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55 Ways to Get Cozy and EnJOY Autumn with Family

Autumn…a savory time of year with hints of spice and candlelight. It is a time of harvesting and enjoying the fruit of your labors.There is still work to be done, but many hands make the load light. Autumn is my favorite time of year and this list of 55 ways to get cozy and enJOY autumn with family will jump start your creativity and bring in the cozy connection.

child buried in red fall leaves peeking out

Autumn

Autumn is just the most fantastical time of year. Just when you think the heat of summer has got the best of you, the fog rolls in, the nights cool, and the first leaves fall. Nature begins its journey in to rest with a display of gold, crimson, burnt orange, and magenta splendor. Autumn seems to engage all the senses at once: breathtaking hillsides of colored foliage set against an azure blue sky, crackling fires from tidied-up landscapes, honking geese flying south for the winter, pumpkin spice…everything, and of course the feel of the crisp cool days and evenings perfect for bundling up in snuggly hats and jackets, boots and scarves.

It is a time of gathering together, whether it be around the table at the Thanksgiving meal, with friends on a Scavenger hunt, or backyard hot dog roast around the campfire. EnJOYing Autumn with family means apple picking and apple cider donuts, pumpkin carving, and scarecrows on the front porch. It includes leaf piles, turkey dinners, knife throwing, and candle making. Autumn with family means connecting and getting cozy…together.

2 chickens walking together
father and son in front of a canvas tent
two boys on a 4 wheeler in the leaves
girl holding a bowl full of apples
family wearing yellow emoji shirts
man and woman in cowboy hats
boy in yellow shirt with a lollypop
kids in a three-legged race
an orange pumpkin
fresh baked sourdough bread in a dutch oven
3 pinecone owls on a ledge
man throwing knives at a wooden target
candles that have just been poured and are setting
knife cutting chocolate almond biscotti on a bread board by a green napkin
a mug of tea with 3 chocolate almond biscotti and a board on a slate surface
a fall cake on display with little pumpkins
a fall leaves felt banner
pumpkins on a hay bail lit up
a jar of elderberry syrup with ginger and cinnamon sticks
a jar of caramel sauce next to a pumpkin with a spoon dripping with caramel
boy with a painted face
kids throwing up yellow fall leaves
little boy with his face painted
little girl and yellow lab with a carved pumpkin
marshmallows by the fire
a display of pumpkins
carved white and orange pumpkins
boy biting an apple
a cabinet with labeled jars of herbs
a black and white chicken looking up at the camera
a carved pumpkin as a head in a boys sweatshirt
field of pumpkins
father carrying fall leaves and children in a blue wheelbarrow
thanksgiving dinner on an orange table cloth with a glass of wine
a fall front porch display with pumpkins, hay bales, and cornstalks
boy eating a donut

55 Ways to EnJOY Autumn with Family

  1. Rake a huge pile of leaves and jump in it.
  2. Read a book together. We enJOY family read-alouds, but I also have a basket of children’s books that I change with the seasons. On some nights, the children can pick a book from the seasonal book basket and we snuggle up on the couch for story time.
  3. Listen to the leaves crunch under your feet on a walk.
  4. Snap a family picture every year.
  5. Go out for apple cider donuts on a Saturday morning.
  6. Find a local cider mill and learn how to press cider.
  7. Take a drive through the country and enjoy all the fall leaves.
  8. Go apple and pumpkin picking.
  9. Bake an apple pie or apple crisp.
  10. Carve pumpkins together.
  11. Study the Jewish feasts and find fun ways to enrich your Christian heritage. 
  12. Dress in amazing costumes and have a fall festival in your yard or at church.
  13. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or serve Thanksgiving meal at a local shelter.
  14. Visit an old mansion, historical site, historical home, or walking tour.
  15. Go on a scavenger hunt through your city.
  16. Enjoy a progressive dinner with friends. Travel from house to house starting with appetizers and ending with dessert. Every participant plans a course of the meal hosted at their home.
  17. Run a diffuser with spicy holiday blends of essential oils. The smell is a sense that will trigger memories for a lifetime.  You want the home to be associated with happy memories.
  18. Get lost in a corn maze.
  19. Cozy up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watch a good movie such as a mystery or classic ghost story like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (nothing gory).
  20. Put flannel sheets on the bed. I do this strictly for my husband and look forward every night for spring to arrive. Lol
  21. Prepare Chocolate Almond Biscotti and dunk it in a mug of your favorite hot drink.
  22. Prepare dinner with a glass of wine and play an autumn playlist including Chris Botti, Michael Bublé, Diane Krall, Melody Gardot, Andrea Bocelli, Scala and Kolacny, and Libera. You can thank me later. (mom time)
  23. Roast a chicken and make nourishing bone broth from the bones.
  24. Decorate for fall with velvet pumpkins, candles, cozy throw pillows and blankets, heavier curtains, and window candles to welcome in the cozy season.
  25. Throw a party and coordinate family costumes where everyone plays a character in your favorite movie or theme. One year we purchased yellow shirts and everyone painted their favorite emoji on them. We don’t celebrate Halloween, but we love to dress up in costumes!
  26. Build a bonfire and share stories or sing songs.
  27. Rent a cabin in the mountains.
  28. Play a game of touch football
  29. Clean out the garden and prepare it for winter. Plant bulbs in your garden for the spring.
  30. Make Birdseed Ornaments and watch your yard become a bird sanctuary.
  31. Build a scarecrow to display in your front yard.
  32. Decorate your front porch with mums, corn stalks, pumpkins, and scarecrows.
  33. Collect colorful leaves and preserve them in a flower press or on waxed paper under heavy books.
  34. EnJOY a hayride.
  35. Host a murder mystery party.
  36. Tour a winery (this one is just for mom and dad).
  37. Spend a day antiquing.
  38. Rescue and refurbish a piece of furniture and add it to your home’s decor. Chalk paint is a miracle worker. I love using Annie Sloan chalk paints.
  39. Take a family bike ride.
  40. Roast winter squash, root vegetables, and Brussel sprouts on the stock purchased at your local farmers’ market.
  41. Whip up some homemade Carmel sauce and dip honey crisp apples in it and roll it in chopped toasted almonds or pecans.
  42. Prepare butternut squash soup.
  43. Drink Hot spiced Apple Cider.
  44. Watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
  45. Learn to knit and make matching scarves and hats.
  46. Build a target out of a hay bale or large tree stump and have a knife, ax, or tomahawk throwing contest.
  47. Go clay pigeon shooting
  48. Take the family on a fall camping trip
  49. Go kayaking, canoeing, or boating and enjoy the fall leaves while watching the geese fly south for the winter.
  50. Restock your natural herbal remedy kit by making Thieves tonic, artichoke, hibiscus, & orange bitters, elderberry syrup, garlic honey, and elderberry winter immunity tincture and prepare for winter.
  51. Make a fall wreath for the front door. Hide things in it for the birds to munch on.
  52. Preserve the harvest by canning, pressure cooking, freezing, or dehydrating. Many hands make the load light.
  53. Decorate for Thanksgiving Day and make placeholders such as pinecone owls or pinecone turkeys.
  54. Melt your own beeswax candles.
  55. Visit a bee farm and learn how they harvest their honey.
apples

Check out the following posts to learn more about how to savor each season:

In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!

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