welcome fall + a bucket list

It's not technically fall yet but it sure is feeling like it in the Pacific Northwest and it's after Labor Day which is a much more appropriate time to dive in to all things pumpkin spice (except the lattes-blech) than the end of August like some fall fanatics. I love summer, I love the heat and the sunshine and the long days and I don't even mind the humidity if you've got AC and a lake to jump in. Which is exactly what we did last week when we were home in South Carolina where it still felt very much like summer. I am not one to wish away summer and every year I roll my eyes at the Halloween swag that you start seeing in the grocery stores as soon as the 4th of July is over.  But...I can't deny there's something magical about this time of year.

This tends to be a short season for us here and we don't really get all the beautiful crisp days with an explosion of golden leaves like you have back on the East coast. It's more of a soggy dampness that settles in and doesn't leave until June. So I think I better go ahead and put out my pumpkins, burn my spiced candles, and buy some mums to kill while I'm still in the enchanted phase of fall and not the "sick and tired of wiping off my dogs wet feet every time we come in from a walk" phase that takes over later in the season. 

I made a fall bucket list on our kitchen chalkboard (#basic) and can't wait to check these off with my little family. T.J. asked why Harry Potter was on the list, and while I considered going the standard Hocus Pocus route, Harry Potter just feels right.  Like the perfect rainy day, snuggle in movies for fall. Plus the first book came out 20 years ago, we've grown up together, so I feel like it deserved to be highlighted this year.

I am really excited to do all the fun, classic, memory making things with Tommy this year. It's only his second fall, and last year we started the makings of some fun family traditions with him, but he was only two months old! This year he's older, he's walking, he's into everything, he's exploring and it's just so much fun! He's already a big fan of picking up leaves and pinecones (and trying to eat them). I can't wait to experience it all with him this time around and see him really start to take it all in.