Road Trip to The Patch


The drive out to The Patch is beautiful, especially with the autumn colors that are now bursting from the leaves on the trees that greet us on our way. We've got a relatively full vehicle - I'm driving, our friend Kyle* is in the passenger seat, Zelda is in her car seat with her grandmother, Cathy* in the seat next to her, and Jeremiah is in the back row.


It takes us about an hour to get from hour home in Aurora out to Kiowa where the patch is. The drive is easy, only a few turns, and the county roads are well-maintained.


The Patch is marked with a giant arch to greet us. My only suggestion is that The Patch puts a sign out on the road facing traffic, as the arch runs parallel to the road so you have to look to the side to see it. They have marked their parking lots clearly, and we drive back to the lot, parking in the front row. We get Zelda into her stroller and make our way up to the entrance.

Entering The Patch


We show our tickets to the person working the booth, and she hands us two physical tickets for free mini pumpkins. Love that for us! We decide we will get them when we leave. I look over to my right, and I see a beautiful horizon of corn stalks with a lonely tree up on a hill. I love photographing lonely trees.


Our group gathers near the entrance - there's a whole troop of us, twelve total: Those of us that came in our car; John and his three kids Marvin, Jackson, and Melanie; and Norman, Bethany, and Zack in the last car.

Panoramic view of a lush green cornfield stretching to the horizon under a bright blue summer sky.

Playground + Ropes Course


I take a few photographs of us all sitting on the giant swinging bench and the giant chair in the little playground. I won't be posting those here though, as it shows the childrens' faces.


Next up - the Ropes Course. The kids all have a blast climbing around the ropes course. There are tunnels, bridges, and so much more. Some of the adults also joined in on the fun - Norman, Bethany, Jeremiah, and John were all on the course with the kids. John dove into the rope tunnels after Melanie and Jackson, sending each of them into a flurry of giggles.

A sequence of photos showing movement through a wooden tunnel leading to a bright exit.
Volunteers work together to construct wooden framing for a community building project in an outdoor setting.

Jumping Pillows, Pallet Maze, + Corn Maze


The bigger kids and some of the adults walk across the dirt path over to the jumping pillows, which are essentially bouncy-houses without the houses. Norman and Zack are having fun on the right jumping pillow, while John, Marvin, Jackson, and Melanie are all on the left jumping pillow. The left jumping pillow is the one where they have organized games. There's an employee using a megaphone at each pillow, and the one on the left decides to play Simon Says. We witness all of the children lose, leaving John and another adult in play. They end up in a match of rock-paper-scissors and John wins!


After they hop around for a while, we then walk over to the pallet-maze. We let Zelda lead the way, and she navigates it perfectly. We are very impressed. The other kids come and join in, playing games of hide-and-seek and tag within the pallet maze.


Now it's time for the big maze. The corn is pretty short, probably due the dry summer and fall, but the maze is fun nonetheless. We kind of get split up into groups as we try different directions, but we all make it out successfully - woo!

A parent and small child walk together on a dirt path through a cornfield at a fall harvest festival.
People walking through a corn maze on a sunny autumn day with dried corn stalks stretching into the distance.

Farm Animals


The bigger kids and their respective adults go over to the giant slide and zip line.


Zelda, Cathy, Jeremiah, and I head over to see the farm animals. The sheep and goats are all eager for snacks. We don't have any, nor are we allowed to feed them, but they are eager nonetheless. They keep sticking their heads through the gate to try to get nibbles. The sheep are extra fluffy. The goats are cute as always, and they have their guard dogs keeping them safe. I go up the hill to take photographs of the mini donkeys while Jeremiah, Cathy, and Zelda take their time and let her pet all of the animals. It's extremely windy, and the donkeys are not looking like they are having the time of their lives, so I want to make sure I get at least a few snapshots of them before they go inside.


I rest my camera on one of the fence posts, changing the lens to my telephoto, and snap a few photographs of the donkey that's closest to me. I move down the dirt path between the animals, and head down to the highland cows. By the time I get to the bottom of the hill and look back, the donkeys have moved inside. I'm glad I got my pictures when I did!


Highland cows always look like they should be in on the cover of a CD or something to me. They are always so photogenic. Jeremiah brings Zelda down the hill to me to admire the cows, and Cathy comes along with Zelda's stroller.

A black and white terrier mix dog with scruffy fur shows different facial expressions in a series of four photos.
Children and adults explore a rocky tide pool area along the coastline during a sunny day.
A Highland cow with long horns and shaggy brown fur stands in a barn on a sunny day.
A close-up view of a Highland cow's face showing its distinctive long horns and shaggy reddish-brown fur.
Corn kernels spread out on a drying surface with dogs resting in the background.
A group of gray donkeys stand near a metal fence in a dry grassy field.
A close-up profile view of a shaggy Highland cow with long horns and brown fur.

Corn Cribs, Tether Ball, + Bucking Broncos


The corn cribs are near where the animals are, so we walk over there. Zelda thinks sitting in the dried kernels is great, and she immediately starts playing, trying to walk around, and filling and emptying a bucket. Within a few minutes, Norman, Zack, and Bethany come strolling down from the zip lines, and Zack joins Zelda in the corn crib. He also thinks this is an excellent idea, and also gets a bucket to play with in the corn.


Jeremiah, Kyle, and John all go and play with the tether ball nearby for a bit while the kids have fun. They get pretty into it, smacking the ball back and forth. I'm not even sure if there's a winner.


After thirty minutes or so pass in the corn crib, we all walk down to where the "Bucking Broncos" are. The Bucking Broncos are a little train pulled by a tractor of barrels painted like horses that go up and down as the tractor pulls them. Zelda is too small to ride, but the rest of the kids hop on. They have a lot of fun riding the train.

A group of people practicing clay pigeon shooting at an outdoor range in an open field.
Close-up texture of golden wheat grains spread out creating a natural agricultural background pattern.
People enjoying clay pigeon shooting at an outdoor range with wide open fields in the background.

Hay Ride + Pumpkin Patch


After the Bucking Broncos return the children to us, we walk across the field to go on the Hay Ride. Zelda starts to fall asleep on Jeremiah's shoulder, and Zack is starting to act tired, so we essentially agree that after the hay ride we are going to go pick our pumpkins and head home.


We get off the Hay Ride and say goodbye to John and his kiddos, as they are going to stay and go play some more. The rest of us head down to the pumpkins. Bethany, Norman, and Zack pick theirs quickly and head home. Zelda wakes back up once the hay ride is over, and we take the opportunity to get some cute photographs of her in front of a truck and a few other photo op areas they have set up. Then we let her wander around the pumpkins, and she thinks it's so much fun trying to pick them all up.


Cathy picks pumpkins for herself, her husband, and her youngest son. Kyle picks a pumpkin for himself, as does Jeremiah. I eventually pick mine, and we pick one together for Zelda. We load the car with our seven large pumpkins plus our three free little ones, and head home.

Rows of bright orange pumpkins scattered across a dry field at a seasonal pumpkin patch on a sunny autumn day.