Art, Brunch and a Corn Maze

On Saturday Susan and I attended a workshop at North Star Lodge titled 'The Art of the Inner Journey'. The speaker was Margaret Carpenter and she was in Yakima to promote her new book of the same name. Both the book and the workshop describe how to work with images of the subconscious mind in order to process emotions and develop positive imagery to better deal with the challenges of life. I am looking forward to reading our copy of her book.

Sunday morning we went to the Yakima Cultural Center in Toppenish to try the brunch at the Heritage Inn Restaurant. Susan noticed in the local event newspaper that this brunch has been voted the best brunch in the valley for three straight years so we had to go see for ourselves. It was very impressive indeed. Not only was the food good but the price was very reasonable.
After eating we went to Union Gap to walk off our breakfast in Schell's massive corn maze. In addition to the corn maze they have a farm animal zoo, hay rides, a mini corn maze for little people, 6 bonfire pits and BBQ's, a pumpkin patch, pumpkin chucker and a haunted house.

In the background of the picture below you can see some of the straw bales for one of the mini mazes.

This maze did have a lot of twists and turns. I took this picture shortly after we started on our trek. We had to go pretty show due to the uneven ground, but we still got to the exit ahead of the average time.

The area is very pretty. We were there right when they opened on Sunday morning so there were still in the process of setting things up for the day, but it would be easy to spend a couple of hours looking at everything.

What a fun weekend!

In The Mood

Yesterday afternoon Susan and I saw In The Mood at the Capitol Theatre. The music and singing was very enjoyable. The String of Pearls Orchestra was outstanding and it was great to hear some of the songs from the 40's and 50's again, such as Chattanooga Choo Choo, I've Got A Gal in Kalamazoo, Over There and Bugle Call Rag.

This is a little bit of history from their official website.
"IN THE MOOD began as a celebration of an unusual era in American music, the 1940s...the Swing era. On radio, in theaters and ballrooms, the Big Bands were drawing record crowds. Vocal groups and soloists sang a repertoire of great songs, and for the last time in the 20th century, the entire country shared a common popular music. This body of song did much to sustain national morale during World War II, the pivotal event of the '40s. The National Archives in Washington, DC brought IN THE MOOD to their audiences as part of their commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of WWII, and the response was extraordinary, with crowds lining up for hours before curtain time. The engagement was twice extended."

"In 1993, the Archives presented a repeat performance, out-of-doors on Constitution Avenue. Thousands attended, and many stayed to dance the night away. As a result, IN THE MOOD, in affiliation with the USO, began a series of tours which played to audiences across the U.S. The show's association with the National Archives and the USO was altogether appropriate, for much of the underpinning research was drawn from resources of these national organizations."

"Since then, IN THE MOOD has also visited Europe and Canada and in 1997, the band and singers were selected to be part of the entertainment for the 53rd Presidential Inauguration Ball for President and Mrs. Clinton. Touring since 1994, the show's upcoming 17th year of national and international performances will continue to portray the spirit of the music that moved the nation."
If you get a chance, it is a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Weekend Fun

Julie, Adam, Mom and Dad have been visiting for the last several days and there is so much happening in the valley this time of year, it is easy to find things to do.
It was still quite warm out when Julie and Adam first arrived. This gave Adam a chance to play outside with his water toys and bubbles. He doesn't like making the bubbles, but he does love to chase them and throw the wand. Right now he loves baseball. He went to 27 Pittsburgh Pirates games this season. He has his own ball and mitt and loves to play catch.

On Friday we all went to the Central Washington Fair. We spent a lot of time in the animal barns. This goat was trying to operate the power chair.

Adam just loves animals and he is not afraid of them.

Julie spent a lot of time with Adam in the petting zoo.

On Saturday we went to Leavenworth to meet Bruce for lunch. Marie and Samantha were not able to join us, which is a shame. It was fun to see Adam and Bruce play together. It was the first weekend of Oktoberfest in Leavenworth. There were a lot of people there to listen to the live music, enjoy the Art Fair, and see all the crazy hats people wear.

There were several activities available for people who did not want to shop such as this rock climbing wall. Thunderstorms and showers were predicted for the day, but only a few drops fell while we were there.

We stopped for coffee at one of the Bratwurst and Beer pubs and this statue was in the garden.

We celebrated Susan's birthday on Sunday. Even though her birthday was actually in August, we decided to wait and celebrate when everyone would be in Yakima. Julie gave Susan this color book of Mount Lebanon, PA where Julie lives. Several artists from the area provided the pictures for this book that doubles as a local history. One of the artists is a lady that taught the art class that Julie took last winter.

On Sunday, Susan took Julie and Adam out to Thompson's Farm to watch the pumpkin canons. They blow a whistle before firing the canons and that scared Adam to death. I believe this creature in the pumpkin patch was more his style.

A close-up of the pumpkin creatures head.

Every year they have a group of different characters "playing" music for the crowd. They also serve hot apple cider and cinnamon doughnuts that are made while you watch. YUM!

What a fun long weekend!