It is no secret that fall is my favorite time of year. I love it for many reasons: the color palette, the smells, the temperatures, football, bonfires, leaves, scarves, and many more! But the main reason it is my favorite season is because of the first weekend in October...our annual pumpkin patch trip and fall decor addition to our house. This is a tradition that Mike & I have had since we moved into our very first home and one that we have continued with each move and have happily included our little girl in!
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| Our first home all decorated with pumpkin patch finds! |
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| House #2! Our cute little pumpkin gets added to the decor! |
The first weekend in October had finally arrived! It was a cool day, so we got all layered up to go pumpkin pickin'! We couldn't leave the house without a mini photo shoot (Lila is a fan of the camera)!
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| Pumpkin patch style! |
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| Posing for a picture by the big tree! |
Each year we go to a local farm called Bart's to get our pumpkins and have a little bit of fall fun! Bart's is great because it isn't overdone like some of the more commercial pumpkin patches. While those are fun, we like the more intimate vibe that Bart's gives off. There isn't a fee to get in, you come in, you enjoy, and you pay for your pumpkins and off you go!
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| We've arrived at our favorite spot! BRRRR!!!! It's cold! |
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| Staking her claim on the pumpkins at Bart's! |
It didn't take long and we were off and running! It isn't unusual for us to have several wagons full of goodies to take home with us! Mike is such a good sport running stuff back to the truck as we collect.
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| Taking our loot to the truck! |
One of Lila's favorite activities (and the original reason she started taking riding lessons) is the pony rides out at the farm! This year the pony's name was Ned!
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| Lila & Ned |
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| Enjoying the ride! |
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| She looks so big up there vs. how little she looks on a big horse! |
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| A quick photo op before loading up the final bits! |
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| A full load! |
I have to admit that I was super nervous this year for this tradition. I wasn't nervous about going to Bart's and having fun, that is a guarantee! I was nervous about decorating a new porch. I didn't know how it was going to play out, what would it look like? Would it look as good as our last house did? It was like the old house was made for fall decor with the bigger porch! I truly stressed about this more than I care to admit! I wanted to be sure that I felt as good about it in the new house as I have in our other homes -- it is my favorite tradition, after all!
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| Helping Mom place the pumpkins |
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| Poser! |
It wasn't too long after we started placing the straw and the pumpkins that it all really started to come together! We got into a quick rhythm and before we knew it the porch was starting to look like a cozy fall scene -- exactly what I was hoping for!
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| Including the most important pumpkin of them all! |
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| Welcome fall! |
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| "Fall"-ing in LOVE! |
It wasn't until late this summer that I really started to relax and embrace our move. The moving process was far more stressful than I could have ever imagined, which didn't allow me to really enjoy this beautiful house we had moved into. In fact, if anything, it really deterred me and made me a bit skeptical. I have finally had moments where I find myself loving it here the way I envisioned loving it here all those months ago! Continuing our pumpkin patch tradition and seeing the porch come together so beautifully has only made me FALL more in LOVE!
