Get your Fall family fun activities lined up now!

The weather these past few days has everyone thinking about Fall. It will get scorchingly hot again before Fall officially finds it's way to Central Ohio, but every active family should be prepared for the crisp days ahead and the family fun that only this most beautiful season can afford. While each family has it's own favorite not to be missed activities for every season it seems as though many are often wishing for something different. Wish no longer!

Have you ever been to an "All Horse Parade"? Help kick off the annual Delaware County Fair with this family friendly event on September 12, 2010. The parade begins at 3:00pm and will feature over 500 horses. According to Ohio Traveler Magazine many of these horses will be pulling vintage memorabilia such as fire engines and milk wagons. We have never been to this but do enjoy making the trek up to Delaware so this parade may make our list this year!

Circle S Farms is always a favorite Fall destination, running many family events from late September through the end of October. This Groveport farm offers hayrides, pick your own pumpkins, a petting zoo, and a scarecrow cave, to mention only a handful of the activities offered.  We chose not to visit Circle S Farms last year due to what I thought was a too high cost for the children's activities. I haven't reviewed the prices yet for this year to see if this fun farm will make our list of Fall family activities. Check out www.circlesfarm.com for more information.

No matter what variety of apple you prefer there is something for everyone at Lynd's Fruit Farm in Pataskala. Apple picking season starts today and runs through late October, with the pumpkin patch opening around October 1. This year's corn maze theme is The Wild West and it opens September 10. There is a fee for the corn maze, depending on the age of the child participating. Last year my family found the task of understanding where to go and how to pay for the picked apples quite confusing - I am hopeful that this year the signage is better. Once we finally got to the apple orchard we had a blast - Matthew even sat down right down on the ground at one point to eat his apples! I am especially excited about this year's apple picking trip as Matthew has suddenly developed a true love of this delicious fruit. Check out www.lyndfruitfarm.com for more information and the different apple variety picking schedules.

Our family will also be attending the Autumn Moon Celebration on September 25. This very special event celebrates the importance of the moon in the Chinese culture. We will gather with other families from the Central Ohio chapter of Families With Children From China to share play time, crafts, moon cakes and a lantern parade. This annual event always make our Fall family fun list!

traditional moon cake

Whatever activities your family chooses this Fall, be sure to take lots of pictures! One of my favorite Fall photos is of my son, at about 19 months, sitting on top of a slide at a pumpkin patch. He is smiling and simply thrilled to be there, in that moment. What the photo fails to capture is what happened five minutes later, when he was pulled from the slide and taken into the field to pick his very first Halloween pumpkin. We did not get a photo to capture the screaming fit our little guy threw as he refused to enter the pumpkin patch. Ahhh, the memories....