“Hal, don’t blink or you’ll miss it.”

“Mom, how long do I have to keep my eyes open for?”

“Just a little longer, girlie.” Fall is a wing season in Minnesota, flanking our two longest seasons—winter and summer. If you blink, you just might miss it.

Last year, 4 years into parenting and too many years into adulthood, I decided it was time to start keeping a calendar. We were missing the best chunks of the year, like Fall, from poor planning. So I designed my own calendar, started the week with Monday because Saturday and Sunday belong together, and added a spot at the top of the calendar to keep track of a monthly bucket list. You can get yours here.

A bucket list doesn’t have to be all that extravagant or costly. It’s just a reminder not to miss the best things of the month. It’s also a reminder of how to fill those precious two days at the end of the week when your brain is fried and can’t muster up another idea. It’s like meal-planning for your weekends. Because if you blink, you’ll miss it. Or, in my case, if you don’t write it down, it will never happen.

Here’s a couple glimpses of our Fall Bucket List in action with a full list below, you know, for me to reference next year. I hope your fall is warm and cozy with shades of orange, red, and yellow, and sips of spiced pumpkin.

Fall Bucket List

• Go on a fall walk. Fill a bag with leaves. Find all colors of the rainbow. (Hal’s stipulation).
• Make a wreath with the leaves. (The back of a paper plate + a hot glue gun works best.)
• Drink a pumpkin latte.
• Go apple picking. (And then make applesauce.)
• Buy pumpkins and decorate the front porch. (We skip the pumpkin patch and shop for the best prices and colors around town. Costco for XL pumpkins and Trader Joe’s for colorful/fairytale pumpkins. If squirrels are a problem where you live too, try spraying the pumpkins with cooking oil and sprinkling with cayenne pepper. Knock on wood, it’s working so far this year.)
• Buy beautiful, edible winter squash to decorate the table. (When the time is right, turn squash into dinner.)
• Carve a pumpkin just before Halloween.
• Have a bonfire in the backyard, or 10. Roast marshmallows. (We like this brand, sold at Whole Foods.) And tell ghost stories. (Kev tells communal ghost stories, where someone starts the story and passes it on. Somehow our stories always end with a fluffy kitten.)
• Make baked apple cider donuts.
• Jump in a pile of leaves. (To offset the endless leaf raking.)
• Host an outdoor fall party (that we’ve yet to plan).

SOURCES

Dining Room  |  Backyard  |  Wool Blanket  |  Roasting Sticks  |  Fire-proof Gloves  |  Similar Fire Pit (Out of Stock)  |  Front Porch Bench (Out of Stock)  |  Front Porch Blanket  |  House Numbers