Potters Way 2011

Potters Way has become a tradition over the past several years for pumpkin picking and corn maze craziness in the Fall when we come to the farm.  The more cousins we can get to come with us, the more fun we all have.  This year Kaleb and Makenzie, along with Grandma Rose participated. 

Despite the super windy day, the weather was warm enough for t-shirts.  We road the "Pumpkin Express" hayride over to the giant patch were each kid carefully selected their perfect pumpkin.  Angelique wanted a HUGE pumpkin and I told her as long as she could carry it, she could have it. I thought I was being so wise, but that little bugger carried that immense pumpkin back to the Pumpkin Express herself!  I need to come up with better rules in the future because the trunk of our car barely closed once everything was loaded.

Unfortunately, there was a terrible wind storm that hit the Oakes area in early July, which decimated the original corn maze at Potters Way.  So as a fun substitution, a scarecrow walk was created and we each got to vote on our favorite scarecrow.  We had a lot of laughs selecting and imitating our favs. I certainly have happy memories of that day!

a-MAZE-ing time!

The corn maze at Potters Way outside of Oakes, ND was a great experience again this year. This is the third year in a row that our kids have gotten to go to and the 2nd year for Steve & I. The Potters Way family make it so much fun by changing up the theme each year.
The theme this year was Game Show games. You have to answer the questions correctly to find your way out.

The questions were trixie... I am serious. I won't tell you the right answer as it would spoil the fun.

When you went the wrong way... you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you had blown it.
Maybe it was because we debated each question and formed a consensus between Steve, Grandma Rose, Abby and me before choosing the answer/direction. {Bella was no help whatsoever.}
Seriously, we picked the wrong answer so many times, I thought we would be in the MAZE for ever!
Logan and Kippy ran through the maze ahead of us and apparently never got a question wrong (according to them).
They even came back to help us out since we were taking so long.

But I don't really believe they knew the answers any better than we did!
It was an amazing time for the cousins. My mom told me a quote which is so very true. "Grandma's house, where cousins become friends."
I love when they have a chance to spend time together.
After the corn maze, we all boarded the pumpkin express to make our pumpkin selections.
Some top quality specimens were chosen.
Fall is my favorite time of the year! It was truly a great Fall afternoon with family, corn, pumpkins & laughter. My love bucket runneth over.

Potters Way

On Sunday afternoon, my parents took us to the cutest farm outside of Oakes, ND called Potters Way. I was curious as to why it was called Potters Way. The owners pointed out a beautiful bible verse on the wall "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8. No better inspiration than that!

We got to browse through gorgeous Fall decor and sample delightful goodies and jellies.

4 ladies on pumpkins: Grandma Rose, Abby, Bella & Kippy

The "bling" pumpkin caught Abby's eye (big surprise there)
Kippy's interest when an entirely different direction.

After browsing through the barn, we headed out to see the barnyard animals.

Bella was terrified, so Steve picked her up and she tentatively checked out one sheep.

My favorite character was Charlie. Charlie has a severe under-bite that cracked me up.

So hard to take this long horn steer seriously with that under-bite!

Kippy liked Jenny, the donkey and her baby named Marshmallow.

Next we entered the Wizard of Oz themed corn maze.

Our two munchkins and Toto found what was left of the wicked witch of the east.

Next we headed out through the maze to find our way. (Bella was absolutely no help at all.)

We met a few friends along the way...

"I'll get you my pretties and your little dog too!!!" Scary stuff, but we eventually found our way out.

Next, we boarded the Pumpkin Express for a ride out to the patch to pick our pumpkins.

Despite the gusty winds that nearly blew us over, we had a fantastic afternoon!