A couple weekends ago, my good buddy Lance and I took our (total of) three sons to an awesome little farm about a half hour north east of the city. There's a corn maze, a hay bale maze, a puppet show, petting zoo, wagon rides... and a compressed air Corn Cannon.
Good times had by all!
Tav and Dex posing in front of the Arachno-Dragon. I don't know why, but the farm had a dragon theme throughout the whole place. We just went with it.
There was a series of eavestroughs under these old hand pumps (sucking water from horse troughs underneath), and if you pumped fast enough, your duck could win!!
Or fall over and get stuck time and time and time again!!
This spiral "maze" was sort of a let down, but it gave us a reason to say, "go run around those circles as fast as you can!" They did not disappoint.
The entrance to the Great Prairie Corn Maze. Since it was pushing lunch time when we entered, all we had to do was grab the nearest ear, shuck it, and pass it off to a hungry boy until we reached the exit. It was a great way to spend the better part of an hour.
Declan inspects a fuzzy caterpillar. These guys were all over the place in the corn. Many squished ones on the path. We felt like saviours for our new friend here.
One last ear of corn on the wagon ride back to the main part of the farm.
Me! Just in case you've forgotten what I look like. The other bald fellow in the reflection is Lance. We are the same sort of coiffure connoisseurs. I love the stunned look of the employee chick coming into frame.
Uh... if you're wondering about the strings of beads around my neck, those were our "tickets" to get into the corn maze. Tavish really enjoyed strangling himself with his, and that's why I'm wearing two.
Tavish, apres corn, and just before we got our lunch.
Both boys loved climbing the huge round hay bales over by the petting zoo. We went back the very next weekend again since we had so much fun the first time.
(A similar picture makes up the new Simian Farmer banner. Refresh the page if you don't yet see it.)
Bye!
Cool place. I dig the new banner, too.
With all the corn fields around us, you'd think we'd have a similar spot to take kids. Nope. Instead we get a pumpkin farm. Not much hope for a maze there (although that spiral "maze" didn't look to tough to create).
Posted by: Mark | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 06:40 AM
"Come Get Lost in Our Maize"
"Welcome to Our Corn Utopia"
Posted by: Mark | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 07:54 AM
Mark, the potential for corny puns is truly staggering. Thanks for rising to the challenge. After a morning spent here, both boys slept REALLY well that night. Great way to let them exhaust themselves.
Posted by: Simon | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 08:42 AM
Man, that picture of Dex running really highlights how tall he's getting. Why with all the the "growing up" already?
Great banner, by the way. I'm always impressed with the whimsical angles and poses you capture for these things.
Last year, we took Norah and her boyfriend, David to a corn maze place. They had a blast running around, but didn't really "get" it. We're hoping this year will bring a bit more awareness on their parts.
Posted by: Moksha Gren | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 12:35 PM
I foresee a future in music for your boys, with sunglasses slowly becoming their trademark like this.
Cool banner, yup. Really in sync with the Farmer part of the blog title.
Posted by: Émilie B | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 12:49 PM
Moksha,
I revel in the older boy's height, mostly because it means there's only one now still left at crotch height. And he's the one most prone to run head-first right at me, looking to give me some mis-guided affection. Balls of leather, man!
Émy,
The boys certainly have a look down pat. They've been known to throw impressive fits if they leave the house forgetting their hats and sunglasses.
Posted by: Simon | Monday, 15 September 2008 at 01:15 PM
Um is that a wasp about to fly into Declan's ear in the last pic???
Posted by: Amy | Thursday, 18 September 2008 at 10:25 AM
Hey, you're right Aim... that totally is! I didn't notice it until you pointed it out.
Posted by: Simon | Thursday, 18 September 2008 at 10:37 AM
COOL! We're coming up to Edmonton for Thanksgiving and while the men are out quadding, this ould be something for me the kids and my sister's clan to enjoy. You'll have to let me know where this is!
Posted by: Terri | Thursday, 18 September 2008 at 02:21 PM
Amy's reason for marrying you, as mentioned in the last post, combined with the self-portrait of yourself in this one, reminded me of a quip I heard last week:
"That's not a bald spot... that's a solar panel for a sex machine."
Ba da boom. Chicka bown bown.
Posted by: Elizabeth | Friday, 19 September 2008 at 08:52 AM