If fall had a hype woman, it could be Ashlee McLean.
As soon as the earliest signs of autumn arrive — kids starting school and the first leaves dropping on her Mount Horeb home — it’s on.
“We have seven maples in our yard, and they start getting crisp at the end of August,” she says. “I yell, ‘Go get the bins, it’s fall!’”
Out come the decorations that she, husband Dane and son Eli use to decorate their front porch and house. Every year, they add pumpkins they’ve grown from their garden, and sometimes Ashlee adds extra décor like fresh hay. And it doesn’t matter what weather Mother Nature is currently serving up.
“It can be ninety degrees out and I have flannel blankets all over the place,” Ashlee says.
Ashlee’s not sure where her love of fall comes from, but she’s happy that her family shares it. And there’s so much to celebrate.
“It’s soup season!” she says. “Crock pots, pumpkin spice everything, apple everything. It’s acceptable to eat pie all day. We have bonfires and leave our windows open as late as we can.”
There’s also the bigger picture.
“I love the colors, but also how it represents being okay with change,” she says.
Ashlee’s enthusiasm carries into her work as a preschool teacher at a Montessori school. She loves teaching and focuses on nature, kindness, inclusivity and modeling mistakes to the three-, four- and five-year-olds in her classroom.
She’s been with the school almost her entire time living in the Madison area. Both she and Dane, who works in IT, hail from Rockford, Illinois, and started dating in college. They spent a few years living in southern California, and there the pair began dreaming about starting a family and returning to the Midwest.
“We wanted a town that we could make our own,” she says. “And we fell in love with Madison.”
Eventually, they made their way to Mount Horeb, which the family appreciates for its small-town feel.
“It’s my little Stars Hollow,” says Ashlee, referencing the fictional setting of Gilmore Girls. “It has little stores, an ice cream shop, a thrift shop, an antiques store. I work in the city and then go back to our little cottage.”
There, she and Dane raise Eli along with three dog and three rats, the latter of whom have been a surprisingly welcome addition to the family.
“Eli really wanted a small pet, and we did a lot of research,” she says. “They’re potty trained and they come when called. They are the sweetest.”
Ashlee, Dane and Eli are all passionate animal lovers and vegans. Every year for his birthday, Eli raises money for the Heartland Farm Sanctuary in Verona, and Dane regularly whips up delicious plant-based meals for the family.
“Dane is an amazing cook,” says Ashlee. “The kitchen is our home base. Sometimes we just sit on the kitchen floor to talk.”
Ashlee decorates the home with pottery she’s been collecting for years, and Eli recently began taking pottery classes. Ashlee’s preferred hobby is crocheting — specifically amigurumi, the Japanese practice of creating small stuffed creatures. She loves crocheting mermaids, dinosaurs and little Disney characters for family, friends and her preschool graduates. She also sells tiny fidget rainbows and reusable water balloons at KELLA in Mount Horeb.
At home, the family mostly spends time together, but they also enjoy hosting family and friends. A highlight is a fall party they throw every year, with Dane making pumpkin chili.
Other fall must-dos include hitting up the big slides and corn maze at Enchanted Valley Acres in Cross Plains, going apple picking and taking lots of walks and hikes.
But Ashlee and Dane’s biggest fall tradition is going to Door County. They first went to celebrate their anniversary when Ashlee was pregnant and they’ve returned every year since. They hike at Peninsula State Park, eat pizza at Wild Tomato, attend the Sister Bay Fall Fest and soak up being together in a place they love at a time of year they adore.
“We’ve been to Door County nine times,” she says. “It’s our special thing. Every nook and cranny has a history.”
– Katie Vaughn
Photos courtesy of Ashlee McLean.
Katie Vaughn is the editor and co-founder of Northerly. She is a University of Wisconsin-Madison and Stanford University-trained journalist with experience as a writer, reporter, editor, blogger and author. She lives in Madison with her husband, daughter and son, and is always up for an adventure.