Happy November! Halloween may be over, and we may be heading into Thanksgiving/Christmas season, but there's still plenty of autumn fun to be had! Of course, one of the most fun fall family activities has got to be apple picking. There's nothing like taking your kids walking through lush orchards and gathering apples to use for all different sorts of snacks and treats, from fresh-baked pie to caramel apples.

Here, six tips and tricks on picking the most primo apples ...

Weekend days are notorious for getting away from us too fast. Sometimes, as a mom, I am so exhausted from the week past that I end up wanting just to sleep all morning, keep the kids in front of the TV and veg.

Then, on Sunday, most typically, I wake up with the weight of the week on my chest. It's the day for Costco, Whole Foods, cleaning, lunch packing and errand running. Where is the family time? We are lucky if we get an hour at the local park.

This is not what the weekends are made for. We spend all week apart, so why not come together on the weekends and make them all about family? There are a lot of great ways to make the weekends count. I, for one, plan to try to do at least one really fun thing per weekend from now on.

Here are five ways to change it all up:

I don't know about you, but when it comes to a favorite time of year to eat breakfast, mine is fall. Call me lame, but the options are just SO much better. Just thinking of the warm, nutty flavor of maple cinnamon oatmeal gives me goosebumps. Oh! And even better -- the delicious taste of pumpkin coffee makes me want to instantaneously go outside and jump in a pile of leaves and carve a pumpkin all at once.

Just trust me on this one. Check out 6 great ways to bring fall to your breakfast table:

Crafting with elements of the outdoors is kind of a no-brainer this time of year when everything is just bursting with color, and with winter fast approaching it's a good way to squeeze every bit of outdoor time out of the fall that you can with the kids!. Trying to build our fall nature table keeps my daughter scurrying in and out of the house as she collects all the leaves, pinecones, and other goodies Mother Nature gives us this time of the year.

The sky is the limit on what kids can come up with, but if you're stumped, here are some easy kid crafts that bring will bring nature inside to your table just in time for Thanksgiving.

After Halloween is over, it seems kind of silly to keep spooky home decorations like ghosts and goblins out on display. But you can still keep your home festive for fall even though we still have a month or so to go before the holidays kick in. I mean, fall doesn't have to equal Halloween, right?

And what better way to stop your kids from whining about their candy being gone than to get them involved in helping you turn your home into a fall wonderland? 

Take this lovely arrangement of mums, gourds, and pumpkins, for example. The myriad of colors are a perfect fit for autumn, and this makes a great display, inside or out.

Now that fall is here and the air is crisp and cool, it's a great time to do some cozy baking with your kids. Especially with all those apples and pumpkins! For kids, baking is like playing with play dough only better because you get a tasty treat afterward. For us parents it's definitely the harder, messier way to get food on the table. But that's not the point! Baking with your kids is just a fun activity to share that ends with something delicious they can be proud of and everyone can enjoy.

Here are some ideas and recipes for our favorite fall baking treats you can make with your kids.

As the oppressive heat of summer becomes a distant memory, and we welcome the cool, crisp fall weather, it's a perfect time for some family fun outside. And what better way to get outside and bond than a good old-fashioned scavenger hunt?

Whether in your neighborhood, at a local park, or on a hike, all you need is a mission and a little competitive spirit. Fall is ripe with themes for providing those missions, and the possibilities of what you can hunt down are endless. You can either hunt for a list of different items or different varieties of the same item and go for quantity. Here are some deals to get you started:

There are so many reasons to love the fall. It marks the first bit of relief from the sizzling summer heat, all the leaves start to turn an amazing array of colors, and, perhaps most exciting, it means the start of the holiday season. It's also provides the perfect opportunity to spend real quality time with the kids, whether you are bundled up for a day outdoors or huddled around a nice warm fire with cups of cocoa.

Here are 25 fantastic fall activities the entire family will love:

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