Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the ninth day of the month is "Location."
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While I guess I've only written about it twice on this blog, every year my husband and I go to a corn maze in October. When we lived in Minneapolis, we went to this corn maze at an apple orchard and they were actually open AFTER DARK and one year we went on the night when it was actually populated by terrifying people in costumes running around scaring you as if it weren't scary enough being in a CORNFIELD IN THE DARK. Anyway, we're older and I'm short one good ankle, so we go to a very tame one with lots of breaks and these number markers that let you know that you're going in the right direction.
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| Why, yes, this is how I behave in public. Don't you? If you're really paying attention to this blog, you'll catch that I am wearing my new sweatshirt and my favorite hat. Tis that time of year. I just noticed you can also see how messed up my right thumb is. Wow. This photo has it all. |
Because we've now been doing these corn mazes for going on two decades together, we have a system. If we think something is a loop, one of us will point in one direction, the other will point in another, and we'll go off our separate ways until the loop joins and we meet. This is done silently because WHY WASTE WORDS? We find it very funny when people are staring at maps or having discussions about strategy. Our only rules are a) go to the right if there's a choice or b) go in whatever direction other people are not. Because of these rules of the corn maze, we rarely actually talk about the maze while we're doing it.
Anyway, this maze is part of an amazing farm that has lots of fun activities for kids, including a hay ride, a corn pit, a petting farm, apple and pumpkin cannons, and just a gazillion booths to buy apple cider, donuts, kettle corn, and other fair food. I enjoyed petting the goats a lot (did you know they were super soft?) and really enjoyed getting my fingers nibbled on by a donkey. We did not partake of any food, although we both admitted that the smell of the apple cider donuts was very tantalizing.
It was a little early for us to go this year - look at how green the corn still is! - but our weekends in October are filling up a bit too quickly for my liking.
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Have you ever been to a corn maze? What spooky season activity should we do next weekend?
I love this! Ben and Coop were there this weekend with Coop's baseball team for some nighttime haunted forest action
ReplyDeleteOof. I think I'd probably trip and die if I did it at night now! I'm not young anymore. Good for the boys doing it, though! I bet they loved it.
DeleteCorn mazes are lots of fun. I haven't been to one for a couple of years, but the last one I went to was really big and took almost 4 hours to get through. It was a little too much, but still lots of fun.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I'd have cried foul and get me out of here at 1.5 hours! FOUR HOURS IS TOO MUCH!!
DeleteI've *never* been. I'm too much of a wimp. But I loved all the Fall stuff people did this weekend on my timeline. I caught on to the birthday sweatshirt before you mentioned it :P You look adorkable!
ReplyDeleteOh, you could handle this maze, I promise. It's not scary at all! You can hear people and it's divided into three stages, so you are never really "lost." I think you should try it, but maybe not the one Erika spent four hours in!
DeleteI am so NOT a corn maze person. Someone volunteered to take our kids a few weeks ago and I was more than happy to skip it. Corn mazes are a Very Big Deal where we live and the parking lots of overflowing and I can't think of something I'd want to do less.
ReplyDeleteBUT...you seem to have a great system and I think I might actually enjoy doing a corn maze with your rules.
And yes - before you even mentioned it was giddy with excitement having spotted your new sweatshirt!! (I will admit I had forgotten about the hat). Both look great and very warm and cozy.
Yes! If you do the maze with the rules, crowds are not a problem because you're purposefully leaving them behind. The parking lot where we went was kind of crowded, but it seemed like people were not doing the corn maze as much as the other stuff, so it was a nice activity for us.
DeleteWhat a fun tradition! I love that you have your unspoken methods for tackling the maze. Good for you for getting it in, even if early.
ReplyDeleteI guess it was the second weekend in October, so it's not SUPER early, but we do like to do it when the corn is a little browner for the creepy rustling sound.
DeleteNo, i've never been to a corn maze! I'm looking at Erika's comment above- 4 hours??? How long did this one take you? It sounds like a really fun fall activity.
ReplyDeleteWe did the corn maze, the petting zoo, and wandering around in 1.5 hours. And that was about the perfect amount of time. FOUR HOURS is TOO MUCH!!
DeleteFIRST RULE OF CORN MAZE--DON'T TALK ABOUT CORN MAZE
ReplyDeleteI've never ever done a corn maze or a haunted house and both are big around here. I've been on a hayride, though.
It's nice that you had a pleasant experience with goats. I'm anti-goat ever since one ate my favourite dress my grandmother made me (while I was wearing it!). I was about 8 years old, and I was at a petting zoo. I've been stricken with GoatPTSD ever since.
Oh, these goats were charming! Maybe give them another chance? (Or not. I'm anti-rabbit and will not be giving them another chance.)
DeleteThat looks very fun! I haven't been to a corn maze but I remember my kids went to Aggie Days when they were in grade 1 and 2, and there was a hay bale maze that they loved.
ReplyDeleteHm. Are corn mazes not a seasonal activity where you are, Nicole? They're great fun!
DeleteIf I may use the other word for corn, this is aMAIZEing.
ReplyDeleteThere were plenty of these types of puns on signs at the maze. Maybe you should consider working with them on their marketing!
DeleteWe went to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend, home to the 2014 Guiness Book World Record Corn Maze but we actually didn't go in because it was 95F and it was just too freaking hot to get lost in a corn maze. I wanna do it sometime though. :) I love that you have a tradition and do it every year.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I don't think I'd go if it were 95, either! That's too hot!
DeleteWe like to do a family outing to the corn maize this time of year. I take full advantage of everyone else's Boy Scouting abilities so I never have to navigate;-)
ReplyDeleteVery smart plan to make others do all the work. I approve.
DeleteI haven't been to a corn maze in years! How fun!
ReplyDeleteIt IS fun. I do recommend going during daylight hours, though. The ground is pretty uneven.
DeleteGoats! So cute. Donkeys! So cute. Did you dog have a fabulous time sniffing you when you got home? I know Mulder would have been all up in our business to get all the sniffs. I'm a little sad that you didn't get an apple cider donut though.
ReplyDeleteHannah WAS interested for about thirty seconds when we got home. I think she's comfortable that there were no dog smells!
DeleteI can't believe how green the corn is with the draught you've had for much of the year! I have never done a corn maze but I would like to do it when the boys are a bit bigger. Will is too small and a maze + stroller sounds like a horrible combo. Phil needs to go out to his mom's on Sunday to get our cat so he can take her to her vet appt on Monday. Last time he tried to get her in the carrier when he had Paul with him and it did not work. So he is hoping that without kids around, it will go better. Fingers crossed. Otherwise we'll need a vet to come to my MIL's house ha. But I should try going to an apple orchard or something with the boys on Sunday afternoon potentially to fill the time. I love that you do this as adults!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think this would be a perfect option for the kiddos in the next two or three years. Bonus points if you can find a place like this with all the animals and food and things - all the kids were having a blast there.
DeleteCorn mazes are not a thing here. It's so interesting seeing all the Fall seasonal things on blogs right now. A little window into another culture.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. I mean, corn fields can only grow in certain places!
DeleteI've never been to a corn maze! I'd love to go to one. I should see if there are any around me. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteA haunted corn maze with people running around scaring you sounds like the stuff of NIGHTMARES. No, no, no!
The haunted corn maze was really fun, but now that my leg is a bit wonky, I really worry about getting scared and twisting it on the uneven ground. I think it would be great fun if you were with the right group of people.
DeleteYou're so cute, weird thumb and all. 😜😜
ReplyDeleteI've never been to a corn maze, but if I did, I would also choose a lame one. I will not be out after dark in a maze of murderers.
It was fun to be out there in the pitch black with the actors! I just don't know if it would be fun for me NOW! LOL.
DeleteI love that you have a system! I love maps so I just read the map and get us through the maze that way. I am taking my sister and her kids to a pumpkin patch today and I'll have to see if they want to do the maze too!
ReplyDeleteI think there was an overview of the maze on an app, but I'm not sure there was an actual map. I mean, maybe there was. We wouldn't use a map because it would feel like cheating!
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