By Leslie Lindsay

It’s October and for those of us who love fall, this may be the best month ever.  It’s time for crunchy leaves, vibrant colors, brisk hikes, and campfires.  (Did I also mention that October is Fire Safetly Awareness month?).  Well, it is and with that in mind, I wanted to share with you some tips for a fun fall tradition as well as what you can do to prevent burns or fires from spreading.   Want to  study fire science?  Well, you can!  Learn more  at http://www.accredited-online-colleges.org/   This link will give you some great information about becoming a firefighter from online accredited colleges.

Firepit Friday

Our family has has this tradition to retreat to the patio in the evening with a little firepit action, complete with s’mores, hot cocoa and stargazing.  The girls eagerly await the day when we have decided it is neither too hot, nor too cold, there is not much cloud cover, and the winds are just so (we live in the Windy City, after all).  But, like everything, there are rules:

• Only daddy can build the fire
• Matches and lighters are not for kids
• Keep a least 2 feet away from the firepit
• Wear pants (although we don’t always adhere to this rule)
• Extinguish safely–with a doushing of water–or watch the fire die out on its own
• Never leave a fire or children unattended

I even completed the event with my famous give-a-book-for-fun tradition.  I found Fancy Nancy’s newest adventure at Target, “Stellar Stargazer,” in which she and her family camp out over-night in their backyard.  Well, sort of.  Seems little sister Jo Jo wants to go inside and the sky is too cloudy to really see any stars, by Nancy and her dad make the most of it.

(image retrieved from Amazon.com 10.14.11)
Snap a photo of your family doing the same thing, print it out and post it on the inside cover of the book.  Add a quick inscription and the date and you’ve got a memory that will last for generations.

You may even consider having some neighborhood kids over to share in the s’mores, bake star-shaped cookies, Little Debbie Star Crunch snacks.  Even powered donut holes look like little moons. Get creative!

Should your little campers rather be inside, set up an indoor-style tent (even a play tent will work) and attach tiny glow-in-the-dark sticker stars to in inside of the tent to give an illusion you are sleeping in the great outdoors.

Make your-own-constellation tee-shirt in a similar fashion…just get some stick-on (or iron-on) stars that glow in the dark, adding them to a black tee-shirt makes it particularly fun.

If you are interested in learning more about campfire traditions, look to:

http://www.mademan.com/mm/10-funny-campfire-songs.html for funny campfire songs,

this one has song’s designed for kids http://www.songdrops.com/childrens-songs-chords-and-lyrics

Paula Deen’s Campfire Cooking Recipes:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/paulas-home-cooking/campfire-cooking/index.html

Or “just the snacks, ma’am”  from Family Fun magazine, http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/a-campfire-you-can-eat-684387/

Also…http://www.thecampingguy.com/campfire_treats.html for more kid-friendly outdoor snack ideas

LET THE WEEKEND BEGIN!!