Why kids make Autumn fun.

I have always disliked Fall.  Why?  Mostly because, where I grew up, Autumn was short and the end of it meant the beginning of a long, long Winter ... which I disliked even more.  I am a perpetually cold person who wears a sweater or jacket until the temperature is at least 75F (about 24C).  Even in the Summer, when the weather should be great, I still have to bring a sweater when I go to a restaurant because people jack up the air conditioning so high that it gives me goose bumps.  Anyway, Winter means long months of always having goose bumps, shivering and short hours of daylight.  Fall just means the anticipation of that, so you can see why it hasn't been really up there in my favourite times of the year.  Well, since moving a little further south, I have found that Autumn is actually tolerable because it stretches out long enough to savour the colour changes and the temperature usually takes a little longer to drop into the "brrrr zone" (except for this year!)  I also love to look out over the hills, bluffs, and valleys and see the sea of reds, yellows, oranges and greens and have my breath taken away.  It is then that I appreciate the beautiful area we live in.  (I wish I had a picture that could do it justice)

Since having children, Fall has taken on a new meaning for me.  Children seem to find something to enjoy in each new season.  Instead of complaining about the cold like their mother, my kids have found the beauty in the season.  To them, Autumn is all about pumpkins, going on leaf walks to collect leaves (which of course we HAVE to keep!), picking out apples, drinking apple cider and making (and eating) caramel apples.  For the kids, a day spent at an apple orchard or the apple market trying apple samples, eating salted peanuts, and drinking root beer is an exciting day. 

 

Perhaps that's why, this year, our adventures took us to a new place: a pumpkin patch. 

We have usually gotten our yearly pumpkin delivered to us by Grandpa Rob and Grandma Carol, who love to grow them for the grandkids.  However, they weren't able to make it to see us this Fall, so we decided to take a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch and pick our own.  The kids had a lot of fun looking at all the pumpkins and gourds, but what really captured their attention were the things that show off their true natures.  For Kaitlyn, is was the goats, turkeys and bunnies that she got to look at and pet (as well as getting to chat away to the owner).  For Ethan, there was no question that "driving" their tractor and truck creations was the coolest part of the adventure.

I think it might just be possible that we've found another Autumn tradition.  Maybe this time of year isn't so bad afterall!  (Although Kaitlyn was freezing, like her mother, after about 5 minutes there ... it's possible that she and I might move south for the winter.  ;-p)