20 Fall Dates

The weather was cold enough yesterday that I had to turn on the heater, and there was even a light dusting of snow on the highest mountaintops. I take this as a sign that fall is officially here! Now the trees need to hurry up and turn colors. Some of them have started, but not enough of them!

While I'm waiting for the leaves to start lookin' like fall leaves should, here are a list of things my hubby and I want to do together this season as the days get crisper and the season swings into full motion.

We hope to be able to get to most of these before the snow sets in (which hopefully won't be until November).

• Go to a pumpkin patch. I haven't been to one of these in ages, and it's always fun to pick out your own pumpkin!
• Carve pumpkins. We still haven't carved pumpkins together. What a shame.
• Make bucket-loads of pumpkin foods. We're talking bread, cookies, soups, donuts... yes, donuts! Keep those foods coming, baby! Okay now, no more pumpkin dates on this list, 3 is enough.
• Make a leaf pile and play in it. We had a spontaneous leaf war last autumn and it was so fun. Playing in leaves brings out my inner child and makes me feel super young again.
• Go on a scenic drive. There's nothing like a winding road, fall foliage, and some fun tunes playing in the background.
• Do a nearby hike or for a walk through a pretty part of town. We live right by a canyon that has some simple hiking trails, and if we drive North about 15 minutes there are some even better ones (Stewart Falls!)
• Visit an apple orchard. I don't know if there are any good apple orchards in the Provo area, but it's something I would love to do.
• Go on a "thermos picnic". For this one, all you need is several thermoses, your favorite soup, some nice, hot apple cider, and some warm blankets. Go sit in a scenic area and enjoy the fall weather.
• Go through a corn maze. The thing about me and corn mazes is that I cannot go through one without a flashlight in hand so I can sit there going "lumos" and "nox" as I pretend I'm in the 3rd task of the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts. Nerdy much? Ever since Katie Church and I did this years ago, it's been my go-to corn maze attitude.
• Make a graham cracker haunted house. You can make graham cracker gingerbread houses, so why not haunted houses? I think it's a super cute idea.
• Have a bonfire... or at least a miniature bonfire. In other words, a campfire. The great thing about living next to mountains is that there are plenty of little fire pits to go find. We'll make a party out of it. S'mores, anyone? And more hot apple cider, of course!
• "Boo" a family. Have you guys heard of this Halloween tradition? You print out an outline of a ghost and drop it off on someone's doorstep along with some treats. They have to put the ghost on their door so that others know that they've been "boo'd" and then they have to go "boo" a family... and it goes on and on until you see ghosts on doors all over the place. How fun!
• Go to a farmers market.  We have one right down the street from us, it would take less than 10 minutes to walk there. They have some great stuff over there, from what I hear.
• Have a fall photo shoot. We're still up in the air about how to go about doing this one. I want legit "professional" pictures because we haven't had a photo shoot since we got married, but Doug doesn't want to pay for it. Does anyone in the Provo area know of a good photographer with very reasonable pricing???
• Watch a sunset. This could go hand-in-hand with the thermos picnic date.
• Go stargazing. Last year, we drove up into Provo Canyon and cuddled up in a bunch of blankets out on a big open stretch of grass and gazed up at the stars. We did that the year before too... only we weren't dating yet, there were other people with us, and we weren't exactly cuddling, just lying side-by-side. Third time's a charm! Tradition!
• Have a spa night. Complete with massages, face masks, etc. It's gonna be good.
• Make a blanket fort and watch a movie. This could be particularly fun once it gets close to Halloween - you can put on your favorite scary movie (Haunting in Connecticut, anyone?) or a Halloween classic like Ghostbusters or Hocus Pocus! Turn the lights off, start feeling claustrophobic in your little blanket fort, and let yourself get scared!
• Go dancing. Sure, this is not exactly an "autumn-themed date" but it's something we want to do this fall. I'm really involved with ballroom and Doug is not, and so I've taught him some basics. We want to keep going!
• Visit a Haunted House. Classic, you guys. Classic. They just tend to be rather pricey... but I want to go to the Haunted Forrest in American Fork. I went there a couple years ago and enjoyed it, but we'll see if we actually end up doing this. As long as we go to that corn maze, then I'm okay with missing the haunted house!

Well, that's what we've got so far. There's more where that came from I'm sure, but 20 is enough for now and it will keep us busy for the next month!

Rainy days are here to stay. I get to wear my boots and sweaters. Next week my favorite month will start and I will finally feel justified in putting up my Halloween decorations. I am so very happy! I love you, autumn!