Welcome Fall: Our Family Fall Bucket List
From carving pumpkins to cozy sweaters.. there’s something for everyone to love about fall! In this house, we love the time spent together doing activities we each enjoy. This year we decided to come up with a “Fall Bucket List” as a way to make sure we get to do all the things we hope to this season! With this Indian Summer here in Illinois, the 90 degree days are making the cool fall temperatures even more appealing!
Fall officially starts today and so do the activities on our family’s Fall Bucket List! Check out what we will be up to for the next two months:
Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch
Our favorite local orchard also has a great pumpkin patch and play area for the kids! This year, we are going to try to get to pick apples before it’s too late and make a separate trip for pumpkins in October! Of all the fall activities, this is my favorite place to capture sweet family memories in photographs. This year will be extra special as we get to add our sweet little girl to these pictures as she celebrates her first pumpkin-filled season! Money saving tip: Check Groupon for discounts on admission to local farms!
Homemade Apple Pie and Pumpkin Muffins
Sure, you can make these two things year-round. And we usually do since I have a little bit of an addiction to buying organic canned pumpkin on sale… by the case full! But when the calendar says September or October, these somehow taste even better. We are lucky enough to have an amazing orchard locally that we can pick the apples and bring them home to bake with the same day. It doesn’t get much fresher than that! My grandma taught me the most important part of a pie is the crust. Wilton makes my favorite pans that have held up to many baking adventures in this house and still look brand new. We use this non-stick 9″ pie pan and love it! For our muffins, these silicone baking molds have been a game changer! No more buying paper/foil every time. No more losing half of your muffin stuck to the paper. You simply pop the mold into your muffin pan, add the batter and bake away! Added bonus, they come in a cute storage jar to reuse all year long for cupcakes, muffins or even bento lunchboxes!
Watch “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
You probably have seen this movie as a kid, but have you introduced it to your kids yet? It’s such a cute classic movie for the whole family to enjoy. We have this set of the Peanuts Holiday Collection so we have them to watch for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! My son in particular doesn’t mind if it’s the middle of July, he will still pick them to watch throughout the year.
Hot Chocolate and Pumpkin Donuts
We like to make hot chocolate at home so we can load it up with whipped cream, marshmallows or even caramel sauce! When the weather turns cool, this is a great treat to enjoy while snuggling up on the couch. In the next few weeks, we will also head to the local bakery to get pumpkin donuts as it has become tradition in our family.
Carve Pumpkins and Roast Seeds
My fondest memories of fall traditions are carving pumpkins and roasting seeds.. so it’s no wonder this has also become something our son looks forward to throughout the year. One year, we even grew our own giant pumpkins to carve! We have a tradition of going to the pumpkin patch in early October to each pick out a pumpkin to carve. When it’s closer to Halloween we will order a carving kit then make an evening of scooping out the seeds and roasting them while we carve funny faces into our pumpkins.
Gather Leaves for DIY Crafts
Crafts are so much more fun when you combine them with going on a walk to collect items you’ll need for the project. We plan to head to a few different local trails to pick up leaves, pine cones, branches and more. My Pinterest boards are loaded with ideas for fall crafts, decor, treats and more! Check them out to see some of the things we will be trying out this season. And if you haven’t already, follow me on Facebook to see which ones we try and how they turn out!
Fall Crafts and Activities
Fall Food and Drink
Train Ride at the Farm
We have a train enthusiast for a son that loves any excuse to go for a ride! It just so happens there are quite a few local places that have cute little train rides that take you around the farm. We will be trying out a few new ones this year!
Watch Football
For my husband, this is one of his favorite things about fall. He’s a big sports fan and loves to watch the Chicago Bears play. It’s tradition in our house to have the football game on television on Sundays this time of year. I didn’t grow up watching sports, but I do enjoy the sounds of the game filling the house!
Trick or Treat
As much as we don’t encourage eating candy and we have pretty strict rules with what our son is allowed to eat trick or treating is a fun activity for our family! He loves to dress up in a costume and go around the neighborhood meeting neighbors, seeing friends and checking out everyone’s costume. We allow him to have a few pieces of chocolate then we donate the rest of the candy.
Homemade Soup
When I met my husband, I knew he was a great cook! He continues to impress me with how he can throw dinner together and have something better than restaurant quality be the end result. One of my favorite things he makes is chicken noodle soup. It’s such a simple, comfort food that I look forward to him making all year. This year we will be able to use many of the fresh vegetable from our garden as well!
What are some of your favorite things to do during this time of year? Have you considered making a bucket list for your family this fall? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!
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