Corn and Pumpkins.

We don't have a great many 'family traditions' around here.  Dinner on our wedding night is ALWAYS pizza at home, because on the day we got married, I totally miscalculated the time it would take to drive from Virginia Beach to Baltimore via the scenic Delmarva Peninsula, so we had pizza in our hotel room instead of a nice dinner out. 

One of our others would be that we TRY to get to the corn maze and pumpkin patch every year.  We've had better luck with keeping that going since moving to the Tri-Cities than we have making it to the U-Cut Christmas Tree Farm...not many of those in the Palouse. 

Today was shaping up to be our only opportunity this year, and with my wife having friends over to make soap in the afternoon, it was my job to herd us out the door nice and early.  We were in the car by 9:10, and on our way. 

It was a little cold and damp to start the morning out, but my wife was trying hard to be excited.

 

 

The kids had a good time, and that is what really matters.  When your kids are giggling while climbing on the hay pyramid, and poking the goats in petting zoo, it's easy to be excited.

 

 

After that, it was in the maze.  We navigated in the usual manner...letting each girl take turns when we got to an intersection.  As always, I took the rear...that way the girls could distract He Who Walks Between the Rows, while I make a break for it.

 

 



It must have been a good summer for corn here in the lower Columbia Valley...plenty of irrigation and plenty of hot days led to some of the corn stalks being 10+ feet tall. 

When the maze was done, and we picked a few pumpkins, we had to swing through the store for goodies.  Country Mercantile is a dangerous, dangerous place.  There are fresh fruits and vegetables and 100's of fudges and candies made on site.  They also have something like 1000 different types of canned fruits and veggies, with tons of jams and dips and salsa's.  The dangerous parts are they tables full of jam and dip and salsa samples.  Everything tastes SO good...but, none of it is cheap.  Most of the jars cost around $7-8, and so a basket full of tasty treats rapidly adds up. 

It's one of the reasons I am ECSTATIC that my wife took up canning last year.  I can say with a straight face that the homemade blueberry butter I put on my toast this morning was better than the blueberry jam I put on a cracker at Country Mercantile. 

Still it's a good place to swing by, and one of the places we always bring out of town guests.  Might as well give them some free advertising.