Celebrating the Seasons with Your Kids

By Allison Berman
October 27, 2009

Tourism and, specifically, agritourism, is big business here in the Hudson Valley, especially in the fall. And as busy as we are, my husband and I are determined to find time to appreciate the region's beauty and to enjoy the amazing community events that drew us in eight years ago.

We used to drive up from the city to look at pretty leaves and to pick apples from a farm rather than off the shelf at our local supermarket. Now, my younger daughter stands in front of a giant window in our den, "leaf peeping" without even leaving the house. "Pretty" she says.

Supporting the community

I always look forward to the leaves turning deep orange, like the pumpkins the Mannos place on their fence along Kings Highway. Every weekend, generations of Mannos sell beautiful, perfect pumpkins, and we are so glad they do. As soon as my 5½-year-old daughter spies her first bag of candy corn, she clamors for us to stop at the Manno farm to get our pumpkins. It doesn't matter if their pumpkins are ready; my daughter is, and that is the only place we go to get pumpkins.

We finally got there a couple of weeks ago. First, we admired the pumpkins Rocco paints. (His day job is as an art teacher at Warwick Valley High School, and they're pretty cool.) Then we carefully selected one for each of my daughters to decorate, and one for my husband - to do I don't know what with.

I chose Indian corn and created a corn arrangement, putting the stalks in a clear vase. I won't have to worry about them dying (flowers), watering them (plants), or rotting and sticking to my counter (pumpkins). Perfect!

As big as pumpkins are in Warwick, nothing compares to apple-picking, and Applefest, which we enjoyed with 35,000 other people this year.

We keep busy "playing tourists," supporting and enjoying our community. We wander through the Sugar Loaf Fall Festival, the corn maze at Bethel Woods, and the Breast Cancer Walk, but the rides at Applefest and picking pumpkins at the Mannos are the family favorites.

We have been so busy, in fact, we still haven't decorated the pumpkins, and I can't even focus on the jack-o'-lanterns because my older daughter still hasn't decided on a Halloween costume.

Last year's costume is a perfect example of just how complicated her costumes can be. She built castles for princesses (donning a princess dress and a tool belt), and if the castles caught on fire, she put them out (accessorized with her big red firefighter hat).

A season all our own

This is why I always have an extra column or two written - because sometimes life takes priority over work. And though we have to cram for Halloween, we rode carousels, picked pumpkins and ate our body weight in apples, kettle corn and funnel cakes.

As much as I have always loved autumn, it's even better now that the events we attend support our local businesses, and put money in our local economy" - and it's pretty cool the leaves we peep are our own, too.

Allison Berman, an artist and mother of two, handpaints custom home accessories for interior designers and private customers. She works out of her home studio in Warwick, NY. See her collection at www.withlovealib.com. She can be reached at ali@withlovealib.com. Her column appears Tuesdays.