Fall Bucket List

Since we have a little less than a week until the start of Fall (September 22!) I thought I would put together a little Fall Bucket List of activities that I am oh so excited for! So, let's get rollin' with some sweater wearin', pumpkin eaten' activities! 

1. The Pumpkin Patch of course! We went to Hunt Club Farms here in Virginia Beach last weekend to try out the Petting Zoo. We've gone there for years for pumpkins and mums and their haunted hay rides, but it was so fun getting to see our toddling guy wander over to goats and laugh his little butt off when they ate feed out of his hand. I can't wait to have him help us pick out some colorful pumpkins and mums for our favorite decorations! I really love the green and pink speckled pumpkins and the itsy bitsy ones, too cute! 

2. Find an Apple Orchard, pick our own snacks. Much to my happiness, Ryker has been an apple slice fiend lately. Heck, he took an entire apple out of my lunch box a few weeks ago, sat down on the kitchen floor and ate 75% of the thing, just chomping away! He probably would have eaten it all, but him and Sam (our Bernese Mountain Dog) have some "I take a bite, you take a bite" thing going on and Ryker fed him the last portion of the apple like a good friend. I've been warned about dogs and apple seeds, gotta keep an eye out for that. But, I digress....I really want to go pick some apples! Luckily, my good friend Google gave me information on a couple of farms and orchards up in Williamsburg that offer all sorts of fun and I can't wait to take them up on it!

3. Burn, Baby, Burn! A.K.A., use our fire pit. I don't remember when we bought our fire pit, sometime in the last year or so, but I do know that we haven't used it nearly enough, maybe like three or four times? I'm hoping that maybe Ryker is old enough to sit on our laps and hang out, or maybe I will just move his high chair outside so he can hang out, or better yet- we'll put him to bed and then light up the fire pit with our Apple Pie Moonshine and Apple Cider, yum! 

4. Hike ALL the hikes. Some people look forward to summer for activity. Our family, with two outrageously hairy mountain dogs and a husband that would be happy as an eskimo, need Fall and Winter to roll around to be caught outside being active. I love the colder seasons for outdoor runs, hiking at First Landing and other state parks and just being outside in general. I'm a sweatshirt and leg gins kind of girl, if I don't want to sweat that means I need cool weather! We've got First Landing routes down to a science, now it's time to start investigating a few other parks. We tried one new one last year, I say we try at least two new parks this year! 

5. Camp, like with a toddler...I mean it! I know my husband is rolling his eyes at this one because the idea of sharing a tent with our toddler sounds insane, but I have faith that if my good friend Lauren can get their adorable little guy to do it, we can too! There are a few campsites on the beach that are within 15 minutes of home, so worst case scenario we come home! I vote yes on this one, I'll let you know for sure if it ever ends up happening. Even I think its a relatively bad idea, but one I want to attempt. 

6. Farmer's Market. Another outdoor activity that just hasn't happened and I'm hoping we will be able to pull ourselves out of the house before the close up shop in November. There is one near one of our favorite breakfast spots, maybe that will help our success. I've been to the Farmer's Market in Santa Barbara, when I was in college there, and it was AMAZING. 

7. Find costumes for the Wicked 10k. This is the last year that I get to run the Wicked 10k, since we are planning to move out of the area next year, so I really want to run it in costume with Ryker in his stroller. I started looking online and found a really cute set of Miss Piggy and Kermit, I'm so excited to get all dressed up with him! Now to find Vic a costume too...

8. Make so many pots of pumpkin, bacon chili. I promise to post the recipe, it is SO good. Posting a recipe really just means that I'll have to pay attention to what I do with it, because I basically throw some random spices in with two cans of pumpkin puree, ground beef, chopped bacon and two tablespoons or so of bacon grease and some spinach. Oh man, it is amazing. I usually make a giant pot at the beginning of the week and then take it for lunch forever. 

9. Scary movie marathon. Every year, there are a few movies that Vic insists on watching: Silence of the Lambs and the associated movies and one year he got me to agree to watch Paranormal Activity. Worst. Idea. Ever. I was terrified for weeks and this was when he was still in the Navy and would have to leave me home alone. The Silence of the Lambs doesn't bother me, but I'm thinking that this year I get to use Ryker as a reason to add in some of the more kid friendly Halloween movies! 

10. And finally....carve pumpkins! We've never actually gotten around to carving our pumpkins, even though we have all the necessary carving stuff! So, this year I am excited to do that and maybe let Ryker make a huge mess of pulling the pumpkin cuts out and maybe I'll even roast some pumpkin seeds!