Every fall, my Instagram feed fills with people frolicking through aesthetically perfect pumpkin patches, along with ads for local haunted houses, fall fairsEvery fall, my Instagram feed fills with people frolicking through aesthetically perfect pumpkin patches, along with ads for local haunted houses, fall fairs and all the seasonal activities I immediately become convinced we absolutely must do. I get excited, make plans and then life gets in the way. By the end of October, I’ve made it to approximately zero of them.
This year will be different. My kids may be older, but fall still holds all the wonder and fanfare it did when they were little. I’m determined to make sure we all embrace a little of that autumn whimsy while we still can.
Here are 10 ways I plan to bring a little of that fall magic back this October.
1. Make One of Those TikTok Soups That Looks Unreasonably Good
My TikTok feed is filled with people making the most delicious soups I have ever seen. I yearn for them, but then I scroll on, forget they exist and end up eating the same meals I always eat. I remain tragically soupless in a world where that does not have to happen. I own a thermal cooker, an Instant Pot and multiple slow cookers. There is really no excuse for this.
Not this year, though. This year, I am going back through my saved videos, choosing one soup and actually making it. Will my kitchen remain spotless throughout the process? Absolutely not. But there will be soup, and it wasn’t spotless to begin with.
2. Visit a Farmers’ Market for the Ingredients
If I am going to make the soup, I might as well turn buying the ingredients into an actual fall activity. A farmers’ market makes purchasing onions feel charming in a way the grocery store simply cannot. I also get to plan an adorable outfit that perfectly captures the fall farmers’ market aesthetic.
I’ll buy beautiful local vegetables that will make me feel superior in the way only a 2000s hipster can, admire the baked goods and homemade aprons, and almost certainly come home with something I did not plan to buy. Will the soup end up costing as much as a nice dinner out? Probably. But we’ll have a fun fall memory, a new cheesy magnet and some baked goods, so a win is a win.
3. Go Apple Picking
Yes, buying apples at the grocery store would be cheaper, faster, warmer and significantly less muddy. But that is not the point.
Apple picking gives us an excuse to get outside and spend time together. It is also one of the only activities where we pay extra to do the work ourselves and call it family fun. Nothing captures the magic of fall quite like performing agricultural labor for leisure and then paying by the pound for everything we managed to harvest.
Will we end up with far too many apples? We absolutely will. But we’ll also take some cute photos, make a few memories and do something different together. Besides, an overflow of apples can only mean one thing.
We have to…
4. Make a Pie
I am not promising a pie with an elaborate woven crust that looks like it belongs in a baking competition, or even a crust that fully covers the entire top. I am promising apples, pastry and my best effort. I’m also going to cover it with whipped cream anyway.
The pie might be slightly uneven. The filling may escape from one side. We might end up eating it directly from the dish because the first slice refuses to come out intact. None of that matters. A warm apple pie with plenty of cinnamon is the perfect fall dessert, no matter how aesthetically pleasing it may or may not be.
5. Find a Corn Maze
Nothing strengthens a family bond quite like getting lost in a field and arguing over which direction you were supposed to turn. Corn mazes are like escape rooms, only somehow more claustrophobic and significantly itchier.
The kids are older now, which means they may be less impressed by the concept of wandering through corn. But add the possibility of getting genuinely lost, some competitive decision-making and a cider doughnut waiting at the end, and I think I can still convince them. If that fails, I’m not above bribing them with a trip to the mall afterward.
6. Visit a Haunted House
I love the idea of a haunted house right up until someone jumps out at me, at which point I immediately regret every choice that brought me there. And as a woman who has given birth twice, sometimes it’s my bladder that regrets my choice for me.
Still, October deserves at least one activity that raises my heart rate. What is spooky season without some real-life scares? While my bladder, and maybe my heart, may not be able to handle it, my kids love seeing me scared, and I’m happy to give them the ammo to tease me for the next decade of our lives if it means seeing them smile.
7. Take a Halloween-Decoration Drive
Some people put out a pumpkin and call it Halloween decorating. Other people fill their yards with 12-foot skeletons, elaborate graveyards and enough animatronics to run a small theme park. Those are the people whose houses I want to see.
My city publishes a list of the best-decorated houses every year. These are the people who actually buy those massive Halloween decorations they sell at Costco. While I always want to be one of them, my wallet and my life commitments do not allow it.
Instead, we’ll grab some hot beverages, hop in the car and admire the handiwork of all the Halloween-loving homeowners who are living my dream. Now that I have a kid with a license, I can finally give the displays my full attention without endangering everyone else on the road.
8. Take a Ridiculous Family Halloween Photo
Just because my kids are getting older does not mean I am ready to give up family Halloween photos. We do not even have to be together on Halloween to make it happen.
We could coordinate costumes, try the pumpkin-head photo trend or throw sheets over ourselves and become a family of ghosts. The kids may pretend the entire thing is embarrassing, but someday they will appreciate the photographic evidence that their mother forced everyone to be whimsical for 20 minutes. At minimum, it will give them something new to discuss with their future therapists.
9. Have a Scary-Movie Marathon
“Scary” is an extremely flexible term in our house. It could mean a genuinely frightening horror movie, a campy slasher or Hocus Pocus for the hundredth time.
The exact movies matter less than committing to the evening. We will turn off the lights, pile snacks on the coffee table and watch enough Halloween movies that getting up to use the bathroom alone begins to feel like a poor decision. Will it lead to heartburn and an inability to sleep, even after taking melatonin? Probably. But who needs sleep anyway?
10. Rake the Leaves Into a Pile and Jump In
Will jumping into a pile of leaves mean we have to rake them all over again? Yes. Is deliberately creating more yard work a sensible adult choice? No. Will that pile probably be full of bugs, resulting in a shower and my husband checking me over the way one gorilla grooms another? Absolutely.
But embracing fall whimsy means occasionally doing something unnecessary simply because it is fun. My kids may be taller now, and getting back out of the pile may require considerably more effort than it once did, but nobody is too old to jump into leaves.
October always seems to disappear just as I begin enjoying it. This year, I do not need every weekend to look like an autumn lifestyle advertisement. I just want to make room for a few experiences that remind us why fall once felt so magical.
If we make the soup, take the photos and jump into the leaves, I will consider the month a success. If we manage all 10, I expect some kind of commemorative plaque and a statue erected in my honor.
Need help choosing which movies to watch for your scary movie marathon? We’ve already rounded up the ’90s teen horror movies that still scare us.
