We made our annual trip to Rombach's Pumpkin Patch this weekend, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. I just love fall, with its crisp air and early sunsets. Love it! 

I've been to a couple of other patches around here, and some of them have better attractions for the kids.  But Rombach's is our favorite. Maybe because it's the pumpkin patch where our fall family tradition began some 5 years ago.  Maybe because it is indeed the best patch in the area.  

Last year's crop was awful.  Most of the pumpkins were rotting in the fields. Very disappointing.  This year, the field pumpkins had already been cut from the vines and were just sitting there waiting to be hauled back to the parking lot. The purpose of the precut vines, I think, was probably so the pumpkins didn't rot again this year in the warmish weather.  But, still, it felt a little silly walking out to the fields to "pick" a pumpkin...

The patch really isn't that far from our house, and I'm relatively certain the air composition is 98% identical.  Nonetheless, it somehow feels fresher out there in the middle of all those pumpkins. It feels more like fall.