Friends, I’m done with summer. Look, I really tried to enjoy summer til the very end, but I took the girls for a walk yesterday afternoon and it was SO stinkin hot and muggy. I cannot get on board with that kind of nonsense. It’s disgusting.

That said, next week I’m sharing my 2023 Fall Bucket List. I was a little late on my summer bucket list, but I will not be late on my fall list. Every year, around this time, I start with thinking about my favorite things about fall, and this time, I started with memories from when I was young.

When I think of fall during my childhood, it always starts with one memory. This memory is so vivid to me, and it may not even be real, but I can picture it so clearly that every detail comes into focus.

In this memory, I’m in my grandparents backyard running back to their house from the tire swing in the woods. I’m around 11 or 12 years old, and my hair is tied back in a low ponytail. It’s getting dark and there are leaves on the ground, some wet, some still crunchy. I’m wearing my favorite dark blue bootcut jeans from Old Navy and a burgundy hand-me-down hoodie from my cousin. I loved that hoodie. It’s about 55-60 degree out, I’ve been outside all afternoon and my skin has that cold, almost clammy feel you get when you’ve spent a lot of time outside on a cool day - the kind of feeling where you don’t even realize it’s getting cold until your mom touches your face and her hand feels SO warm.

This memory is one of the reasons I love wearing hoodies so much. It tells me that even if it gets chilly out, a hoodie just warm enough. It is the perfect thing to wear in the fall, and you won’t find me anywhere without one come November.

My next memory is of a hayride. My sister and I had a few joint birthday parties when we were young, and since both of our birthdays were in the fall, we did all the fall things. My dad would hook up his trailer and fill it with hay bales and have our own hayride. It was cool and dusky, and when we came back, we went in our garage to bob for apples.

I love bobbing for apples. I don’t know when we decided we were too cool to dunk our faces in a basin of water for a piece of fruit, but that is for the birds. When we got a little bit older, we still bobbed for apples, but my mom started timing us to see who could get an apple the fastest, and that person got a prize.

I can get an apple in less than 5 seconds. My record is 2.

One time I spent a weekend at a ranch with my Girl Scout troop, and we had to hop on a horse bareback, ride to the other end of a ring, jump off and bob for an apple, and that time I did it all in 8 seconds. And yes, I’m very proud of this.

I have a lot of fall memories - probably too many to count. To be honest, I’ve probably shared many of them with you here on the blog over the last few years. They’re important to me, and reminded me why I love the season so much, and it has nothing to do with pumpkin-flavored everything.

I love fall because it’s cozy.

I love that it gets chilly in the evening.

I love that there are pumpkins and hayrides and fun things to do with friends and family.

I love that it’s the best time of year to spend all your time outside - apple picking, playing, attending football games, hiking, going for walks, hanging around a bonfire, etc.

I love that it’s the time of year that you can wear a hoodie almost all the time and be comfortable.

I love making giant leaf piles and jumping in them and pulling leaves out of your hair for an hour.

I love coming inside after spending the whole evening outside and feeling your cheeks warm up with something warm to eat or drink.

I love making soup on a rainy day. Or even just because there’s a cool breeze. Rain isn’t necessary.

I love warming up my home with freshly baked bread. It’s even better when I get to surprise Elliot after he comes inside after some yard work with the smell of warm bread to accompany his favorite chili.

I love fall because it’s the best time of year to enjoy the simple things. The things that don’t cost a lot of money or take a lot of effort. While it can be busy, it doesn’t have to be a tough season.

While this year’s list will probably have some of the same items as previous fall bucket lists (because I love me some apple cider and Hocus Pocus), this one is very different, because Will exists. And because he exists and this is his very first fall ever, I get to show him all of the wonderful, simple things that make fall the absolute best. He can’t enjoy a pumpkin spice latte, but he can enjoy playing in some leaves and enjoying a walk on a brisk day. He can’t carve a pumpkin yet, but he can go on a hayride and spend some time outside on a little adventure.

And really, that’s the stuff that memories are made of.

The cool part is that I get to make them all over again.