Closing time and corn mazes

Thanksgiving weekend means closing time at the cottage. We hadn’t been up since Labour Day weekend when we moved back into our house. Well, into our basement if you want to get technical. I had planned to take the boys back up to the cottage the next couple of weekends as I knew that we’d be living in a construction zone, but I ended up spending those weekends painting 16 hours a day. And then hockey started. So here we are, five weeks and a fridge full of rotten stuff later….

We all played hooky yesterday afternoon and left the city at about 1:30 to try to beat the traffic. We failed, but I’m sure that it was better than if we had left after school. The 401 stopped dead around Pickering, so we decided to bail and take side roads north. Along the way I noticed a farm with a pumpkin patch and corn maze, and we stopped to take a look. Tessa had to stay in the car, so A. was a sport and stayed with her and did some work while the boys and I went off for some fun.

First stop, the farm market for candy apples.

Next stop, the Giant Corn Maze - with the candy apples of course. The boys spent the whole time we wandered around the maze gnawing on those disgusting delicious apples.

The corn really was giant. It was WAY over my head – at least 10-12 feet high. Along with the maze, there were the requisite farm animals and a petting zoo full of sheep and goats. Including a carnivorous goat that would eat your hand if you put it in the vicinity of its mouth.  

 

At this point this goat hand chewing was fun. When it turned to a nip that broke the skin, not so much fun anymore. Then M. was worried about getting an infection from the bacteria in the dirty goat mouth. The son of microbiologists can never relax. I told him to load up on lots of Purell on the way out and hope for the best.

Along with the petting zoo there were other fun things to explore. All in all, it was a nice break during the drive up. 

And we did manage to get the cottage all closed up. It wasn’t exactly fun, but I’m relieved to have it done for the year. We’re off to have Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family tomorrow, including an overnight stay at my brother and sister-in-law’s fancy new cottage, so that should be a relaxing end to the long weekend!