Combines Everywhere!

With all the combines rolling now, my kids are in heaven!  Of course, Blaine is obsessed with all the tractors and combines of all kinds.  He is always playing with his toy ones in the house, spends hours looking at the tractor magazines, continues to sleep with the Ertl John Deere toy catalog and loves to shout out "pombine" as we drive down the road.  But even better than all that is riding in them!  And our neighbor, Rick, always loves to have little passengers too:).  On our way home from the sitters Thursday evening, the kids saw Rick in the field and begged to stop.  But I made them come home instead, making them a deal to go back if they ate a quick supper.  Boy, was that a quick meal!  So we hopped on the Ranger and rode back to the field for a combine ride.  Rick was nearly ready to quit for the night, so we only got one round in, but that still made their day.  And then they got to help him drive the combine home while I followed in the Ranger - that really made their day!  Then Blaine and I went for a walk Friday morning while Ava was at preschool, walking by that same field of corn.  Of course, as we get close, Blaine starts shouting "Pombine, Rick!" and we had to stop.  We rode a couple of rounds before we had to head home to go get Ava.  Blaine was intrigued by the corn going in the front and the kernels filling the tank behind him, then watching the corn being augered out into the grain cart.  So many fun things to watch!  He was also intrugued by the levers that he could reach - so he had Rick and I feeling like women in menopause as the temperature in the cab went from a cold blast to high heat and back and forth!

And with all the combines rolling, it also means that John is working a lot more hours lately.  I know that the kids miss seeing him as much.  Ava was his parts helper tonight though.  John brought home parts for Rick and the kids helped deliver them while I mowed the yard.  But after we got home with pizza for supper, Rick called needing another part.  So Ava was motivated to eat quickly again so that she could go with Daddy to get parts.  They picked up Rick on the way and headed to the store for the part.  It sounded like Ava had a great time with two of her favorite guys!  But she was very unhappy that she had to come home - she really wanted to stay at Rick's and help the guys fix the combine.

I am blessed to have a farming background myself and even though John and I do not farm ourselves, I am so glad that we have wonderful neighbors willing to let our kids experience it with them.  I am sure that there will be more combine rides and parts runs yet this fall!  Now I just need to get them out on pig farms more so that they can experience livestock production as well:)