My favorite season is Fall, followed by Winter, Summer, then Spring. To make life a little easier, I believe the official fall season should be September, October, and November. Winter should be December, January, and February. Spring should be March, April and May and Summer should be June, July and August. This cut and dry method would be easier to remember. Since, at least in my mind, the fall is wrapping up, here are ten of many fall family traditions:
Wabash Frisco Railroad – For the past three or four years, we have traveled over to Gray Summit, MO to take a ride on the Wabash Frisco Railroad. This miniature working steam engine train operates Sundays afternoons from May – October. Operated by volunteers who belong to a train club, the ride is nice and peaceful and it’s lots of fun. We usually stop for supper on the way home.
Transportation Museum – Groupon always comes out with a great deal for the Transportation Museum in St. Louis, MO. It’s a fun morning of walking through old trains, seeing old cars and taking another train ride.
Trunk or Treat at Troy UMC – For a few years, we have done Halloween at the church with Trunk or Treat. It’s been fun to be a part of the outreach. This year, my costume was to be extra tall. I built some stilts to make it happen.
Apple-butter Woodcutting Weekend – My family created a holiday many years ago. Instead of trying to get everyone together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, they created Applebutter Woodcutting Weekend, the third weekend of October. I’m the oldest of almost 30 grandchildren on that side of the family. And when everyone shows up to Granny’s house, there can be as many at 75 or 80 people, sometimes more. When I was little, we actually made applebutter and cut wood for the stoves in the cabin. Now, we just build a fire and visit while kids run around in the cold.
Price Farm Jamboree – The Price Farm Jamboree has been hosted every fall for more than a decade. It happens the first Sunday night after Labor Day in Rockbridge, IL. Different members of the family sing and play and the two hour concert is pretty well attended for being in the middle of no where. It’s always a party! This year, Ruby and Macy sang. Fruit Fruit Fruity One Small Voice Jambalaya
Camping Out – For the past few years, we have taken our tent to camp out for a night at my uncle’s farm. One night is enough for us. My two daughters mainly just like to build a fire, make popcorn, run in and out of the tent and cook hot dogs for supper. After we make it through the night sleeping in the tent, we wake up and make breakfast on the fire. It’s a always fun.
Family Trip – Each fall, we take a family trip of some kind. The past few years, we have tried to do an extended family trip (this year was to Gatlinburg, TN). Other times it’s just our immediate family. Some of the trips are with Harvest and some are just for fun. This fall, we were in Iowa, Kentucky, and Tennessee for various trips, ministry events and weekends.
Apple Orchard – We typically go to one of the area apple orchards at some point in the fall. We try to make different things – apple sauce being the main thing this year! Thanks, Aunt Joyce.
Campfires on the deck – When it begins to get dark earlier, we start creating little campfires out on our deck. Since we only stay out there for a short time, we’ve been using starter logs, which burn about 25 minutes. It’s the perfect amount of time before bedtime. It’s always fun to talk around the fire.
Setting up the Christmas Tree Sunday night after Thanksgiving, we set up our Christmas tree. We always make homemade pizza and get the decorations out. We also listen to Christmas music – actually, we’ve listened to the same album every year since the first year we were married.
What are your fall traditions?
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