Lost in the Corn Maze: Colleyville, TX

Just a few miles from my house there is a large field that is planted with corn in the late summer.  Hall's Pumpkin Farm has an annual pumpkin patch and corn maze leading up to Halloween.  I took some of my kids here when they were teenagers which wasn't much fun for me, let's be honest.

So this year I decided I wanted to go back, this time with companions who aren't embarrassed that I  exist.

At least they weren't when we arrived.

I can only imagine the horror my middle daughter would feel if she could see us now.  Not only is her mom doing embarrassing things in public...so is her grandma!

I tried to talk my dad into doing his photo in the same one as mom and I but he opted for the cowboy instead. 

I think Hall's expanded their operation since I was here last.  I don't remember this house made of hay bales.  They also sell a variety of fall carnival foods like roasted corn, sausage on a stick, turkey legs and kettle corn.  Kendall talked me into a bag of kettle corn and a blue ring pop within the first 5 minutes.  Mom and dad opt for the apple cider.

It is chilly and windy on the day we are here and my mom is already cold.  She and dad were going to skip the corn maze but since that was my primary reason for coming, I insisted and paid for us all.

Kendall isn't keen to touch the hairy part of the corn.  I don't think she relates this in any way to the corn-on-the-cob she loves.

I have never been in a corn maze before, neither has Kendall.  She leads the way with confidence.

Big Pop (my dad), Gigi (my mom) & I follow blindly.  For a while.

Once we have been in the corn maze for a while, we realize this isn't going to be as easy as we thought.  We see the same people over and over.  Some of the paths go in a circle, some lead to dead ends.  We don't even stumble across the entrance again.  Sometimes people we have seen before will clue us in on the path they just came from (which is clearly not the right one).  We finally have the idea for Kendall to drop pieces of popcorn so we will know we have been that way before.  She isn't in the lead anymore.

We use several strategies, including the popcorn, that don't work.  Because I live nearby I know the streets that border the property and we try to go to the far edge of the maze near where there would be a traffic signal.  We see the signal but this isn't the way either.  Finally, with Gigi near freezing and starvation an employee takes pity on us and gives us a clue.  Later when we find ourselves unsure again we turn around and find he has followed us.  One more clue and we make it out!

Dad was never worried.  I think he was always confident in our popcorn method.

My mom on the other hand is so grateful to be out I am surprised she didn't kneel down and kiss the ground.  Notice she didn't pose by the Exit sign.  She immediately moved as far from the maze as possible lest it suck her back in. 

Our last mission is to let Kendall pick out a pumpkin.  (Hall's offers hay rides too but we were too tired and cold.  By "we" I mean Kendall and Gigi.)  Kendall picks out a pumpkin she can ride on.  Good thing Big Pop is here to carry it to the car.  She wanted someone to carry her to the car too.

Back at my house I let her decorate the pumpkin with markers and stickers.  We are leaving the cleaning and roasting of seeds to Kendalls' mom (my daughter Miranda) this year. Kendall doesn't mind, she is more interested in eating dinner which includes the roasted, hairless corn we bought.