Question of the Week - Fall Activities

It's that time of year again. Autumn is falling down on us. Here in the DC area, we just started getting some cooler weather, leaves changing colors and that crisp smell in the air.

With my Seasonal Affective Disorder, fall fills me with anxiety and starts this ticking clock of doom. Right now, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in front of my therapy light. I started it early and am doing a good chunk of time already. I plan to go on medication again, but I was late in finding a doctor to prescribe it and don't have an appointment until next week. I believe that the light therapy (which worked so well for me for years) can get me through until I ramp up on my medication. So far, I seem to be doing alright. I don't anticipate this year being as rough as last year, because the pregnancy really made things extra hard for me and I'm not pregnant this year. But I will have to plan for the sleep deprivation that I'm already deep in.

I'm actually feeling a bit positive about getting through this winter. This time last year I was already so exhausted from pregnancy that I didn't want to do anything. It helped a lot to hear everyone respond to a post with great things about autumn, in fact I just reread it and have gotten excited about all of those things!

This year, I've already started doing and planning fall activities! Just this past weekend, we looked at Halloween costumes for the kids (haven't picked any out yet, though) and went to an Oktoberfest! The Pumpkin and I went to the neighborhood across the street for food, fun and music. One of my best friends, her husband and their son, who is a few months older than the Pumpkin, went over with us, and I met up with my parents there. I gave Londo a pass to watch football and keep the Pookie home. It ended up being a great time for the Pumpkin and I to spend together.

The Pumpkin had her first pony ride! It was cut very short, which was fine. I was holding her and walking next to her, and just a few paces in she looked up at me and said she wanted to get down. She's not scared of many things, but she had this unsure look on her face like it was a little scary. I asked her if she wanted to try a little more, but after another two steps, she said she wanted to get down again. So I picked her up, we patted the pony and thanked him for the ride, and that was that. My friend's son loved his ride and went around the whole way, which was very cute to see.

The Pumpkin went in the "bouncy house," which was fun. We watched the children's choir sing. We had lunch while listening to German music played live. We got ice cream cones. And most fun of all, we went on a hay ride! She sat in my lap, and we went around the lake and part of the neighborhood. It was a blast!

There are a lot of great activities that are special for the fall. And this week's question of the week is:

What fall activities are on your agenda?

We are also planning on going to the petting farm next Saturday (anyone else want to go? Email me if you do!), a Redskins game on Sunday, a Halloween party the following Saturday, possibly another fall festival, possibly pumpkin picking and hopefully camping out in the backyard one of these nights (when the Pumpkin doesn't have a cough or runny nose... so maybe not this fall...).

How about you guys? Any good fall activities? How are you planning to enjoy the nice autumnal weather?