Fall Bucket List: Fall Movies

I am such a fan of late summer/early Fall movies!  I think it makes me nostalgic for the movies my siblings and I used to watch at Meadowbrook Park as kids.  I remember my mom would make a giant, brown paper grocery bag of yummy buttery popcorn and lay out our biggest blanket.  I'm pretty sure that we would eat most of the popcorn BEFORE the movie started and it always seemed like it took FOREVER for the sun to go down so that the movie could start.  One of my favorites to watch was "The Last Starfighter."  That one brings back memories like no other summer movie can!

Sadly, Andrew and I didn't have time to watch "The Last Starfighter" before summer was over.  We'll be sure to make it happen next year!

However, we were able to fit in some other favorites.  After we got back from the downtown street festival on September 12, we turned on "The Karate Kid."

When I was younger, some of the premium TV channels (Disney, Cinemax AKA "Skin-emax" and HBO) would run a free week of programming once a year or so.  My parents would load up on blank VHS tapes and use our VCR to tape record all of the movies we possibly could.  I remember our copy of "The Karate Kid" had messages that would periodically flash at the bottom of the screen saying, "You're enjoying HBO's free week of programming.  Subscribe today to enjoy all of your favorite movies!"

This movie feels more Halloween-ish to Andrew because of the whole skeleton vs. shower man scene at the costume dance but I like to watch it to celebrate back-to-school time--it's something about the whole fish-out-of-water in a new school trying to fit in that gets me.  And this song:

Wow.  THIS SONG!  I remember watching this music video on MTV.  Yes, Mom.  We watched MTV.  {I'm sure you knew, too, because now that I am a mom, I know that there isn't really anything that can get passed a mom.}  We used to sneak it when you left us home alone while you ran to the store.  Our family had this beast of a console TV that we got secondhand from Great Grandma Isenbarger (I think) and the buttons that changed the channel were super sticky and didn't always work.  I was usually on lookout by the front window and Sarah was in charge of changing the channel.  Let me just say that there were more than a handful of instances where Sarah was beating the TV channel pad as Mom came struggling up the walkway with groceries and we were all sure that we were going to get BUSTED for sneaking MTV.  But we didn't get caught.  At least, I don't remember us getting caught.

Another movie from our childhood that Andrew and I like to watch is "The Goonies."  {Here's a little heads up: the movies we loved as kids had a whole lot more swearing in them than we probably realized.}  I love "The Goonies!"  There's the Truffle Shuffle, Josh Brolin wearing gym shorts over sweatpants, and one of the best movie bromances of all time between Sloth and Chunk.  The DVD includes these outtakes which are a must-see:

In the past, we have watched "The Goonies" after apple picking so that we can relax and eat "Caramel Apple Explosion."  We like to top our apples with Magic Shell, caramel syrup, marshmallows, Heath toffee bits, and crushed walnut pieces.  This year we picked apples the same day as the General Women's Meeting and so we just watched tho movie and had our treat the following Family Home Evening (September 29).

The final movie that we make time for every Fall is my FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME: "Remember the Titans."  This movie has to be watched the Friday night before college football starts.  It just has to.  Because I'm the mom and I said so.  (That's the first time I've gotten to use that phrase and I love it!)  Speaking of moms:

Fall Bucket List: Street Festival

 September 12 was a beautiful late summer evening in Lynchburg.  It was the perfect night for the Get Downtown! street festival.  This is the second year that our family has gone.  Last year, Andrew and I were still new to Lynchburg and eager to see what this little city had to offer us as we began our family.  This year, we wandered the booths with Cambria in tow, happy to be settling in and finding our place and purpose in this sweet community.

Now that we are a little more familiar with Lynchburg landmarks, I thought it would be nice to take some photos together so that we could remember our short stop in Virginia.  Our friend, David Lesue, has been typographic state art for t-shirts, etc. and so I suggested that we wear our Stately Type tees.  We are so happy to see how much his company has grown in less than a year!

Fall Bucket List: Labor Day BBQ

A BBQ on Labor Day for Family Home Evening with some of our favorite families: the Binghams and the Malones.  Poor Andrew didn't get the day off and had class all day but the rest of us had been at the pool earlier so we were a sticky, sweaty, tired mess.  We grilled up burgers and hot dogs and had homemade ice cream.  Afterwards, the kids all played outside and we busted out a round of Dominion (always!)  Lots of food, lots of fun, and lots of photos to share!  What a fun day to celebrate the close of summer.

Clockwise from left: Chris Bingham, Ethan Malone, Tanner Malone, Becca Bingham, Rachael Bingham, Sydney Malone

Clockwise from left: Brooklyn, Chris, Lauren, Ethan, Sydney, and Tanner Malone

Melissa, Mike, Becca, Emily, Rachael, and Chris Bingham

Fall Bucket List: Low Country Boil

Last year, Andrew and I hosted a Low Country Boil for his DPT lab group.  We had never been to one but it seemed like an awesome Southern tradition and we wanted in on the action.  Low Country Boil is made by combining potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, and shrimp in a big pot of boiling water with a ton of Old Bay seasoning.  When everything is cooked through, you drain it and dump it out on a table covered in newspaper so that everyone can just DIG IN.  I am here to tell you that this is the most fun potluck you can have!

This year, we held it over at Zack and Kathleen Hetrick's since there is a little more room for the long tables needed.  We rolled out a bunch of butcher paper and brought a bunch of yummy sides to share.

LOW COUNTRY BOIL

6 quarts water

1 c. Old Bay seasoning

2 lemons, quartered

2 t. minced garlic

1 bay leaf

Cayenne pepper

3-4 lbs. honey gold or red potatoes, quartered           

1 Vidalia sweet onion, quartered

2-16 oz. packages cooked polska kielbasa                  

4 ears fresh corn, shucked

2 lbs. raw jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail on     

Lemon wedges

Cocktail sauce

Squirt butter

Hot sauce

Creole seasoning

Heat the water, Old Bay seasoning, lemons, garlic, bay leaf and cayenne pepper in a 12-quart stock pot until boiling.  Add the potatoes and onion and cook for 15 minutes.  Slice up the kielbasa into 2” pieces.  By hand, break each ear of corn in half.  Add to the water and allow to cook for another five minutes.  Add in the shrimp and cook five minutes.  Allow to sit in pot for a final five minutes.  Drain and serve with additional lemon wedges, cocktail sauce, squirt butter, hot sauce and Creole seasoning.  This is messy goodness!

We served our Low Country Boil with a variety of sides including cornbread, baked beans, lemonade, and peach cobbler.  Yum!  Cambria even got to try one of the lemon wedges.  

We were hoping for more of a reaction.

After dinner, we played lawn games including Can Jam and croquet.  Cambria had missed her last nap and was so tired and cranky.  It was a little frustrating because she had done so well staying out the night before.  Oh well!

Between Cambria melting down past the point of no return and us having to leave early to get that girl to bed, I only got a few photos.  Bummer! But it was so much fun to do.  I love this tradition!

Fall Bucket List: College Football Kickoff Party

August 29 was the first football game for BYU this season.  We were so happy that the Shorters (our fellow fans that took us to the Virginia game last year) invited us over for a party!  Our family loves football and we love friends who love to watch football with us.

I can't believe that I didn't bring my camera!  I swear, that thing has become a fifth appendage for me.  So I achieved ultimate blog stalker status by swiping Jess' photos.  Thanks, Jess!

Jess found some awesome football-themed cups, plates and napkins and we ordered pizza--the *most* appropriate food choice for our evening.

Our Peach Fuzz Girl is getting pretty good at this new highchair thing

Ian and Kenzie

Miss Maddie is in pizza heaven--one of three in her food trifecta of pizza, chicken nuggets and Oreos

Cambria did such a good job staying out past her bedtime.  She played until 7:45 and then fell asleep in the pack & play for another two hours.  Hooray!  This was *so liberating* for us as parents.  Is it possible?  Will be able to reclaim our social life once again?

It was a terrific game!  BYU beat Connecticut 35-10 and looked pretty good.  But every BYU fan knows that the season generally starts with high hopes and ends with hopes dashed.  Maybe this year truly will be different.

Maddie, Clay, Kenzie, Jess, and Ian Shorter

Hooray For Our Fall Bucket List 2014!! (And a Campout)

Andrew and I spent Monday, August 18, with a calendar and a list of things to do this season.  Fall is the most AWESOME time of year ever in the invention of seasons and the Mitchells LOVE to have a good time.

Our Fall Bucket List was officially created late summer 2012 on the patio of a Cheesecake Factory in Utah as we waited for our server to bring our dinners.  We sat enjoying the evening breeze and brainstormed a list that I recorded on my phone.  It combined things that we both individually make an effort to do year after year, ideas from Pinterest that I had seen, and new traditions we hoped to create for our family.

Now that we are in our third year, it has become something that we eagerly anticipate as summer winds down.  We catch ourselves saying, "Hey, we haven't watched The Karate Kid yet" or "Where are we going to go pick apples?"

That makes me super happy.

Fall Bucket List: Campout

We started our list off with a ward campout the weekend of August 22-23.  I love to be outside enjoying a good bonfire and toasting marshmallows for s'mores!  Unfortunately sleep training and inclement weather dashed those plans and we had to improvise.

Cambria's cute, little red raincoat was so adorable!

Friday night, we tucked Cambria in her crib and tossed our tinfoil dinners in the oven.  We combined sliced bell peppers, red onions, and potatoes with polish sausage (the Isenbarger family's favorite meat); doused them in olive oil (so healthy!) and generously covered them in Johnny's garlic seasoning spread.  We baked them at 400 degrees for an hour, opened the tinfoil packets and then broiled them for an additional ten minutes to get that nice, yummy char.  They were delicious!

We watched a movie together and went to bed, happy that we were comfortable, warm, dry, and that we didn't wreak of campfire smoke.

The next morning we got up at 6:15 and drove out to the ward campsite.  The Young Men were in charge of cooking breakfast and so Andrew had volunteered to be there.  Plus, we really wanted to see how everyone survived the night.

It drizzled quite a bit that morning and so, sadly, I could only snap a few photos.  But Cambria's expressions were killing me!

Family photo in front of the Roskelly's cabin.  Coincidentally, we are both wearing Stately Type t-shirts!

We had a yummy pancake breakfast and got to visit with everyone before the rain really started to come down and we had to pack up and head out.  Hooray for Cambria's first campout (ish) and hooray for the start of The Mitchell Family Fall Bucket List 2014.  Follow along on Instagram: #jamfallbucketlist2014 !