Ah, the pumpkin patch

We braved the busiest pumpkin patch in Omaha yesterday for an outing with Rye's daycare. And despite how crazy it has seemed some years, last night was really fun.

We met at 5 and then gathered around a campfire to cook hot dogs -- and later s'mores. Then we rode a train around part of their farm, attempted to jump on a giant inflatable "pillow" in the ground, looked at bunnies and then took a 15-minute or so hayrack ride to the pumpkin patch itself.

It was dark by the time we got on the tractor-pulled hayrack, and just a little bit chilly. We spotted the big dipper through the clouds and the sliver of a moon. Rye curled up against me, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd fallen asleep.

Once in the field of pumpkins, we tried to find a few "wee little ones" in short order. We did fairly well with that and then enjoyed an equally long hayrack ride back.

Perhaps Rye's favorite part was the $1 glow necklace we bought next. Back at the campfire, he and his friends -- who also had one -- pretended they were Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting with their light sabers. The light-up novelties served a practical purpose, too -- in the almost pitch black, they were illuminated name tags for our children.

Here are some more photos:

"All aboard!"


It's the giant pumpkin, Charlie Brown!


On the hay-rack ride