This Is Iowa: Taking Time to Watch the Corn Grow

All week I've been posting photos of some of my favorite summertime activities. Tonight, I'm focusing on photos of my brood, doing what we have enjoyed most this summer -- spending time outdoors!

Whenever I'm back at the farm, I find myself drawn to the cornfield east of the house. I like to wander in with whatever kids have followed me to the field and see how they react to the corn.

In the spring, when it's just emerging, the kids get excited to show me the little plants growing. In early summer when it's about knee-high, they love walking into the rows and jumping over the corn. As the corn grows taller, the kids interest and curiosity increases -- suddenly it's a contest to see how far in you can go alone before you get scared and run back out, or you go in with a cousin or sibling and try to chase after another kid, or you all run down a different row and line up so you can race to see who can get out first. Being deep in a cornfield is a surreal experience because you really cannot see anything around you but corn plants, there's no horizon, there's no view of anything, it's just a wall of green around you, and glimpses of the sky overheard.

My memories of cornfields
When I was a kid, we spent hours and hours in the cornfields. During the day, it was a great place for hide-and-seek, or tag, or games of running wildly through those tall leaves, protecting your eyes as you dashed for the end row.

But at night.....

At night the cornfield becomes an entirely different place. It's spooky in all the best ways -- the rustling sounds of the leaves, the creepy feeling of brushing up against ears, the heart-pounding fear of being surrounded by towering plants that could be hiding anything. It was an exhilarating experience as dusk turned into night.

But enough memories, here are some more pics:

Broadway Bo (Shawn's new nickname for him) eating his watermelon

Don't you want to know what he did 10 seconds 

before this photo was taken to prompt this expression?

Little Miss Vi in a polka-dotted romper

Bo and Vi exploring the farm

Playing on the cave as the sun goes down

I love how green and earthy and beautiful the light was in this photo

Sweet baby Violet

All cheeks and pigtails!

I made Shawn pose by the cornfield

For several pictures... Much to his dismay.

And then I asked him to take a couple pics of me and Violet by the corn. I like the colors in this photo. And Violet's impossibly cute and chubby cheeks!

I love this photo because Violet ALWAYS holds onto my shirt this way, and often sticks a thumb in her mouth at the same time. It's her "I feel safe and secure" pose.

Flying baby!

Shawn's smile should tell you something about how high he tossed the poor girl.... Violet's thumb in her mouth is another good indicator...

Playing in the sandbox

She's such a little mite -- when she crouches to investigate something in the grass she's only about a foot and a half tall!

She may be little but she is unstoppable.... She can climb over, through or on top of pretty much anything these days....

Have a great weekend, everyone! Today was Mazy and Bo's last day at Lil Scholars. Mazy was there for about a month and a half this summer, but my Bo has been there for nearly 2.5 years. They have been his weekday family, and there were many tears as the teachers told him goodbye and good luck in kindergarten. It was humbling to see the impact they have had on him, and he has had on them. We owe that staff a lot for helping us get Bo on track, and I won't lie that I was sad to see this chapter of his life end... But on to kindergarten and another exciting chapter!