{"id":1392,"date":"2025-10-24T21:16:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T21:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2025-10-24T21:16:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T21:16:44","slug":"a-guide-to-my-favourite-fall-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/2025\/10\/24\/a-guide-to-my-favourite-fall-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to My Favourite Fall Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

I truly can\u2019t believe fall is here\u2014where did the time go?! As we usher in shorter days and the crisp autumn air, we find the perfect excuse to embrace our favourite seasonal activities, from checking out the newest pumpkin spice latte (PSL) to visiting the closest corn maze. To get us all excited for this time of year, I\u2019ve put together some of my personal favourites\u2014ones for the kids, and ones for us (the parents who are doing the school drop-offs and juggling all<\/em> the things). You can find a great financial tip at the end, to help you as you navigate through this year.<\/p>\n

Family Visit to the Calgary Farmyard<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

While we don\u2019t necessarily have the same quintessential fall activities as other cities across the country (to my knowledge, at least), we do have an abundance of pumpkin patches and farmyards that turn into full on activity centres come October. Over the years, our family always makes at least one trip to the Calgary Farmyard, an awesome spot for the kids who want to get into the Halloween and autumn spirit. Located just southeast of the city, this \u201camusement park\u201d<\/a> (according to Google) has everything you could ever want, from lawn games to a petting zoo to harvest lights. We have so many great memories here, and if you need something to keep you busy on a weekend day, this is it!<\/p>\n

Check Out a New Neighbourhood Restaurant <\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes, summer is over, but that doesn\u2019t mean we have to totally say goodbye to patio season. With the cold weather that we experience in YYC over the winter, Calgarians have become great at creating spaces that truly don\u2019t feel like Calgary. One of these is Bar Rocca<\/a>, located in Marda Loop, which has a heated patio that I\u2019ve visited many times, even in very chilly conditions. The food is incredible, and the wine is delicious. Just down the way from Bar Rocca is its sister restaurant, DOPO<\/a>, which used to be in the old Bar Von Der Fels spot in Victoria Park. With a very cool Italian interior and some of the best pasta in the city, it\u2019s well worth stopping by.<\/p>\n

As a sidenote, word on the street is that DOPO is opening another restaurant kitty corner to their current location this November! I’m already counting down the days to check it out.<\/p>\n

Indulge in a Pumpkin Spice Latte<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

As we all know, autumn is PSL season. Last year, our team did a fun little tour to taste the city\u2019s wide array of PSL\u2019s\u2014you can see our ratings here<\/a>. If I remember correctly, our top-rated choices belonged to Starbucks, Good News, and Deville. While it\u2019s not my very favourite drink of all time, Kurt and Avrie enjoy them, and it\u2019s fun to see how the city\u2019s cafes get creative around the concept. You can grab one-to-go and set out on a nice walk in Princes Island Park or Fish Creek Park. Why not take advantage of the nice weather AND a festive drink?!<\/p>\n

Gear Up for a Fall Hike<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

With the mountains in our backyard, it\u2019s hard to turn down a beautiful fall hike. In my opinion, this is one of the most therapeutic times to go outdoors\u2014there\u2019s nothing quite like that crisp mountain air and a trip to Canmore or Kananaskis. Lillian Lake<\/a> is a great hike that\u2019s a bit longer in the area, which ends at\u2014you guessed it\u2014Lillian Lake. For a shorter day hike, try Grassi Lakes<\/a> or Troll Falls<\/a> (this one is particularly good for young kids!). AllTrails<\/a> is where I keep track of all our hikes and discover new ones to add to the list.<\/p>\n

My Fall Money Management Tip<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

In this blog, I\u2019ve tried to provide a range of activities at different price points, but I would be remiss to acknowledge how financially conscious we all are right now. The cost of living feels significant, and we\u2019re all trying to watch our spending. As always, I recommend setting a seasonal activity budget at the top of every season or quarter. Make sure you check it frequently, so you always know how much wiggle room you have. Outline how much you want to spend dining out, on travel and transportation, admission fees, and beyond. That way, you have everything covered, and nothing comes as a surprise.<\/p>\n

I hope that you enjoy this year\u2019s fall months as much as I do. \ud83e\udef6\ud83c\udffc<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I truly can\u2019t believe fall is here\u2014where did the time go?! As we usher in shorter days and the crisp autumn air, we find the perfect excuse to embrace our favourite seasonal activities, from checking out the newest pumpkin spice latte (PSL) to visiting the closest corn maze. To get us all excited for this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":1396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1392"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1395,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1392\/revisions\/1395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advisor.wellington-altus.ca\/julieshipleystrickland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}