Autumn: ENGAGE!!!

You know, for the longest time I never understood the difference between Autumn and Fall.  They're the same, exact thing, right?  I assumed the various names for the season had to stem from some kinda dialect/tradition/root language difference sort of thing.  Well, as you know, I fancy myself an amateur researchologist, and I promptly smurf the crap out of the subject.

As it turns out, Autumn is what most of the civilized world refers to the season as, while we Yanks tend to shun the term just as passionately as we do the Metric System.

(I mean, seriously - early 6 1/2 billion people don't use inches?!  Man, what a bunch of weirdos. . .)

For $20, I will eat this.

Anyway, Fall's totally awesome.  I love the crap out of this time of year.  The weather cools down, the leaves change color, candles start pumping out all kinds of fall-ish scents, Dunkin Donuts comes with Pumpkin Spices everything, and sweatshirt season officially kicks off. . .

. . . at least it would if we lived somewhere outside the ninth circle of Hell.

Down in Florida, we don't have Fall.  We have Still Summer.  I'm serious.  It's still in the lower 90s, still raining like a bastard every, single day, and my yard still looks like a tropical rainforest if I don't fight it for a few hours every weekend.

I'm sick of it.

We Houghs, however, are a resilient lot, and not the sort of family that rolls over and takes it from sub-tropical climates (you heard us, Florida!).  So, with Fall seemingly eons away, but calendar-ly speaking at our doorstep - we decided to kick off the season and jump-start Summer's Grand Demise.

Autumn:  ENGAGE

Halloween's still a ways off yet, but we Houghs like to throw down with the whole 'dress up and panhandle' thing.  Plus, we're big into interior decorating, and Halloween gives us an excuse to bust out tacky holiday decorations and get ridiculous.

Behold. . .

Toe Rings from Grandma Jordan. . .

What two-year old doesn't love themselves a good brooch. . .?

First outing to Knightly Spirits to scrounge up some fall beers for the Mini-Fridge. . .

We asked Abby what she wanted to be for Halloween this year.  Her response?  Strawberry Shortcake.

This, apparently, is a Bunny Costume.  I don't get it.  Fortunately, Alayna changed her mind and decided she wanted to be Rainbow Bright instead (though we haven't seen that costume yet. . .)

(Ultimately, she went with Judy Garland.)

- Brian

P.S.  If Abby goes with Strawberry Shortcake and Alayna reverts back to her Rainbow Bright costume, then all we need to do is have Kris bust out her She-Ra costume from her college years and we can have ourselves a good ol' fashioned '80s hootenanny.