Fall’s Playground

One of the beautiful things about living in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States is we have season. We have beautiful seasons that each has their own feel, colors, scents, foliage and so much more. Our falls are known for crisp cool air, deciduous tree leaves changing from greens to yellows, oranges, reds and browns. My little ones have been having a great time looking for the most beautiful leaves they can.

This past weekend was on the warm side for fall and was a perfect sunny day to be outside and play in the leaves. The kids started out hunting for the most beautiful red silver maple leaf in the yard. They were having fun with their treasure hunt while I started to rake the leaves to a big open area in the side yard. I had a small pile about half way around the house when I was discovered. The leaf play began. The only rule was you could only throw, kick or push the leaves towards the designated spot. The kids were human bulldozers. They tossed leaves in the air, tumbled, and jumped in to watch the leaves fly up. I had the leaves from the back yard piled up and they thought I was done. I raked more from the side yard and doubled the pile. I tossed rakes full of leaves to tumble down around them and bury them a bit more. They giggled, laughed and shouted with joy. They took turns with my rake and a small child’s rake to stack the leaves as high as they could before jumping back in. I managed to get a good part of the yard raked and entertain the kids. We wrapped up the fun with a bath, lunch and naps.

I left the pile for the kids to play in for several days now. With predicted rain the big pile is going to get pushed to the curb for pick up. I’m hoping after things dry out a bit again I can make another big pile for them to play in before I mow and mulch them for the compost and garden.