Yay! Fall is officially here!
The first day of fall was Sept 22, apparently. So it’s officially fall now, even though my weather app says it’s still very much summer in Austin Texas. Sigh.
This morning I busted out a few pumpkins, changed out the sofa throw pillows for some cozy rust and cognac shades, and sat down with a chai latte to make my Austin check list for this fall.
^ This photo was exactly one year ago, which can’t possibly be true. They were just BABIES, both of them!
Yay!! I’m so excited! Friends, there’s something about having kids that makes me a “seasons” person. I’ve never been the type of girl to get incredibly excited about fall. I mean, Texas isn’t really a “fall-y” sort of state (we pretty much go straight from summer to winter here..) and the whole things just felt really basic.
Haha.
But this year, I’m embracing the basic. Yep. Bring on the boots and sweaters, pumpkin patches and chai, halloween decor and jackolantern carving. I. Am. So. Ready.
I want to make it really fun for my babies (Milo is at the perfect age to start introducing seasonal traditions!) and it feels sooooo exciting to make a fun little check list for my Austin fall activities when I get to think about sharing it all with Milo and Dayton. So here we go!
Go to 2 pumpkin patches – one new and one old. Last year we went to the Dripping Springs Pumpkin Patch, and oh my soul…it was the best one I’ve ever been to! It’s definitely a repeat for this year.
But you know me…I always want to go explore something new in Austin, so I have my sites set on another one that I haven’t tried yet: Baron Hills Farm Fall Festival. It looks so cute! I mean, that corn maze has me sold.
Hike on the first cool morning in Austin. I’m eyeing my weather app very carefully these days for the first time that morning low has a “5” at the front of the number. 59 degrees is when it starts to feel like fal to me.
I’ve accepted that the afternoons in Austin will often warm up, even all the way into December. But as long as the morning is in the 50s, it’s autumn in my book.
As soon as we get our first cool morning, I’m going to lace up my hiking shoes and head out on a beautiful hike in Austin! I wrote about a few of my favorite ones on my Austin-based travel site. Here’s a map of 15 great hiking trails if you’re in the same boat as me and want to enjoy some fall hiking this year.
Watch an halloween movie outdoors with Nate and drink Oktoberfest. Many of our “date nights” these days happen at home after the boys go to bed. It’s not quite the same as going out, but it’s just the stage of life we’re in right now. So sometime this fall, Nate and I are going to watch a classic halloween movie on our back patio an Oktoberfest (most likely from Live Oak or ABGB, two of my favorite Oktoberfest brews in town.)
Any favorite halloween movie recommendations? I’m not really a horror movie type of person, so something in the “Halloween” category that’ snot in the “horror/suspense” film category is my preference.
Oktoberfest at Banger’s! They’re doing a 3-day fest this year, and I plan to definitely stop by. It looks like it’s going to be October 6-8 this year (same weekend as ACL Fest weekend 1) and they always have a bunch of delicious beer, food, and music.
Note: this is one of the only places that will get me to go out on Rainey Street these days. I’m getting old, y’all.
Carve jack-o-lanterns with Milo. I think he’s old enough to enjoy this now….but I’m also fully embracing the fact that I might end up carving his entire pumpkin for him. 😉
Attend the Texas Craft Brewers Fest. One of my favorite fall festivals in Austin! A bunch of craft breweries from around the state of Texas set up tents at Fiesta Gardens in east Austin, and every ticket holder gets a sample glass and 10 free taster pours. You can purchase more after that, but I find that after 30 oz of beer I’m pretty good.
Bake some butterscotch bars. Scotcheroos taste like Autumn to me. I’ll be baking these with Milo as an afternoon activity sometime this fall.
Attend Wurst Fest. Did you know I’ve never been to this fall festival in New Braunfels? How?? It’s been on my “someday/maybe” list for a while, but I’m officially marking it in my calendar this november. Bratwurst. Yodelers. Lederhosen. Sign me up!
Drink Oktoberfest beer all season long! One of my favorite parts of fall for sure. I love a rich, classic German Marzen on a cool fall night. Can’t wait!
I would love to try to make it to a UT football game this season too, but I have lots of fall weekend trips coming up and it’s not looking like it will fit into my schedule. But if you’re local and want a fun fall activity in Austin, definitely look into getting some tickets to watch the longhorns play at the Darrell K Royal stadium.
Bring on the fall, y’all. I’m so ready for this season to kick off!
