She's a Sunflower, She's my one flower
đ¶ She's a sunflower, she's my one flower,
She's the flower of my heart.đ¶Frank Sinatra - Sunflower đ»
Living in Central Illinois can mean a lot of things: there isnât a true distinction as to whether itâs âsodaâ or âpopâ (FYI, itâs soda đ€Ł), you can never fully put away any season of clothing, because you might ACTUALLY need that Sherpa sweater in July, and chances are high that there is a corn maze within 50 miles of your location wherever you are! đœ
I donât really know what age a corn maze is fun. Maybe from 7-8 years old only? đ€Ł Itâs hot, thereâs bugs, and itâs always easier to just go back!
Surprisingly, thereâs a beautiful sunflower maze in Paris, Illinois that was calling our name during my "officially titled, âMama & Wayâs Staycationâ adventures. Copyright. TM. All that jazz. It was quite a drive and yes, it was hot and there were lots of bees. But, man! Sunflowers are gorgeous!
Before we went to the maze, I stopped at a fast food restaurant to fuel up on french fries. đ Following that statement, I have to admit that I never thought I would be a mom that fed her kid french friesâŠjust like when I never thought I would be a mom that uses formula, a pacifier, and doesnât co-sleep! đ€Ł * shrugs *
Waylin wore this gorgeous âWizard of Oz/Dorothyâ dress that I ordered a couple months ago. I thought it would be the perfect dress for sunflower pictures! She LOVED it! I asked her if she kept her red shoes at home so she doesnât blow away, and she nodded her head. Oh, Way. I canât wait for the day you get to watch that movie with me!
SPEAKING OF, I tried out for the Wizard of Oz musical in 5th grade. I got this idea in my head that I wanted to be the Wicked Witch. At the time, I had really long scraggly, uncut-since-birth, long hair. I remember going to the bathroom before my tryout and I wet my hair and pulled it over my face like some emo kid.
I was soooo nervous, but I thought I played the part well. I memorized all the lines, spoke in a witch-y voice and cackled my little heart out. Come to find out, I didnât get cast as the witchâŠin fact, I didnât get cast for any major part except âTornado Girl #6ââŠ.YESâŠ.* blank stare * NUMBER SIX! Hmmph!
We filled out our waiver that states we wonât sue if we find out we are allergic to bees while we are there! đ Way has never been stung, but I think if you just leave the bees alone, they donât bother you much.
You had two options: walk to the maze yourself or hop on the tractor ride. The burning hot sun told us we should take the tractor. One of the family members ran the tractor and we happen to pull up as the last people to fit on. I was a little unsure about how to get on the tractor because I brought our huge jogging stroller knowing we were going to an outdoor mazeâŠsee, there are times when I even impress myself! đ
The man said, âIf you donât mind keeping her in there, Iâll help you pull her up there so you donât have to undo the stroller.â This nice man helped pick up my stroller with Waylin still in it and placed it inside the trailer and even put the brakes on the stroller for me. When we arrived at the maze, he helped get us down the same way she went up! Being that it was just me and Way, I was really thankful for the help he provided.
WE LOVED IT! There were so many fields of sunflowers! Did you know that sunflowers move to face the direction of the sun? đ» They are like Mother Natureâs solar panels!
We had so much fun exploring the maze. I let Waylin decide which direction we went, and Iâm preeeetty sure if I didnât keep an eye on the entrance, we probably would have been lost. We mainly looked around at all the sunflowers and took pictures together. Waylin liked pointing out where all the bugs had eaten the leavesâŠoh yeah, and the bees!
We sent Ben some silly pictures of us having fun. Iâm sure they made him sad because he was stuck at work while we were off exploring places on our staycation. Later that night, I actually noticed he made this picture his background on his phone! â€
We caught the tractor back to the parking lot/entrance and decided to have a snack in the little park area.
Isnât this dress just adorable? I love the back cut-out! As we sat on the picnic table enjoying some muffins and milk, I couldnât help but get up and snap some pictures of her sitting there. She is perfection. There is no doubt about it!
It was REALLY hard to convince her it was time to leave! She didnât want to go! Sometimes, you gotta let âem have 10 more minutes. Not because you give up on them listening and following your direction, but because she is living in a really happy moment with you and she doesnât want it to end. I think Waylin was also having one of those âbest days eversâ and she knew it!
We chased each other around in this grassy area near the parking lot. She thought it was hilarious to chase and then be chased. I could see the smirks on other parentsâ faces thinking, âGood luck getting her in the car!â But, reallyâŠI wasnât ready to leave either! :)
