There is something about the first hint of fall that makes me want to slow everything down.
I haven’t experienced that first truly cool fall morning yet in this year’s Georgia heat. It’s currently 90 degrees outside while I’m writing this.
And yet, something in the air is telling me fall is coming.
It’s hard to explain. Maybe there really is the slightest fall breeze in the morning. Maybe the air smells a little different. Or maybe I’ve simply decided that fall needs to hurry up and get here so ordinary things can start feeling a little more special again.
I love the idea of a fall bucket list, but I don’t want one that leaves me feeling like we need to squeeze fifty activities into a few short months.
I want the kind we can actually enjoy.
A few bigger outings. A few traditions we already love. And plenty of small things that happen right at home on an otherwise ordinary Saturday.
So this year, this is the kind of fall I’m hoping for.
1. Visit a Pumpkin Patch
This one probably makes every fall bucket list, but for good reason.
We love picking out pumpkins, but we also usually get a few partly because I want the seeds.
I scoop them out, clean them, season them, and bake them until they’re crisp. There is something about the smell of pumpkin seeds roasting in the kitchen that immediately makes the house feel like fall.
I’ll add my simple baked pumpkin seed recipe here soon.
I just need this Georgia weather to cooperate long enough for me to actually go buy a pumpkin first.
2. Have a Slow Fall Morning at Home
Not every fall memory needs tickets or reservations.
One cool Saturday morning, I want to leave the pajamas on a little longer, make pancakes or waffles, open the windows if the weather allows, and let the morning take its time.
Sometimes those are the days I remember most.
3. Bake Something That Makes the Whole House Smell Like Fall
Apple bread. Pumpkin muffins. Cinnamon rolls. Cookies.
Honestly, I don’t even care what it is.
Part of fall is having something baking in the oven while everyone keeps wandering into the kitchen asking when it will be ready.
Preferably without destroying the oven this time.
4. Go Apple Picking
Apple picking is already one of our fall traditions.
Every year we go, and the kids absolutely love it. We somehow always come home with more apples than we realistically need, which means I spend the next several days turning them into whatever I can think of.
Apple pie. Apple butter. Something baked. Something new I suddenly decide to try because there are still twenty apples sitting on the counter.
Honestly, that is part of the tradition too.
5. Make the First Pot of Chili
I have to admit that I am probably the biggest chili fan in our house.
I make it so often that I already have several different kinds of chili in my recipe book.
It has always been one of my favorite meals when the weather outside is stormy or gloomy, but in the fall it somehow hits differently.
The smell of chili filling the house while it’s cool outside makes everything feel warmer and cozier.
That first real fall pot of chili is one of those little things that makes the season feel official.
6. Take an Evening Walk When the Leaves Start Changing
No destination.
No planned activity.
Just go outside after dinner and walk.
Let the kids collect leaves, notice which houses already have Halloween decorations up, and enjoy that little stretch of weather when it isn’t too hot and isn’t freezing yet.
7. Have a Fall Movie Night
Blankets on the couch. Popcorn. Something sweet.
Everyone gets comfortable, we pick a movie, and for once nobody needs to be anywhere.
The older my kids get, the more I realize these simple nights at home are traditions too.
8. Decorate the House Together
Putting out the fall decorations is one of those simple things that makes the season feel like it has officially arrived.
The kids can help choose where things go, we can bring out the pumpkins and fall colors, and suddenly the house feels a little warmer and cozier than it did the day before.
It doesn’t have to be complicated.
It’s really just about creating that little feeling of fall at home.
9. Visit a Fall Festival
One local fall festival is enough for me.
Give us pumpkins, food trucks, music, something for the kids to do, and preferably weather cool enough that we’re not sweating while pretending it’s fall.
10. Make Caramel Apples
Will they probably be messy?
Yes. Will the caramel somehow end up everywhere except the apple?
Also yes.
But that is probably half the fun.
11. Have a Backyard Fire Night
When the evenings finally cool down, I want one night outside with a fire, blankets, and marshmallows.
Nothing elaborate.
Just sitting together long enough for everyone to smell like campfire smoke afterward.
12. Let the Kids Pick Their Own Pumpkins to Carve or Paint
I have learned that children’s ideas about the perfect pumpkin and mine are rarely the same.
So this year, everyone gets to choose their own.
Crooked, tiny, enormous, strangely shaped — whatever they fall in love with.
13. Take the Fall Photos
I love having pictures from our family days.
The pumpkin patch, apple picking, a pretty fall walk, the kids holding pumpkins they chose themselves — these are the kinds of pictures I know I’ll be happy to have years from now.
14. Buy One Ridiculously Fall Drink
Actually, I have a confession to make.
I love fall. I love pumpkins. I will happily buy pumpkin-spice room fragrance, light a candle, decorate with pumpkins, and eat an unreasonable amount of roasted pumpkin seeds.
But put pumpkin in my latte or dessert?
Apparently that is where I draw the line.
I am sure pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin desserts are absolutely delicious. I have no evidence suggesting otherwise because, much like a stubborn little child, I tend to decide I don’t like them before I’ve even properly tried them.
A little ironic, considering how enthusiastically I welcome pumpkin season into every other part of my life.
So maybe this fall, instead of ordering my usual safe choice, I’ll finally try one ridiculously fall drink.
Maybe.
No promises.
15. Have a Rainy Fall Afternoon With Nowhere to Go
This might be the one I’m secretly hoping for most.
Rain outside. Lamps on inside. Something baking or cooking. Everyone home.
Books, movies, games, naps — whatever the day turns into.
No productivity required.
16. Make One New Fall Tradition
I don’t know what ours will be yet.
Maybe a certain meal we make every October. Maybe an annual fall movie night. Maybe visiting the same pumpkin patch. Maybe something completely accidental that the kids ask to do again next year.
Some of the best family traditions aren’t planned as traditions.
They simply happen once, everyone loves them, and suddenly we keep doing them.
17. Let Some Fall Days Be Completely Ordinary
This might be the most important thing on my list.
There will be school mornings and laundry piles and grocery trips and evenings when nobody wants what I made for dinner.
Fall doesn’t suddenly make ordinary family life disappear.
And maybe that’s exactly the point.
We don’t need every weekend packed with activities to have a beautiful season.
Sometimes fall is a pumpkin patch.
Sometimes it’s an apple picking.
And sometimes it’s opening the windows on a cool morning, drinking something warm while the kids are still in pajamas, and realizing that this ordinary day feels pretty good exactly as it is.
That’s the kind of fall I’m hoping for.
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