Fall. Autumn. Otoño. The season when leaves change and the air becomes crisp. When kids head back to school. When "holiday season," the goodness and the craziness of it begins. When the days get shorter and the pumpkin spice lattes sell like hotcakes.
I have friends who love Fall. Embrace the early morning fog, the onset of rain, the crisp air, the transition and buildup to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many of them reference the feeling of new beginnings, the warm memories of family, the relief from the heat and dryness of summer. I have friends who dread Fall. The end of the warm weather, the lazy summer nights, the fresh produce from the garden.
We have a complicated relationship, Fall and I. I am somewhere in the middle of my Fall-loving friends and my Fall-dreading friends. I love Fall running, and the colors in Oregon are really beautiful. I also look forward the the holidays, but I am not a cold weather or rainy weather loving person. I'm just not. I don't like the dark, cold, long and dreary days that seem to drag on forever. By the time Spring rolls around, I've been ready for it since mid-January. I love the new beginning of a new class of students, but the push from Day 1 until Thanksgiving is really really hard work. Not that the rest of the year is easy, but those first months are busier and require more energy because it's worth the hard work at the beginning to make the rest of the year smoother.
But I'm trying to embrace Fall. I'm getting into it, and starting with a tradition that I really do love, and one that I'm expanding upon with my own little family. Going to the farm for harvest time. I used to take my preschoolers to the pumpkin patch every year for a field trip, and I really loved it. The animals, the Fall produce, and of course, seeing little ones (try to) carry giant pumpkins in their little arms. So I decided to start that with Olivia last year. She was only 3 weeks old, but we headed out to Thistledown to take some family photos. Here's a picture from last year:
It was at least 80 degrees, and Olivia slept the whole time. But it was a really fun experience, and I loved that we had some family photos among beautiful Oregon scenery. Rob was there too, and my sister and dad came along to help.
This year, I had been seeing so many posts from friends taking their under-5's out to Detering Orchard, which we'd never been to before. So this morning, I called up my sister and invited her to come with Olivia and I to "test drive" Detering while Rob was golfing with his buddies. We can always go back again, right? Today was their "Apple Days" celebration, and we are sold! Detering is the place to be, folks! Here are some photos from today...
 |
| I'm always amazed by how big cows are. Maybe that's dumb, but it's true. And we could have reached out to touch these ones they were so close! |
 |
| Olivia wasn't sure about the cows. |
 |
| There was this one very small but very beautiful chicken there who was hanging out right by us. |
 |
| The goats were super cute, but not feeling very social today. |
 |
| Well, of course we had to play in the water feature! |
 |
| Runny nose be damned, Olivia was having a great time! The pumpkins were so big compared to her! |
 |
| Apples and pears for days |
 |
| "I want this one... and this one... and this one..." |
 |
| Our little "Pick of the Patch!" |
 |
| Thanks, Auntie Sarah, for coming with us! |
 |
| A little bigger than last year! |
 |
| Chewing on the lens cap. Nice. |
Bottom line, today we had a lovely time, and I got excited about Fall. I got out our fall decorations and set them out (up as high as possible, so we're a little underdecorated this year...), and I'm ready to settle in to this season. One step at a time.
I'm still glad the weather is still warm. :)
