October Fun with the Tungates

Anyone who knows me personally will tell you that I am a Summer kind of Gal. I love the warmth, the sunshine, and all the fun Summer memories to be created with friends and family. But I have recently discovered that the older I get, the more I am turning into a Fall lover. I mean, what is there not to love? It's not so miserably hot outside, which as a mother whose body has slowly transformed to despise itself, it is nice to not sweat too death every second of the day. The leaves are slowly dying and are turning into the beloved bright colors we look forward to all year long. Not to mention Holiday traditions. And that gets to my point about today's post, October Traditions with the Tungate Family. 

October is one of my favorite months and I always look forward to it's awaited adventures every year. For one, it's my Husband and I's anniversary (10/4/2012), it is the perfect time for fun family activities indoors and outdoors (mainly outdoors to enjoy the crisp fall air), and it is the perfect month for photography with all the colors plus I feel the need to add again that the weather is Perfect! But most of all, Halloween you guys! One of the most exciting, fun, and captivating holidays of the year!

 

Last year we did not get to enjoy October as much as I would had liked to. We had a new born who was almost two months old  at the time and let me tell you, it killed me to be stuck indoors for most of the fall/winter season but that is just part of parenthood. You have to choose your sacrifices and this year we are making up for it.  My son is 13 months old this month and I swear, he has became a toddler over night. Like, what happened to my tiny new born? Last year might of been a little more structure and stressful with the newness of motherhood but I miss those little baby snuggles so badly. #Babyfever.

Anyways, with my now toddler, this month has been the funnest month we have experienced together yet. As a family, we have been spending more time outdoors and I love watching my son experience the world. As you can see in the posted photos, he discovered the crunchiness of leaves and let me tell you, he loved it!!!!

Okay, maybe in that last photo he loved it a little too much and I also had to stop him from taking a bite of the leaves (no photos of that lol). He wiggled his toes in the grass and even wanted to walk more just because of how much he enjoyed the texture of the ground as he moved his feet. He loved the sound the leaves made as they danced towards the ground in the wind and how the air flowed through the semi-naked branches on the nearby trees as they clicked together. October started out magical for our son and watching him witness it's beauty brought pure joy to my husband and I.

So besides enjoying the change of the seasons and spending more time outdoors, we also went to a local fall favorite attraction that is called Bear Wallow Farm. I am ashamed to say but this year was the first year I have ever explored this place. It was full of family fun and I regret not enjoying it sooner. Kambryn is still a little too young to full understand the whole picking pumpkins and running through a corn maze extravaganza so he did not enjoy the Farm as much as we would had hoped for but we still had an enjoyable time. It is one of my town's most popular "to do's" during the fall season. Here are some photos that I wanted to share that I captured from our experience.

Ok, so my son was not a fan of the petting zoo which was full of different breeds of goats. I tried to show him that they were harmless and were super cute but he was just not having it. He did enjoy looking at the other animals that were displayed there, as long as he was safe in his stroller. They had everything from Lamas, Emus, to Albino turkeys. I love going to a Zoo so this part of the Farm was one of my favorites. I did my best to explain to Kambryn all the facts I knew about each animal.

This is Kambryn's "smile" that he has been doing for weeks now. This kid cracks me up.

 During our adventure through the corn maze, Kambryn was in a relaxed mood while my husband and I complained about how hot it was in-between those stalks of corn. I mean we were soaked in our sweat by the time we found our way out of there. It was still fun but I could not imagine doing something like that in the Summer time. We brought our stroller so no tractor ride for us but we did manage to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve, which was what I was most excited about. Kamrbyn's very first pumpkin!! It makes me happy to know he still has lots of firsts to experience.

 

 My husband cut the top off of the pumpkin a few days after our farm adventure and inside my son's curious fingers went. And he did not like the texture at all. I felt like a horrible mother because I was laughing at the disgusted face he had on his face, poor little guy, but after a few moments of wondering "What the heck is this gooey stuff?" Kambryn finally enjoyed the goodness of squishy pumpkin guts. I will add that the top or "lid" of the pumpkin was his favorite part of the whole experience. We have been working on "opening and closing" and "on and off" for the past few months so the pumpkin made a great tool for the exercise. Anything to keep my baby happy I am all for these days.

We finally got to carve our very first pumpkin with our baby boy and celebrate one of many Halloween traditions with him. I enjoyed the experience more than Kambryn did but I know when he is older, he will love it just as much as I do. Creating traditions with your kids is by far one of the most amazing and rewarding things about parenthood. I adore sharing and creating with my boys.

Scavenger Hunts are so much fun and I always love them best during the fall. Of course, my one year old is a little young for this so this is an activity we did with our nieces. Of course Kambryn played along, and it was a fun activity to help teach about the earth and facts about the items we were hunting for. We searched for colorful leaves, pine cones (extra points for whoever could find the most weirdly shaped pine cone), acorns, feathers, and ect. This kept the kids busy for a few hours and we had so much fun. Afterwards, my nieces and I went into a dark room, turn off all the lights, and told scary stories.

I always love having a Harry Potter marathon during the month of October and then again in December. I don't know why but it feels more like a tradition to do so. And I want my son to grow up to love the books and movies because they were a piece from my husband and I's childhoods and we adore all things Potter. So why not share that with our son, who is just now starting to enjoy TV (even though I try to limit TV time as much as I can). Popping some popcorn, loading up on snacks, making a pile in the floor with blankets and pillows, and adding a fort to cover over us (but not the site of the TV of course) makes for such a fun lazy day. And when Kam is napping, Wes and I will switch on a scary movie. We try to watch a horror movie once or twice a week during the Month of October.

I love that my town hosts a car-show from April until October. So since this Month was the last show of the year, of course we had to attend. Which going to the car show each month has became another family tradition for all of the Tungates, including my brother-in-laws and their kids. My Husband loves anything with a motor and enjoys drooling over beautiful classic cars. My son, believe it or not, loves it too. Like Father like son, am I right? I enjoy how it feels like your traveling back in time when visiting one of the car-shows, especially this month's which was the Tri-Five themed show. All around downtown Somerset, they will play tunes from the 50's and up. With the music and cars intertwined together, it feels as if you are actually walking down the streets in the 1950's.

It is still the month of October and there are many more Fall activities to enjoy together as a family and not just for this month, even though it is one of my favorites. I just wanted to share a few photos from a few of our adventures this month and also wanted to share some of our favorite Fall Traditions.Thank you so much for reading and enjoying the adventure with us. What are some of your favorite Fall traditions? I am always looking for new traditions to create with my baby boy.

xoxo,
India