Fall has arrived in Michigan and it’s spectacular.
The leaves are turning, the air is crisp, and there are pumpkins, corn stalks, and cider mills galore.
I was thinking how fall was a great time of year when my kids were little. Their schools always had a field trip to an apple orchard where the kids ran around, ate apples or donuts and usually came home with a pumpkin or two. I recall as a family that we spent weekend afternoons at any of the multiple orchards nearby, tasting cider and exploring corn mazes.
Fall with little kids was fun!
But then it struck me that it’s just as fun–perhaps even more fun!–now that my kids are young adults.
Here are 6 reasons why fall is fun with my big kids.
Apple picking
Goodness we don’t HAVE to pick apples anymore, aka run around in fields and pick and pay for way more apples than we’ll ever eat.
Or worry about how many apples my kids picked up off the ground vs. from the tree.
Now my big kids and I like to point at the apples we want in a bushel at the cider mill store. Apples that someone else picked. We watch peacefully as they hand us our bag of glorious fruit. That’s my kind of apple picking!
Cider drinking & donut eating
Where we live, the wasps arrive anytime you take a sip of apple cider outdoors. Or bite into a delicious cider mill donut.
When my kids were little, this usually resulted in at least one of them freaking out. To be honest, I think they took turns.
Nowadays my big kids are more chill. Or if they do freak out, they save themselves vs. expecting me to save them. Ahhh.
Corn maze fun
I enjoyed taking my kids through a corn maze when they were little. Mostly.
Inevitably someone was mentally done with the maze about half way through, meaning there was negotiation and pleading to keep going. And I definitely remember a few ornery years when my middle schoolers wanted to scare and toss corn kernels at each other during the entire maze.
But with big kids some years we don’t even go through a corn maze. Or if we do, it’s pleasurable, especially since there’s more than one person who has an inkling where we are in the maze and how to get out!
Pumpkin picking
When they were little, my kids usually wanted to hugest, most perfect pumpkin they could find. And they wanted to check EVERY SINGLE pumpkin in a massive, beautiful Michigan pumpkin patch until they found it.
Fast forward to today when my daughter and I have a favorite local farmer who has a pumpkin stand outside his house. We pull up, stuff some cash in a box, and leave with lots of pumpkins with which to decorate our porch.
Tailgating
When they were little, my children got the squirmies when we expected them to hang out under a tent eating snacks for hours before a football game.
Excuse me, but who doesn’t want to hang around eating snacks for hours?
Well, now my big kids want to. And since my oldest is legal, we can now share our enjoyment of adult beverages with him before the big game.
Leaf raking
This fall activity is pretty obvious why it’s more fun with big kids.
When they were little, my kids “helped” rake the leaves. Which meant they spent five minutes raking leaves into a pile and sixty minutes playing in the pile, all while their father and I raked copious amounts to the street for pickup.
As big kids, well, it’s many hands make light work. So grab a rake, kids. When we’re done, we’ll go grab some cider and apples.
There it is, 6 reasons why fall is fun with my big kids. What about you? Any fall traditions you enjoy with your big or little kids?
