- Fall is in the air.
Yep, it's kind of early October and, well, Tennessee,
it's still pretty hot, yep.
I used to always think October was like crisp and cool.
And it gets there at the end,
this is like the shifting season for me here in Nashville
when it comes to weather.
I had Charles almost a year ago, which is crazy,
but October 16th, I remember I got my due date
and I was like, just a crisp, cool, wonderful fall baby.
Uh uh, not in Tennessee.
It's still pretty hot.
So what we're gonna talk about
are some 21 fun free things you can do with your family
in the fall.
So some of you,
it's gonna be crisp and cool
and everything you think about fall,
others of you in the South,
it still might be a little warm, but it's perfect
because there's a lot of still fun, free things you can do
outside, inside, all of it.
But fall, it's a great season.
So the first thing you can do that is free
is to go on a nature walk or find some nature trails.
Look in your area.
They are everywhere.
Okay, just Google where you are and just say,
okay, find some,
get your family involved and go on a nature hike.
Number two, go camping in your backyard.
Yes, this is something kids love.
If you have a tent or if you don't,
you can maybe borrow it,
just put up in the backyard.
Literally, your kids will talk about it for days.
Number three, make and jump into a pile of leaves.
This is like every kid's dream, seriously.
I feel like every kid loves the idea of jumping into leaves.
And if you've done it as an adult,
it's actually kind of gross, I feel like.
I'm like, there's just like the bugs,
and like crunched sleeves all in your hair and on you.
It's kind of itchy.
It's like rolling down like a hill with grass.
It just like looks magical as a child,
but then it's just all itchy and weird.
But like kids love it.
So do it because you know what,
it's about the memories, people,
and leaves are free.
So put a big pile together,
jump in, take some pictures, it's great.
Number four, bird-watch.
We have this cheap, cheap bird feeder in our backyard,
and like bluebirds and cardinals, which are red,
I mean all these kind of exotic looking birds
come on our little dang bird feeder,
and it's so fun.
My kids, they love it.
They love seeing the birds.
They love seeing, I mean, squirrels come too and eat it,
so it's not as fun,
but like all the birds, it's so crazy.
And Winston, he might kill me for saying this,
he knows like every tree,
the name of like basically any tree and any bird.
So like, he always is like, oh yeah, that's a chickadee,
that's a female.
I was like, how do you know this stuff?
So maybe you can become a bird expert like Winston
and just be really smart.
He knows all the things.
Number five, hayrides.
Oh, this is a classic fall thing.
So people do this in their communities,
maybe a local church is doing it,
but if there are hayrides around,
again, it's for the kids, they love it.
So go do that as a family.
Number six, a pumpkin patch.
Now, sometimes this takes a little fee to get in,
some places charge for you to like walk around,
and then they charge you to actually buy a pumpkin.
So maybe skip out on buying the pumpkin there.
You can go buy at the grocery store, find a cheaper place,
but just walking around a pumpkin patch,
there's just something about it.
It's like Christmas time, and you go,
and you like walk through like all the Christmas trees,
like pick your own,
if you buy real trees,
if you're those people.
It just kind of brings in the holidays.
And same with pumpkins.
Like just go and just smell the fresh fall air
in a pumpkin patch.
Number seven, have a dance party.
I'm telling you, kids, this is what I've learned,
it's like the small things in life that they just love.
So do they love like a nice trip to Disney World?
Sure.
But do they also love when you're like doing dishes,
if you guys just like blast music and you just dance around?
I mean, my girls are obsessed.
They love it so much.
So just do it.
Just, you know, relax a little. Have a little dance party.
Number eight, carve a pumpkin.
Yes, that little pumpkin that you bought,
not at the pumpkin patch,
but at the grocery store, you know, carve it.
And this is one thing.
If you're not creative, like me,
this is a tough, this is a tough thing to do.
Every pumpkin I carve, it just kind of looks crazy.
And I know they're supposed to, some of them look crazy,
but like mine never look good.
So get a Sharpie, test it out, but again, it's fun memories.
Number nine, the San Diego Zoo has live cameras
on all the animals.
So if you are in an area in the country
that it is too cold right now to go to the zoo,
you can actually pull up a link from the San Diego Zoo
and watch the animals on your TV.
Again, it's not like you're actually there,
but it's something to do, and it's free.
Number 10, check out the Novel Effect app.
So this adds music, sound effects, character voices
to all your kids' favorite books.
So, so fun, really, really interesting.
It makes it really exciting.
Number 11, another way to kick up story time
is to watch astronauts read children's books from space
at storytimefromspace.com.
Number 12, host a silly (or scary) movie marathon.
If your kids can watch like two movies in a row,
you're gonna be like the coolest parents ever.
So pop popcorn, do s'mores,
just have some family time and watch some movies.
Number 13, plan a Friendsgiving.
These are the best.
Thanksgiving dinner, it's great.
It's usually with your family.
We love our family.
We all love our families,
but Friendsgivings are sometimes,
they're just wonderful
because it just reminds you
of all the great friends you have. So plan one.
Have everyone bring a dish
and enjoy the festivities of Thanksgiving with your friends.
Number 14, go for a Sunday drive.
This is something I did growing up,
and apparently, because I asked a few people here,
we would go walk through houses like on Sundays as kids,
like with my parents.
They would like find a house for sale,
stop, and like go into open houses.
Like we would always walk through homes.
So I don't know if it's like a thing,
or if the Ramseys were just kind of weird,
but that's something you can do.
Just go for a drive.
Maybe you see a house you're like, hey, for fun,
let's just go in, see how they decorated the place,
get some ideas.
Number 15, do some fun at-home spooky science experiments.
You can go to sciencefun.org
and there are a ton of great ideas for experiments
that your kids are going to love.
So could be a little messy, so prepare yourself.
But again for kids, they're gonna love you for it.
Number 16, create a s'mores charcuterie board
for a girls' night.
Yeah, you know charcuterie?
We did a little video about this.
Oh, cheeses and meats and olives and nuts
and jams, so good.
Well, do it for s'mores. So get creative.
Anything that your heart desires when it comes to s'mores,
just lay it out and have some girls over,
have a great girls' night.
Number 17, do a backyard scavenger hunt.
Okay, lists for these are everywhere on the internet.
So you can do this in your backyard,
around your neighborhood,
but go on a scavenger hunt with your kids.
Number 18, get crafty with leaves.
Yep, so leaves, again, are free, people.
So go get some leaves from the backyard.
You can like glue them on paper.
You can like put glue on them, do some glitter,
do some stuff, sparkle up some leaves,
just a little craft idea for the kids.
Number 19, makes s'mores Rice Krispie treats.
Okay, this is interesting.
So they're like normal Rice Krispie treats,
except you use Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal,
which is like the best cereal on the planet.
I freaking love Cinnamon Toast Crunch, it's so good.
So you add that instead of Rice Krispies,
and then you add in chocolate chips and extra marshmallows.
Sounds amazing.
Number 20, host an apple pie or chili cook-off.
I make the best white bean chicken chili.
And then in Nashville, we're known for hot chicken.
So now I've substituted my regular chicken in that
for hot chicken,
and now I have hot white bean chicken chili,
and it is, literally everyone that's eaten it is like,
"This could be in a restaurant."
I'm like, "I know, it's so good".
So get some friends and say,
hey, let's make the best chili recipe.
Because chili's so great for the fall. It's so easy to cook.
You just throw in a Crock-Pot, throw it on the stove,
oh, it's so easy.
I love simple recipes,
and you can exchange all the recipes.
Number 21, last but not least,
keep it simple and have a family picnic in the park.
Yes, go find,
if there's a playground in your area,
even just a big grassy field,
just taking your family out of the norm of doing things,
even mealtime when it's just so monotonous sometimes,
just breaking that and doing something different,
your kids will love it.
So this just proves you can have fun with your family
and it can be cheap or even free.
So you don't have to break the bank this fall.
So I would love to hear from you guys
on what you love to do during the fall that is free or cheap
or inexpensive,
all the above, we'll get some ideas flowing,
and fall of 2020 could be the best fall yet.
(upbeat music)