Corn Maze

Estelle and Lena came over for a sleepover. I made everybody make their own pizza. 

 They all had dinner, splashed around in the pool, and watched a Disney Pixar movie called Brave. 

The next morning, we head out for The Great Vermont Corn Maze in Danville. This year's theme is dinosaurs. You'll see what I mean.

 Throughout the maze are these "checkpoints" where you punch your card. Each checkpoint has a different shape hole punch. It helps you track your progress through the maze. In other words, if you come to the same shaped hole punch, you know you've been in this area of the maze already. 

 Every once in a while you come to a bridge for admiring the view.

 We found some dinosaurs near this bridge.

 Estelle found the Bell of Frustration.

 In addition to the bridges, there is this boat in a sea of corn.

 After wandering aimlessly, back and forth across the maze, we decided we needed a little help and started following the hints provided on doors that lead to different areas of the maze. One of the hints led us through this tunnel.

 Finally, after being in the maze for more than an hour, and having to resort to using hints, we found our out and to the bell of success.

 There are lots of things to do here besides the maze.

 Last year's theme was space aliens and this space ship is still around.

 You can't visit the Great Vermont Corn Maze without going to Kid Village.

 There is a barnyard petting zoo.

 Here is the aerial shot of this year's maze design.

 Estelle and I studied the map of checkpoints and cross referenced it with our punch cards. I photoshopped numbers onto this photo to show our meandering progress.  We didn't make all the checkpoints, but you can see that after #4, we wised up and started following the hints

 Lena poses with last year's space aliens.

 A lunch break.

 After lunch, back to playing. Underground tunnels with areas built in for peaking out.

 A barn full of fun.

 A unique miniature golf course.

 This slingshot catapult is part of  the miniature golf course. The people that run this place are very creative.

 Miniature golf ends here.

 Thanks Estelle and Lena for sharing a fun day with us.

Shadow Lake Beach

On Sunday, Julie drove Thomas up to Montreal to catch a plane back to France. While she was gone Joanie brought Estelle and Lena to Shadow Lake Beach and I brought Wayne, Cole, and Heather.

It was a fun couple of hours of water, sand, and sun. 

We were sorry to see Thomas go, but glad to hear that he got back home safely.

Bald Mountain

Ed, Sandy, and Elijah spent a few days at Shadow Lake camp. They invited us to hike Bald Mountain with them. 

 We kept an eye on the weather reports and decided that rain and thunder would hold off until afternoon. We were able to spend a comfortable and beautiful morning hiking. Cole and Wes decided to stay home and  invite a friend over.

 Edwin made Wayne a walking stick, which Wayne continued to carve and work on even after we got home later. He says he's going to carve the date and name of every hike he uses it for from now on.

 At the top of the mountain, you have to climb a fire tower to see the view.

 Or, there is a little path that takes you to another little lookout.

 Edwin checks out the log book.

 There is a newly built (or renovated?) cabin at the summit. We took our snack/lunch break here.

 Heather and Elijah had a great time hiking together, playing with their sticks and weapons. Wayne really appreciated the time he spent with Uncle (and godfather) Edwin. in the car, on the way home, he said, "We should hike with them more often so Uncle Edwin and I can talk about hunting and fishing some more." Sandy and I spent the whole hike talking about everything you can imagine, including our shared appreciation for amazon.com school shopping.

 We saw a very long snake.

 And of course, the hike would not be complete without a stop at the Westmore store for an ice cream cone. We forgot how large the "medium" is, but Heather had no problem finishing every sweet, creamy drip.

Thanks for a great day, Sandy, Edwin and Elijah.