Fear Itself

Last month we were driving through a nearby town and saw somebody building a pyramid out of straw bales. I began freaking out. Because clearly it is NOT safe to go inside stacked bales of straw. What are they thinking?!? 

Ben calmed me down by convincing me that the pyramid just LOOKS cool. Nobody goes inside. Oh.

A few weeks later his dad and stepmom came for a visit and guess where we went.

 Yup. The pyramid. And do people go inside? We sure do. 

It's in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest straw maze in the world. Totally worth putting our lives at risk. 

But before the big maze, we played on the slides and crawled through huge pipes. (That is Zach coming down the slide.) Next we went in the small maze. It was perfect for Greg and Nicole.

Then on to the 3D maze. I didn't go inside but of course I didn't think twice about sending my kids in.  They crawled up and around and down on different levels. Cool idea!  We only lost one kid in there. After several rescue attempts, Ben finally found Jonathan using his cell phone as a flashlight. Jonathan, of course, didn't realize he was missing.

Pop Quiz: Do you know the difference between hay and straw? Are you sure?

It came time for the big maze and its entrance through the pyramid. Sigh. I saw that there were wooden beams supporting the straw bales. Um. Not good enough for me. But I went for it anyway, trying to ignore the sudden doom awaiting me. 

Surprise! We survived. 

It was pitch black inside (probably explains why they were selling flashlights at the entrance) and it was extra exciting because I was pushing Josh in the stroller. So every time I bumped into something, I wasn't sure whether it was a person or a wall. So I'd push harder, trying to decide when to turn. It was actually really funny. After we escaped the pyramid, there was an extravagant straw maze to find our way through. 

Greg got to ride with Grandpa Nelson, who was kind enough to let him in and out whenever he wanted. Like when they came to a buried mattress. What a cool place for a trampoline, right?

There were some gruesome things that I wish the kids hadn't seen. Jonathan wanted me to take this picture. Ew. 

We sat down for a meal of... Nevermind. Just look at the cute kids and grandparents.

The maze was long. Really long for kids. I loved it. But I think we were all relieved when we got to the end!

The kids finished off our visit by playing in the "sandbox" of pinto beans. 

We had a wonderful time at the straw maze with the kids and grandparents. It was definitely an adventure to remember! 

And it turns out that the straw pyramid isn't dangerous after all. As long as nobody lights a match....