South Texas MAiZE Review

     Last weekend, a friend, my husband and I loaded up our kids and headed to the South Texas MAiZE at the Graff Family Farm in Hondo, Texas. None of us had ever been to a corn maze, so we were as excited as the kids were. As per the planning tips on their website, we decided to go on a Friday evening. We were pleased with the size of the crowd. They were busy, but we were able to do the maze without continually running into people (a great thing when you're navigating a maze with 5 kids all under 5 years old).

     Before we entered the MAiZE, a very sweet employee suggested that we take a "passport" with us. Each "passport" has 10 multiple choice questions that help you navigate the maze. There were several different categories to choose from. We picked a Tiny Tots Passport and a Halloween Passport.

     When you get to a number post, you read and answer the corresponding question on your passport. The correct answer sends you in the correct direction while an incorrect answer sends you the wrong way. Using our passport, we didn't get lost and we never had to turn around. It took us only 30 minutes to complete phase 1 of the maze. The kids weren't ready to walk for 30 more minutes, so we took a break and checked out some of the other attractions at the Graff Family Farm.

     At the Boar Goat Walk, the kids were able to pet goats and watch them play. You can also purchase food to feed to the goats.

     In the Lil' Poppers Play Pen, Thing 2 enjoyed jumping around on the hay pyramid. All of the kids enjoyed the tractor and the swings. The parents enjoyed the picnic tables and the shade provided by beautiful Live Oak Trees.

     Since the Corn Poppers are open to all ages, I was very pleased to see that they separated the big kids and adults from the little kids. The girls got to jump for 10 minutes and we didn't have to worry about them accidentally being tackled by bigger kids.

      The last stop on our visit was the hay ride and pumpkin patch. The girls loved the hay ride and the driver was so friendly and talkative. The girls enjoyed talking to him.

    We told each kid that they could pick one pumpkin but that they had to carry it back to the hayride and then to the car. Thing 2 thought that this was the pumpkin that she was going to be taking home. Unfortunately, she couldn't carry it more than a few steps and I made her put it down before she dropped it and it smashed.

     There were a lot of other fun things we did while at the Graff Family Farm. To see more picture from our trip, be sure to check out my G+ album, South Texas MAiZE. Be sure to check out the South Texas MAiZE on Facebook and Twitter.



*As a US Family Guide Blogger, I may receive free or discounted tickets to local attractions. However, all opinions are 100% my own and completely honest.

Halloween Activities

     We had a very busy weekend. On Friday, we went to Zoo Boo (trick or treating at the zoo). On Saturday, we had Thing 1's second birthday party (pictures and post coming soon!). Sunday we carved pumpkins and Monday was Halloween. For Halloween, we did safe trick or treating and traditional trick or treating. Below are pictures and details of each event. I hope you enjoy!

Zoo Boo

     This is the second year that we've gone to Zoo Boo. We go to the zoo often, so we really go to Zoo Boo for the crafts and the trick or treating. I was a little disappointed that there weren't many booths set up (only 5) and they didn't have any crafts (even though it was on the poster). They shut all of the animals out of their shelters so that they couldn't hide. So, we did get to see literally every animal, which rarely happens. The kids had a great time! Their favorite part was petting and feeding the goats.

Scout and Thing 2 walking into the zoo

Thing 2 feeding the goats

Thing 1 feeding the goats

Scout and Thing 1

     

Pumpkins

     So, at about 4pm on Sunday, my cousin and I decided that we wanted to carve pumpkins with the kids. Can you say last minute? So we ran to the one grocery store in our town. They didn't have any. We then had 3 options if we still wanted pumpkins. We could go north east, north west or south. I called the Wal-Mart and H-E-Bs in the towns to the north, neither town had any pumpkins. So, we headed south. As we were driving I called Wal-Mart and H-E-B in 3 more towns. No pumpkins! We kept driving anyway. There is a 4 way stop (the way to get to the 3 other towns I called) where people sit and sell produce. We decided to see if they had pumpkins and if they didn't we were going to keep going and get some sort of Halloween/fall craft at closest Wal-Mart. Luckily, there was one produce vendon at the 4 way stop that had pumpkins. He didn't have many left, be we managed to find 4 good sized pumpkins that were in good shape. We only needed three, but he talked us into buying 4. He was a good salesman. When we got home, the mosquitoes were terrible so we decided to carve pumpkins in the house. I thought that it would be disaster, but it was Scout's idea and he assured me that it would be fine. He was right. We put down a tarp (of course) and no pumpkin guts got on my carpet.

Thing 1 scooping out guts

Thing 2 pushing out the eye
of her pumpkin

Thing 2 cutting out the mouth

Scout and Thing 1 carving her pumpkin

Thing 2's and Thing 1's pumpkins, all lit up

Safe Trick or Treating

     Safe trick or treating, for those of you that don't know, is an event sponsored by the local police department. In our town, local businesses sign up and you can then go by there and trick or treat. Most of the businesses are located downtown (near the police station). You can pick up maps, lists of participating businesses and bags at the police department. However, it was terrible. I was surprised at the number of "adults" that would push pre-schoolers out of the way just so that their child could get 1 piece of free candy. I didn't get many pictures because there were so many people just trying to push you out of the way to get to the next business. However, my soon-to-be step-mother's office was participating so we stopped to snap a quick picture with her. By the times that we got to her, both of the kids had been pushed down and Thing 1 just wanted to go home. It was sad that they were tired of it so soon because it could have been a wonderful experience.

Thing 1, Granny K, and Thing 2

Traditional Trick or Treating

     Traditional trick or treating was a blast. We went to houses of people that we know, but still managed to hit a few dozen houses (yay for church family and fire fighters!). Someone scared Thing 2 by accident, poor kid. A teenager bent over right in Thing 1's face while wearing a scary mask. I said "Yeah, scare her on purpose. That's really nice." I guess he forgot that he was wearing the mask, because he was very sorry.  Other than that, a quote from my cousin-in-law sums it up best. 

"Halloween - the holiday when lazy parenting gurus decide it's safe to show off their skills in public." 

     I didn't get pictures because I had to make sure that people didn't run my kids over, but here is one I snapped when we got home.

Thing 2, Cousin's Kid, Thing 1