Week 194: Hay, Mazes, and Patty Cake

Sorry, folks, things have been very busy lately. And also, there has been Team Fortress 2 (look for me as “jmadigan” on Steam!). So it’s mostly pictures this week.

Sam and Mandy went to two pumpkin patches this week. Actually, it was the same one once. They went during the week with one of those crazy Mom’s Group things, then on Saturday I went back with them for photo ops. Unfortunately it rained, but we still got some fun in. They had these huge pyramids of hay bails built, which served dual purposes. First, kids could climb up the 30 feet or so to the top. Second, the dark interiors of these structures actually had mazes built into them so that you could foolishly wander in and possibly die in there.

Sam wanted to go in one of the mazes, so I decided to go with her. You know, to keep her calm. Let me tell you something: It’s DARK inside a mountain of hay bails. And when you get good and lost in there, with your arms flailing around in front of you and a nervous toddler clutching at your extremities, you start to think about things. Like whether or not the guy who build this thing had any kind of engineering degree from a certified 4-year college. Or how soon the dozens of kids clomping up and down its exterior will cause its inevitable collapse. Or if that would happen before or after you get eaten by a grue.

Eventually, we turned a corner in the dark and found another intrepid hay explorer who had thought to bring a flashlight into the darkness, which was SMART, as opposed to not bringing one, which was STUPID. We latched onto them and finally found the exit.

Let’s see, Mandy, Mandy. News about Mandy? Not much, except that she’s really getting more interactive and actually able to play, both with us and her big sister. Geralyn is teaching her to play patty cake, with surprising effectiveness. I’m way overdue on babyproofing, aside from moving all our razor blades and scorpions to higher shelves. I really need to put up a gate.