When *ants* arrive, a-MAZE-ing things happen

*I have tried editing 6 times and blogger will NOT take the spaces between paragraphs...sorry for the long line of solid words....blame it on blogger*

Usually my typos are due to the fact that my typing stinks and I often forget to use spell check.....or the mistakes I've typed aren't actually picked up by spell check. But this time, my title typo was done with purpose!!

My aunt, famously known as Auntie K to all my kids, was in town recently. She and my uncle came to enjoy some family time, some hot air balloons, some lego building and some 'in the dark' maze navigating.

Living where we do, this time of the year ranks right up there with my most favorite things. There's a chill in the air in the morning, the corn in the fields next to us is being harvested and that means the return of the Canada Geese that love the field after it has been plowed. Then of course, there is the field of corn that doesn't get plowed. Instead, with some pretty amazing technical programs, the field is transformed into an amazing corn maze! We love to see all the people pile into the parking lot but we usually stay away. Although it is a super fun activity, with 7 of us, it is a pretty expensive activity.

Well, this year we made a go of it and decided to try out the 'night maze' when my aunt was in town. Still the same corn maze except it's all navigated by twilight and flashlight! And let's face it, I'm going to get lost in a corn maze regardless of whether it is high noon or pitch black. I'm pretty sure I got my directional/navigational skills from my grandma. She and I could get lost in a paper bag.....together. (As an aside, Bill and I joke that if we ever got on the reality show 'The Amazing Race', I'd HAVE to be the driver because if I had to navigate we'd never get out of the first parking lot).

And so here we are, getting ready for our foray into the dark corn maze. My mom stayed with Luke and Laurel...good thing too, it was over 2 miles of walking! Could have been 3 miles had I been the one in charge of getting us out.

We split up into 2 groups....Auntie K, Uncle Mike, GG and Gregory in one group, Bill, Jacob, Eric and myself in group 2. Bill had to work with some handicaps......I fear Jacob's navigational skills are as bad as mine. There were a bunch of stations you had to get yourself to and then punch your map..so you would know where you had been and in the middle of this huge maze there was an observation deck. Very cool! To be up there during the day probably would have yielded a great view of all the cool shapes cut into the maze (bat, coyote, goose, the chick and words 'chic-fil-a' plus more) but we still had a great view at dusk.

Well, kind of.....The observation deck also provided an awesome view of the fireworks taking place at Balloon Fiesta Park that night! Thankfully, with Bill as our guide and flashing strobe lights as our visual so no one got lost, we all made it! Thanks honey-and maybe someday I'll be good at reading maps but don't hold your breath! We'll hope he gets it.......