Goin' on a Hay Ride

Two Thursdays a month, I meet with some lovely ladies to drink wine, eat yummy food and chat about what's going on in our lives. Oh, yeah, also, we read different books about faith, spirituality and the bible and discuss those. We've named it "Faith Club," and I love those Thursday nights. Every once in a while, we make an effort to get together outside of the standard Thursday night and include spouses, significant others, and children. We started talking about doing something this fall, and the idea of a Hay Ride came up.

Ok, truth be told, I brought the idea up. I have had several other friends who have gone on these hay rides, and I thought they sounded so fun. You schedule a specific time, then meet at Shawnee Mission Park, go for an hour-long hay ride, then get to have an hour-long bonfire, complete with marshmallows and apple cider. Plus, you can bring other food if you want. And, if you know me, you know s'mores were a must. Mmmmm ... marshmallows gooeyness with chocolate sweetness and graham crunchiness. Delicious.

Anyway. So, everyone was up for it, and we scheduled the hay ride. Then, slowly, people started dropping out. Your group is supposed to have a minimum number of people, and I'd already made the deposit, so I was getting worried. But, a couple girls invited roomates and friends, and we made it just barely over the minimum. We were a go!

The girls were super excited to hear that we were going to go on a hay ride. We drove out to the park, and bundled up. It was actually a really nice night. A little chilly, but you kind of want a hay ride to be chilly, right? It helps contribute to the atmosphere.

We were the first to arrive, so we got a family picture on the hay ride.

Pretty Molly with the campfire in the background.

Everyone showed up, and we set out on the hay ride. It was essentially an out-and-back trip through the park. But, I've been to Shawnee Mission Park a ton of times, and I've never seen this part of the park. We got to see some pretty colored-trees, despite the drought of this summer. Molly kept saying, "What a beautiful view!"

Reece, Jake, Molly and Charlotte.

Cheesing it up with Molly. Charlotte did not want to participate. Shocker.

She did kind of smile with Daddy, though.

Molly got cold and tired by the end of the ride.

This was right before Sully tried to throw Ali's phone off the side of the wagon. Justin saved it at the last second.

An hour-long hay ride is actually kind of long for a bunch of kids 5 and under. So, they were definitely ready for the campfire. We brought out hot dogs, chips, applesauce and stuff for s'mores. What we did not remember? Plates and napkins. Whoops. That's surely some kind of mark against us in our parental grade cards. Luckily, Leigh had some napkins in her car, so we improvised a bit with the kids.

How cute are these guys?

Roasting marshmallows with Ali and Emily.

Posing with Leigh by the campfire.

C.C. was such a good sport. All the kids liked attacking and wrestling with her, and she put up with it. She told me she didn't want any pictures of herself on FB, but this is my blog, so it's totally ok.

The whole evening turned out to be a great time. Plus, the rain that had been forecasted for the evening started just minutes after we got into the car to go home. Perfect timing. Hay ride success!