Pepper Design Blog

Weekend Fun: The Pumpkin Patch! + 2 New Features

Let’s fast forward a bit through September and most of October and jump right into our most recent weekend at the pumpkin patch. I’ll have to come back to those previous months to add to our little virtual photo album – but what fun we had this past Sunday!

What’s the fall season without a trip to the pumpkin patch? And this little patch is so beautiful with all of the gorgeous gardens and ponds and big hanging trees… we’ve made it a tradition among friends and we look forward to it every year.

One of the reasons this year was so special was that it was Liv’s first trip! We played with pumpkins, watched a day-old alpaca and his mama, wandered the gardens and took plenty of pictures.

Here’s the whole group:

And a little reminder from last year, when I had the pumpkin in my belly:

A few more babies and a slightly bigger group. We keep growing.

Liv thought it was all awesome. Every last detail.

This is one of my favorite series. We’re wandering the gardens and Liv is getting dirty, like really really dirty. So she stops to check out what she’s crawling through and low and behold – after a closer a look:

Before anyone could stop her, Plop! into the mouth it goes. Thankfully she didn’t find it appetizing and I’m pretty sure that was her last wood chip snack for the day.

Did I mention that Liv is nearly walking? She can take 3 or 4 unassisted steps and it’s so exciting! It’s amazing how much a heart can swell with pride when that steady look of determination fills her face and she patiently lets go of the couch to attempt those few rocky steps towards you.

But crawling is much faster, so for fun days like this, she resorts to the easy stuff.

These gardens are so stunning! I’ve never visited a pumpkin patch with so many nooks and crannies full of beautiful finds. You would never know it was fall here in San Diego because we’re still surrounded by green, green, green and 70-80 degree weather.

Last but not least, we attempted a few family photos:

After the pumpkin patch we headed to a friend’s for our annual chili party. So delicious and such a perfect Sunday.

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PS A couple new additions over here!

1. You may have noticed that the blog now has a ‘You Might Also Like’ feature that pops up under each post.

2. Now you can ‘like’ a post without having to comment, simply tap the plus sign next to the heart shape at the bottom of the post and show some love for your favorite posts or ideas. It’s not the same as ‘liking’ on facebook, in fact it’s not linked – it’s just a cool little gadget to tap if you like what you’re reading (non-commenters, I sympathize with you).

Weekend Fun: July & August

I’m meandering from the usual topics today to update our virtual family album (which this blog in so many ways is) with the latest summer installment. July and August were full of busy adventures… including biking across Iowa with RAGBRAI, relaxing by the creek in Sedona, Arizona and several weekend trips full of family and friends in San Diego or nearby.

First up, a week in Sedona, Arizona enjoying red rock country with Kevin’s family:

Liv is getting so big! While in Sedona, we spent plenty of time swimming in the cool creek and wandering around the little downtown boutiques and ice cream shops.

Towards the beginning of summer I had mentioned that we were preparing for a big trip biking across Iowa! Those crazy Iowans invite over 10,000 people to the state in the sweltering heat and humidity of late July, but it sounded like loads of fun for our family so Kevin signed us up!

Kevin and I both have family from Iowa so it was a great opportunity to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, great aunts twice removed… from both sides. It was so neat to see everyone.

And as for the biking?

What a blast we had!

My brother took a series of still images throughout a single day’s ride, and then we sped it up super fast for an ultimate Day of RABGRAI tour:

Every town we passed through warmly opened their doors to the oncoming visitors, offering up delicious homemade pie, freshly brewed beer and sweet roasted corn as far as the eye could see. I spent a fair amount of time in the air conditioned transport vehicle with Olivia but my time on the road was awesome – even in the crazy heat.

I’m happy to report that my in-laws and parents – and all of our brothers – left the trip unscathed after spending seven days in an RV all together. We might just have to do it again!

In other wonderful news, we welcomed two new babies in our little group of San Diego friends! Exciting, so exciting. How glowing are these moms.

Beautiful showers were hosted for both of these adorable babes – but believe it or not I lost the camera card for one and completely forgot to take pictures from the other. So. frustrating.

But these cute photos celebrating the 1st birthday of two handsome fellas might make up for it:

Plus the 2nd birthday of this little princess!

Earlier in the summer we met my parents half way between Santa Cruz and San Diego to enjoy some sun and pool time! They needed a ‘Liv fix’ and it’s really nice that we’re each about a four hour drive away from a meet-up point.

In August, Liv and I visited my old collage roommates, and while in the city made a detour to the infamous Rose Bowl Swap Meet. Pure bliss.

And there you have it, a round up of our summer. One day I’ll have to create a large coffee table book out of all of our digital family album updates so that we (and Liv + future siblings) have something neat to check out in future years. Hope your summer was as equally special.

Weekend Fun + a Shabby Apple Review

Since this blog is a digital journal of sorts for Kev and I to look back at over the years, I’m having fun throwing in a few ‘Weekend Fun’ posts here and there to see what kept us busy when. What’s even better is that it’s a virtual reminder of Liv’s (fast!) growth. It’s amazing what a short couple of months mean in baby-time. She’s still so teeny tiny but she used to be this and this teeny tiny. Time flies.

Back to photo journaling…

Visiting Balboa Park in San Diego is one of our favorite weekend activities. On this particular weekend we walked the beautiful grounds and then visited the Stickley exhibit at the Art Museum. Gustav Stickley is an especially important character in the Arts & Crafts furniture and home building movement and you can see plenty of Craftsman style homes here in San Diego that were influenced by his style of architecture.

I perused Balboa Park in my new Da Vinci dress by Shabby Apple. They had offered to send me a dress to review here on the blog and I was pretty hesitant at first. What if I didn’t like the dress at all? What if it didn’t fit well or just wasn’t my style? To my great relief the Da Vinci dress fit perfectly (a true-to-size fit) and and the jersey knit is incredibly comfortable. I’ve worn it on numerous occasions over the last couple of weeks because it has what I’ll call a ‘forgiving fit’ in that the waist line can be worn across the hips or a bit higher above the waist so that the top slouches. All post-baby imperfections are safely concealed.

If you’re a fan of this blog then you know that I love Shabby Apple and I think their goal of making everyday, attractive, modest women’s wear is awesome. Did you know that they also have a full line of kids and baby dresses? Shabby Apple, I’ll review a dress for Liv next! (we’re practising standing above, not posing! promise) Check out these links for bridesmaid dresses, swim wear and jewelry.

Shabby Apple is currently having a store wide 20% off summer sale! Not sure if you can stack these, but you’ll also get 10% off if you use the code: pepperdesign10off and don’t forget to like them on Facebook to receive regular promotion updates.

In May we attended my brother’s college graduation at Notre Dame. So proud of you, Andy!

Memorial Day is our little neighborhood’s favorite holiday, complete with a parade, relay races and basketball tournaments. Kevin turned a piece of his architecture project into an impromptu float and won a first place award. Poor boys had to carry that huge structure nearly a mile on their shoulders!

This past July 4th weekend Liv discovered the sand and the ocean for the very first time. I know, it’s a crime that we live in San Diego but we don’t visit the beach more often. But that’s what summer is for and we’ll have to make up for lost time!

Family from Arizona and friends from all over joined us for a full sun-filled day at the beach (early afternoon until fireworks – Liv was such a trooper!).

Happy weekend to you all! Hope you enjoy this one and don’t forget to capture it for future memories.