LOVE IS A (PAINTBALL) BATTLEFIELD. Some things are just better worked out on the paintball battlefield, ya know?

Fall is my favorite season, no competition. Growing up and now living in Wisconsin, I wait through all nine months of winter (it feels that long, OK?) for the one month of autumnal bliss: frosted lawns in the morning that make the first cup of Joe that much better; tree leaves waking up their warm color palette; and not sweating or freezing solid the second I step outside.

I love fall activities too, and there’s no shortage of them in Wisconsin. In the Chippewa Valley, we’re lucky to be placed within a short driving distance of many local farms opening up to let the public try their luck in a corn maze or to pick pumpkins. Instead of carving pumpkins, my best friend and I painted pumpkins about a week ago, adorning them with ghosts – hers with pink-cheeked smiles and mine with wide, spooky eyes. I also went to Connell’s Orchard and enjoyed an apple cider slushie, as one does, and picked apples. This past weekend, I took part in another activity I hope will become a fall tradition: family paint balling.

My partner’s family – including his dad, sister, step mom, and twin step sisters and their boyfriends – have taken the trip over to Osseo’s Battlefield Paintball a couple of times now to solve some issues have some good ol’ fashioned competition and laughs. My boyfriend has a welt on his back from getting got good; I shot his dad in the butt, and he responded by getting me right in the face mask; and I accidentally almost shot one of the sisters’ boyfriend in the pants. I would totally recommend spending some fall family time sorting out your feelings out on the paintball battlefield.