Although the fall season is definitely not my favorite, there are a few fun activities that make the cooler weather a bit more bearable–like picking pumpkins. You’re never too old to pick a big ol’ orange round guy. Over the weekend, Mike and I did just that.

We visited Amore Farms on Route 512 and returned home with five pumpkins in varying sizes, shapes, and colors (I found a pretty ghost pumpkin and a teeny tiny one that fits in the palm of my hand). Before taking the hayride to the pumpkin patch, we walked through Tombstone Alley and paid our respects to the deceased marked by handmade cardboard grave markers. We skipped Puzzle Woods (a word association game) and the corn maze to spend more time picking the perfect pumpkins. It reminded me of being seven again!

One of my most favorite Halloween memories is walking to my next-door neighbor’s home with my sister, Jess, and raking her leaves to fill giant orange pumpkin trash bags–after jumping in the piles of course. We transported the bags to our lawn and set them out front for everyone to see. I remember mulling over costume ideas and usually settling on something simple like a dead cheerleader because I already had the uniform (thanks Mountainville!). One year my sister and I were dice. I have photos from when I was an infant dressed as a cat. Now that I think of it, I wish someone had kept a list of all of my costumes.

Costumes, haunted houses, hayrides, apple cider, corn mazes. Next up, I plan to make candy apples, carve one of our pumpkins, and pay a visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary for a good spook. What do you have planned for Halloween? Do you have a favorite autumn tradition?