A Fall Classic

  I confess. I am a fall-oholic. An autumn junkie. I want it all- pumpkin patches, apple cider, trick or treating and piles of leaves. Crisp evenings with vests, fire pits and bowls of chili.  Switching out sandals for boots and Jack Johnson for Coldplay. Baking a Marie Callender pumpkin pie on a week night just for the heck of it.
  So, it’s no wonder, one year ago, I was Googling “pumpkin patches in Fort Collins” when the idea of Toddlerado began to take shape. I was excited to do all the fall activities with my little family that I fondly remember doing with my mine.
  For me, fall is heavy with nostalgia. I remember visits to Bandy’s Pumpkin Patch-  painting pumpkins instead of carving. The smell of burning leaves after they were properly raked and jumped in. Homecoming parades and picking apples. Halloween costumes and trick or treating-especially knocking on doors of family and close family friends who always had special goodies set aside just for us. Sometimes even a caramel apple. Hiding on the porch awaiting the inevitable group of teenagers trying to T.P. our house- although maybe that’s an activity only kids of coaches will remember.
  As I got older it became more about Friday night football games, bonfires and holding hands with a boy on a hayride. And of course in college it became all about the annual - and legendary- Chris and Mandy Halloween Party.
  So now I get to come full circle- as Layla’s falls are just beginning I get to do it all over again and I'm as excited as a three-year-old. 
  We’re finding our own traditions here in Colorado, once again visiting Bartels Farm for our pumpkin needs, this year with Grandma Elaine- the grandparent in town for Layla‘s birthday- which was a wonderful  afternoon  with fabulous friends.
  We tried out a city organized Halloween event for kiddos, but decided good ol' neighborhood trick or treating is more our style. Our little Star Wars fan chose to be a pint size Chewbacca ensuring our poor neighbors- whom only see her trick or treating-  inevitable confusion if she ever decides to be a princess.
  We carried on our tradition as a couple and watched a little of Rocky Horror Picture Show, introducing Layla to the Time Warp and she watched E.T. for the first time and has become her favorite movie of the moment, edging out the Little Mermaid.
  I’m kind of amazed we fit in as much as we did considering- like most years- October also means a post-season for Cardinal fans. Unfortunately we ended the season two games shy of a world championship but in-between all the baseball games we definitely exceeded my autumnal expectations making it a fall classic in my book.