{"id":279,"date":"2017-10-17T03:22:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T03:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2018-10-18T14:44:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:44:36","slug":"autumn-activities-to-do-before-winter-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/autumn-activities-to-do-before-winter-hits\/","title":{"rendered":"Autumn Activities To Do Before Winter Hits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Fall is upon us<\/span><\/strong> and winter is on deck! It\u2019s time to get outside while you still can and prepare yourselves (and your homes\/autos) for the cold and icy weather. This time of year can go by many names:<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 13px solid #ffffff; width: 450px; float: right;\" title=\"Pumpkin\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/p12.jpg\" alt=\"Pumpkin\" \/> fall, autumn, and football season. Here at Alliance, we refer to it mostly as football season. Regardless, the leaves are changing colors and people are getting anxious to get out in the fresh air and get some sunshine in before being confined to the indoors.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Pumpkin Patch:<\/span><\/strong> Pick one out, take it home, carve a silly face on it, insert the candle and set it on the porch! Now everyone can enjoy your latest creation! Some exciting places to go for this activity is Harvest Time, Heidi\u2019s Farmstand, and Uncle John\u2019s Cider Mill.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Carving Pumpkins:<\/span> <\/strong>This may be the messiest part of the season, but it\u2019s also a great time to let your creative side out! It can be the scariest face you can think of or something calm, peaceful or silly. This can be family, friends, or even a date! Carving pumpkins is a good time no matter how old you are.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Hayride:<\/span><\/strong> During the day or the night, you\u2019ll want to dress warmly for this! You can go on a hayride at most pumpkin patches or create your own! All you need is a wagon, something to pull the wagon, and hay\/straw bales! Have fun with this, they only come once a year!<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Bonfire:<\/span><\/strong> These can happen year-round! Bonfires happen all summer long but you\u2019ve got to be sure to get your last couple in before the snow hits! It\u2019s going to be hard to make a big fire when there is 2 ft. of snow on the ground!<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Caramel Corn:<\/span><\/strong> Making caramel corn can sound like a big sticky mess but it\u2019s worth it! Not only is this delicious and sugary but it\u2019s also good bonding for family and friends! It\u2019s fairly inexpensive too, so make a triple batch and spread the love!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #c45911;\">Apple Picking:<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>This is a wonderful, and active fall activity! You can get out in the fresh air and find fresh produce for a cheaper price! Apple picking can be a great way to spend quality time with your loved ones while still being productive.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Donuts:<\/span><\/strong> I don\u2019t know that most people would consider \u201cdonuts\u201d as an activity, but I do! Sugar covered donuts are a MUST in the fall! Perfectly combined with hot chocolate\/coffee, and a book, this invites a warm and cozy feeling into any day.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 13px solid #ffffff; float: left; width: 450px;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/p13.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Corn maze:<\/span><\/strong> Whether it\u2019s haunted or not, a corn maze will turn a fall day into a party! A good time to get lost and enjoy the fresh air! Robinette\u2019s has a lovely maze and even better donuts! Schwallier\u2019s Country Basket is another good place for a corn maze and\/or a hayride. Crane Orchards, Fruit Ridge Hayrides and Corn Maze, Olin Farm and Heidi\u2019s Farmstand are all places with fun and interactive corn mazes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Haunted house:<\/span><\/strong> A haunted house may not be for everyone but they sure get your blood pumping! Whether you\u2019re going for fun or for terror, you\u2019ll burn calories either way! Three terrifying places would be The Haunt, Moonlight Manor Haunted House, and the Forest Of Fear.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Hallelujah night:<\/span><\/strong> Hallelujah night is an alternative to trick-or-treating (often held in a church). It\u2019s a fun, safe, and indoor event that involves lots of costumes, candy, and games! There\u2019s one of these at the Mount Hope Church in Portland, at Stones Church, and at Cornerstone University.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Costume party:<\/span><\/strong> Any costume party will do! Dressing up is part of the season and who doesn\u2019t want to be someone else for a night? Popular costume ideas involve zombies, mummies, ghosts, witches, pumpkins, skeletons, and your favorite Disney characters!<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Go Hiking:<\/span> <\/strong>The cold is near and it\u2019s the perfect time to get out and moving! We have a narrow window in Michigan, where it isn\u2019t too hot and it isn\u2019t too cold, we need to be outside while we can! Hiking in the fall can be especially beautiful because of the lovely colors of the trees. Find a wonderful spot, full of reds, oranges, and yellows, and spend the afternoon there! Some common trails are the NCT \u2013 North Country Trailhead (right here in Lowell), West Michigan Trails &amp; Greenways, and Pigeon Creek Park. Two more favorites of mine are Sessions Lake State Park and the Ledges in Grand Ledge.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #c45911;\">Tailgating:<\/span><\/strong> Not driving too close to someone on the highway, but football tailgating! Grilling, and playing some catch before the big game starts is a perfect way to spend Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Get in the spirit to cheer on your favorite team while spending time with friends and family. There\u2019s usually delicious food too so that\u2019s a win-win!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #c45911;\">Some less exciting activities that must be done before winter can include making sure your vehicles are properly insured and getting your home and autos prepared for the freezing temperatures and mass amounts of snow\/ice. You\u2019ll want to be prepared for the first of the icy roads so make sure you have coverage on your vehicles for that! You never know what the weather will be like in Michigan, so it\u2019s important to be ready for anything. If you\u2019re worried about your coverages or have any questions for us just give us a call!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 24px; color: #c45911;\">What\u2019s your favorite Autumn Activity?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fall is upon us and winter is on deck! It\u2019s time to get outside while you still can and prepare yourselves (and your homes\/autos) for the cold and icy weather. This time of year can go by many names: fall, autumn, and football season. Here at Alliance, we refer to it mostly as football season. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}