
These boys and I rest and watch some Lego Scooby Doo adventures.
He's just so cute!
We voted as Georgia residents for the first time. I didn't do it the first year we were here because I didn't feel I knew the candidates well enough. I still left some blank if I didn't know them.
This purple dinosaur at a park somewhere in rural Georgia brought back some big memories of our time in Charlotte where almost every park had one of these. Our boys love it!
Grayson definitely loves dinosaurs.
I had to make a comparison to when Evan and Brody used to ride at about the same age.
Grayson is learning to play at the park like a big boy.
I made a big pot of homemade vegetable soup because what could be better in the Fall? Grayson is so silly and loves riding on his daddy like a horse and pretending to play on my computer.
In preparation for Halloween, I prepared a little comparison of all of our past Halloween costumes.
Of course, the first four belonged solely to Evan.
Brody wore two costumes his first Halloween, and in 2011 and 2013, we started doing themed costume sets.
I really loved the Ghostbusters, Harry Potter, Pac-Man, and Doctor Who themes we have done in previous years.
