Once upon a Fall Day...

Yesterday we had a leaf birthday party for my grandma. Her birthday falls at the end of the month so my mom, sister, and my kids went to her house to celebrate. We took in Paradise Bakery for lunch and then of course we went out to play in her leaves that fell off the large tree in her front yard. After the playing she opened presents and we sang Happy Birthday and made her blow out a candle. It was the perfect fall day and a fun party.

I have always gone over to my grandma's house to play in the leaves and then help her bag them when done. I can't remember when this started but I believe my older cousins did this before me. Some years I remember a foot or two of leaves covering her lawn. My memory may be exaggerating this but there is usually a lot of leaves. We used to pile them and jump. Sometimes we would make pathways through the leaves or outline rooms of a house. Grandma would let us just imagine and have fun. She even let us have fun with the leaf blower when she purchased one. It was one of the best chores (if you could call it that).

Now that my siblings and I are grown, my mom likes to make sure we go over and still play in the leaves especially with the grandkids. Of course we still help clean up but it is still not a terrible task. In fact, raking the leaves stirs up the most wonderful fall aromas. When I smelled the fallen leaves my mind quickly return to autumn days of the past.

My kids enjoyed piling up the leaves. It took us awhile to get them to stop and play in the leaves. They found baskets to fill and dump. The basket idea was the first in all these years. The girls didn't think there were enough leaves so they went to the neighboring yards to gather more. This year many of the leaves were blown by the wind into the neighbors yards. But there were still plenty so the rest of us kept to our yard.

So what do you do once the leaves are in one big pile?

Well you can ...

...eat them. Only Braden recommends this. Or bury yourself in them. We buried Braden and he didn't seem to mind.

... you get your picture taken. The little baby is my sister's brand new baby. When she is around Braden gets demoted to the number 2 spot. Macy wanted to take Ellie home the other day. My mom told her then Emily wouldn't have a baby. So she said that Emily could take Braden. She also told my mom that Emily could just have another one.

Another funny story about Ellie. Kelsey asked when she was going to get her bump.

Back to what you do with a pile of leaves. Of course there is the classic, jumping in them.

And jumping some more.
Then have mom jump in them.

Or throw them in the air.

I loved visiting my grandma and I love all the memories I have made with her. I am so glad to have wonderful family. I am glad my mom gets to join in on this tradition.

I just thought these pictures were cute.