Fall....the Best Season of All

As I've gotten older I find my seasonal preferences shifting from fun in the sun to crisp fall days.

My favorite season when I was younger was summer by far.   I craved hot summer days.  I would lather up with Hawaiian Tropic Oil ,lay out back on a lounger and bask in the golden sun. 

Nowadays that same sun causes me to cringe in fear.  Somehow in the last few years the sun has become my enemy.  The heat and humidity effect my body in ways I still don't understand.  It dehydrates me, makes my body weak and shaky and blackness closes in.  So now I'm extremely careful going out to enjoy a summer's day.

However, fall is cool and filled with beautiful ever changing colors.  I love experiencing these changes with my family.

We enjoy walking and taking in the breathtaking reds, oranges and yellows surrounding us.

I love the smell of leaves burning.  I love staring into the dancing flames.  It's invigorating.

We have our fall traditions.  We start with apple pucking in late September.  Then we decorate the house inside and out for fall.  Finally we head to a local farm to pick out pumpkins.  We drink hot apple cider and eat dense apple cider donuts.  We trail through hay and corn mazes.  We take hayrides into the pumpkin fields.

After all the pumpkin field fun we take our pumpkins home to carve.  Carving is so much fun.  The kids deliberate on how to proceed.  Will they go free style?  Use a stencil?  Or use the plastic cut out pieces to pierce the pumpkin skin, trace and then cut the shapes out?

Then Halloween arrives.  The kids dress up and excitedly run door to door for Halloween goodies before hitting the wall of exhaustion.  We finish the night off at our local ice cream stand.  Halloween night is their final hoorah before shutting down for the season.  Free ice cream for all!

Before I know it October is over and Thanksgiving is on its way.  Before long it'll be winter.

Winter...please hold off as long as you can.  I want to enjoy the crisp fall days before they turn brutally cold.

First Day of School Traditions

Today I sent my kiddos off to their first day of school.  Fourth grade for Goalieboy and Second grade for Little Bee.  Oh how hard it was.  For me that is, not them.  Somehow I made it through.  The ritualistic school morning sibling arguments helped some.  It drove me a little nuts but made it so I didn't get all teary eyed.  The bickering is part of the tradition here. *laughing*

Tradition #1....Backpacks packed up and placed by their bedroom doors.

Tradition #2...New outfits layed out ready to wear.

Tradition #3...Special bedtime story together. Normally we do a first day of school book but this year it was a chapter in Little Bee's Little House on the Praire book.

Tradition #4...Mommy wakes up early and prepares a special hot breakfast for the big day Today it was homemade chocolate chip waffles. I was too tired from lack of sleep to take pictures.

Tradition #5...First day of school pictures and LOTS of them!  I always include certain poses with the backpacks. Indoors and outdoors. The rain spoiled most of the outdoor pictures. *Wahhhh!!! And I forgot to take pictures of the lunchboxes with the backpacks!  Always a tradition.  I'll rectify that oversight later.

I held back tears as we walked to school.  there they are off.  This is always a bitter sweet day for me.  It's hard to let them go.  I wish summer could last forever (but without all the nasty heat and humidity!).

Tradition #6....Didn't happen this year.  The school wouldn't let parents into the building when I arrived.  I've ALWAYS taken a picture of them sitting at their new desk the first day of school.  I love saying "Hi" to their new teachers.  Not this year.  By no rhyme or reason I couldn't go in.  This happened to some of my mom friends last year and I was so upset for them.  This year it happened to me. I found out later that some parents made it in and others didn't.  I want to cry.  The only good that came of it was that I didn't get teary eyed while they were getting settled in, since I couldn't see it. But I'm still hurt and upset at the insensitivity of the school and their lack of communication.  Either parents are allowed or they're not...no picking and chosing.  It's just not right.

And now I wait for the time where I head to school to pick them up.  I know they'll be excited chatterboxes.  What they thought of their teachers, who is in their class, what they did their first day and so much more.  I'm excited to hear it all.

What are your first day of school traditions?