I was so excited for fall: Apple picking, visiting the corn maze, harvesting our garden, and pumpkin everything. My dread about the colder weather and shorter days was mitigated by my excitement for making crab apple jelly with apples from our tree, doing some cozy fall baking with Addie, and taking family photos amidst the fall colours.
Almost none of this happened.
Somehow, this year, fall passed by in a blink, and we were lucky to get any fall activities in.
The past couple of months have been a whirlwind for our family. I completed my major psychology professional entrance exam, Sandra is finishing her final school practicum for paramedicine, we had travel to visit family on both of our sides, took a vacation to Hawaii to unwind for a couple weeks, Addie had to quarantine upon returning home, more family visits, work deadlines, illness… We finally found our footing and fall was over.
Fall was not the comfy cozy season of baking and lattes and fall nature hikes that we imagined. We did, however, still manage to sneak in some fall family fun.
We went camping at Elk Island in September.
Sandra and I both went into this cooler-weather camping trip with some trepidation. As a family, we fell in love with camping together over the summer, and were reluctant to admit that our camping season may have been over, but while the daytime weather was still warm, the nights were hovering around the freezing mark. Sleeping in a tent when we were waking up to frost on the ground didn’t sound the most appealing.
The night before the trip, Addie and I set up the tent in the yard for a trial run. It was our first time using her Big Mo‘ sleeping bag which I’d bought her as a birthday gift, as it had been too warm for the sleeping bag all summer. She appeared warm and cozy. I, however, froze. We stayed outside until midnight, at which point I woke up Addie and we headed back indoors.
Still, we headed out the following night, determined to learn from my mistakes.
This time, we packed a bunch of thick blankets to put underneath our air mattresses to help insulate us from the cold ground. We also brought a sleeping bag, whereas the previous night I’d only gone outside with warm blankets. This helped keep the warmth in. Lastly, I slept in more layers, determined not to freeze.
Our day at Elk Island was lovely. It was relatively warm, the trees were a collage of fall colours, and we went on a nature hike by Astotin Lake. The bugs were gone for the season, so sitting around the campfire in the evening was far more pleasant. It also got dark earlier, so it was easier to get Addie to sleep and enjoy some adult conversation around the fire. When we finally turned in for the night, both Sandra and I half expected to be packing up the tent at 2 a.m. and heading somewhere warm, but we were pleasantly surprised that all 3 of us stayed warm and slept comfortably.
The night temperature dropped to about 3 Celcius (37 Fahrenheit) and we think that it was probably our limit for our summer mesh tent, but we are excited to explore other options for sleeping outdoors in even cooler weather.
We visited the Edmonton Corn Maze
This was the one fall activity I had been most looking forward to after loving the corn maze last year, and it almost didn’t happen this year. We finally made it to the corn maze on the very last weekend. The corn was already dead, new paths had been trampled through the maze, and we had a great time!
The Edmonton Corn Maze is a great place to spent an afternoon with a toddler. The maze itself is a lot of fun and worth visiting, but Addie couldn’t care less about the maze. All of the other activities are the real draw for us. There are farm animals that you can visit and feed (goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs, and a cow), a little tractor train to ride through the corn and sunflower field, farm games, pedal carts, a potato gun, and a giant bouncy pillow.
I wish we’d had the chance to visit earlier in the season, when the corn and sunflowers were at their peak, but I’m so glad we didn’t entirely miss out on this fall favourite.
We took Addie trick-or-treating for the first time
Last year, we spent Halloween in Calgary for Sandra’s practicum, and we went to the Calgary Zoo for their Halloween event, so this was Addie’s first time going door-to-door collecting candy. She loved it. So did we.
I found a little chicken rider costume that immediately screamed Addie, and then found other farm animals for Sandra and I to ride, for a somewhat coordinated family costume. Addie was so proud of her chicken costume, and for the days leading up to Halloween, she proudly told everyone “I be chicken!” and practiced saying “trick-or-treat.” By the time Halloween rolled around, she was ready, and she picked up her little pumpkin bucket and proudly set off through my mom’s neighbourhood.
We didn’t go very far, but when we got back to grandma’s house, Addie’s little pumpkin bucket was full and she was feeling pretty proud. Some of the other children in costumes, and some of the home decorations in the neighbourhood, were a bit scary for her, but she found a singing pumpkin, as well as a “messy” pumpkin (carved to look like it was vomiting), which she thought were amazing.
Overall, we had a great time and can’t wait until next year.
So, fall didn’t turn out to be the fun-filled lead-in to the colder weather that we’d hoped for, but we did get to spend time doing a few fun activities as a family.
Now, it’s November 1st. The snow will settle in to stay any day, and we have to find ways to start to look forward to the winter season!