After such a long wait through the hellish heat of Summer we finally made it to Fall. Here in the South, Summer is a time where you hide indoors and only venture out for bread and milk. The heat will bake you and the humidity will choke your lungs if you try to move around outside. But now that the intense heat has broken and we’re just running in the low 90’s, our world is reawakening. Fall is calling with colors, food, and outside fun. It’s my favorite time of the year!
Like almost everyone, I made a to do list.
First up are the Fall shows. I like my shows to be geared for 5-year-olds, my husband HATES kids shows, and I have an 18 year old and a 12 year old, so these plans span a large range.
First Up:
Curious George Boo Fest
Room on The Broom
Spookley The Square Pumpkin
(I may have already watched all 3 of these, a few times.)
Then we move on to,
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Disney 1949 Short, Which can be found in the Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad)
Hocus Pocus 1 & 2
Practical Magic
Garfield’s Halloween Adventure (Many of my random sayings come from this special)
It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! (A Classic of course)
Over the Garden Wall (Being a Mom of kids I am not a big fan but my daughter loves it!)
Funny Farm (I don’t see this one pop up much on peoples fall lists but for me it goes. It’s about a couple who move to the country only to find out it’s NOT like a Norman Rockwell Painting)
Crimson Peak (This is a new one for me that I just watched this year. It is much darker and gorier than anything I usually go for but Jessica Chastain plays her character so beautifully that I ended up loving it.)
Books:
Spookley the Square Pumpkin (of course) by Joe Troiano
Room on the Broom (of course) by Julia Donaldson
Black Cat Creeping by Teddy Slater (One of my favorites and now holds a special place since we do have a Black Cat.)
Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh ( this is a set of 3 middle grade books that were just creepy enough for me.)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Did you know there really was a Hessian Mercenary who was decapitated near Sleepy Hollow during the Revolutionary War?)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (I have never read this before. Which is crazy since I have an English degree and had to read everything! I picked a copy up at Goodwill and my daughter says it’s a must.)
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky (We bought this last year sometime and never read it but I thought it would go along well with Frankenstein.)
To Do:
Decorating- I have already decorated for Fall but will likely redecorate for Halloween. The cemetery is already up in the front yard and just needs a few additional touches.
Go To a Haunted House- So, usually this would be “go to a pumpkin patch” but pumpkins don’t grow well here due to the heat, and it was very hot and very dry this year. Plus, the kids have grown out of it, at least for now. I did hear about a haunted house that says it’s for ages 5 and up so maybe it won’t make me pee my pants or have nightmares? The rest of the family has given this a thumbs up instead of a pumpkin patch.
Go to Fall Fest- There is a Civil War era church nearby that still stands and has a congregation. Every year they put on a big Fall fest. They open the original church and cemetery up to tours, have a church bazaar (yard sale), and make amazing jellies and breads. They also have a petting zoo, music, and craft fair. It has become tradition for me, my daughter, and my mother-in-law to go. We always have such a good time!
I know a lot of people do baking. We bake a lot year round and wait to really go all out till it cools off more around Thanksgiving.
What all is on your Fall to do list? What traditions have changed for you as your family has changed?
