Surprise!

Picture it, October 22, 2006, in the Mid-Atlantic.

It was a Sunday drive away from the urban sprawl of Northern VA, cruising highways and then less traveled roads, enjoying the pre-peak change of the foliage. Large trees of magnificent red, delightful yellow, lovely orange and stubborn green line the roads that take us farther from town. About 40 minutes into the trip we are on a two-lane road that seems to encourage us to race through the rainbow of color, but we slow down to smell the wood-burning stoves and look for deer. The sun is shining with all of its intensity, producing just enough heat to require opening the windows to cool us down from our fleece-warmed bodies.

Just under an hour, we arrive at our destination. A farm with beautiful rolling hills, lakes, produce for sale; bustling with young and old alike playing with the animals and buying farm treats. We are headed to Denise&Chuck's farm (www.sharpfarm.com) for a delightful day visiting a corn maze. Or so I thought.

What does a day on a farm, a hayride with a majority of my favorite people, running through a real live pumpkin patch in pursuit of the perfect pumpkin, eating, searching through a corn maze with a bunch of pranksters, sipping warm cider, eyeball bobbing, and visiting with friends and family sound like to you?

To me, it sounds like the perfect day, during the best time of the year. And that is before I know that I have just arrived at my Surprise Birthday Party!

It's no surprise that I'm turning 30 on the 30th (the only time this phenomenon will ever happen in my life), but it was quite a surprise to see everyone hiding in the barn waiting for me to arrive. I am pretty hard to surprise. It was even noted that "Kristin is a quite suspicious person." I never thought this was a bad thing, it is just a good practice to know what everyone is up to.

A few weeks ago, when I arrived home, Sean told me that my cousin Denise had called and invited us to their corn maze. Sounded like a fun time since we were talking about going up there a few months ago when we visited the farm in the early summer. We headed up to Brookesville on Sunday. When we arrived my cousin Bryon directed us where to park and informed us that we should check in with Denise first. Sean and I walked into the barn where many goodies were for sale and many folks were wandering around, and then out of the corner of my eye I spotted my father. Always a bit impatient and trying to get a better hiding spot behind the apple butter. And then I noticed the rest of my family and friends hiding in the backcorner. "Thankfully I showered, " I exclaimed since I been debating that decision earlier in the day. How fun to see everyone all decked out in their sneakers and jeans. This is my kind of party!

After greetings, we were assembled into the first trailer. The farm is open on the weekends to the public. The Pumpkin Brigade got the special seats in the front. Although I only knew about two dozen of the people, it was nice to think everyone else was there for the party too. We rode around the farm until we got to the Great Pumpkin Patch. If only Charlie Brown had known about this place. We all got off the hay ride and picked a pumpkin or two to take with us. This was serious business. I made Sean stand by the one I liked to hold it for me while I continued searching. Lisa held hers like an infant, becoming very protective of it, and protecting it from the sun with her Windbreaker. Robert found out his perfect pumpkin that was right by the side of the trail was probably someone else's leftovers. I picked the biggest one Sean could carry for me. Nothing beats picking your own pumpkin. Back on the trailer. As we drove past the house, we all waved to the folks inside the house I hadn't seen yet. We put our pumpkins in the car and then we went up to the house for some good food.

As the sun began to set and the temperature dropped, we decided we better get in the corn maze and tear it up! Many of us went through and tried to follow the clues the best we could, but we think some were missing and we came out the wrong exit. But no one got lost and we made it out safely. After a few group photos, and we were finally able to pry Christy's head out of the pig hole we headed to the house for some warm apple cider. My favorite!

As darkness settled in and a little bit of rain began to fall, we warmed up inside with a snazzy birthday cake and presents to open. Christy, through her invaluable Internet searching skills, found a game for us as well. She hid several "eyeballs" in a box of packing peanuts and we had to bob for them. It was quite funny watching Becca, Lisa, Christy, Deb, Robert and Bryon do this. This was pretty hysterical, words won't do it justice. I was content to just watch and snap some photos. Always a great way to end the day. The farm is quite desolate and we were able to see quite a few stars even though rain clouds had just blown by. I even spotted a shooting star briefly just by luck of course. All we were missing was a bonfire, which was actually occuring down the hill for the children's program that was still going on. I didn't think it was appropriate to crash the bonfire, but oh the stories we could tell.

What a perfect way to spend my big birthday. I couldn't help but think that a hay ride, a corn maze, a petting zoo, riding a golf cart, and a pumpkin patch would be a great party for an 8 year old, but it worked even better for a 30 year old! All we were missing was the clown making hats out of balloons. And pin the tail on the fancy steer in the front yard that looks like an ox. The good news is... I still have one more complete week of being 29. Thanks to all who were able to come to the party of course the party organizers. If you are in town on Saturday, come on over in costume and check out the glowing face on my pumpkin!