Feeling Cranky? Take a Vacation

Another two weeks has come and gone.  I can't really act surprised about how fast it has gone, as we have certainly made the most of it.

On last Saturday we had cousin E's birthday party.  N just loved swimming in the pool, and was very good on the ride down to Staunton and back.  After we got back, I took L for another ride on the Ten, to retrace the same path we had the oil pressure problem with last time, to make sure it was OK.  The Oil pressure was OK, but L has developed quite a habit of falling asleep on tractor rides.  I don't know if the heat has something to do with it, but he has now fallen asleep multiple times on both the Ten and when mowing with Johnny.  Neither tractor is easy to get off of with a sleeping child on you, but this weekend, after L fell asleep while mowing, I did make it all the way up to his room with him still asleep.  I got him laid down in bed, but taking his shoes off woke him up.  At first he was upset, probably because he didn't know where he was, but then he just smiles really big and says "RIDE, NITE-NITE".  Of course at that point he doesn't want to go back to sleep, but instead go for another ride.

After the nap/ride on the Ten, I decided to park it outside so I could take out again more easily on Sunday.  Doing so without first checking the weather turned out to be a mistake.  Upon seeing that rain was expected late Saturday night, I went back out to "quickly" start it and put it away before helping put the boys to bed.  On my first attempt to start it, the starting crank broke.  The crank had been repaired before, and it broke at the repair.  The orientation of the crank makes it impossible to start without some sort of handle.  Against my better judgment, I slid a box-end wrench over the end of the crank and used that as a makeshift handle.  Thankfully the tractor started on the second pull, and I promptly put it away.  Now the quest begins for replacing or fixing the handle.

With the Ten out of commission, what better time to go on vacation?  That is precisely what we did.  We had a great time on the west coast of Michigan, where our projects consisted of making sand castles and splashing in the waves.  All of us enjoyed some much needed R&R.

And speaking of "R&R", the Rail Road continues to be N's primary interest.  Our dining room has been taken over by the Thomas and Friends "Trackmaster" set.  We even had to take some with us on vacation.  I have to admit, I kind of enjoy it too.  We have fun seeing how many trains we can get going at once without having and crashes, and N is all about re-enacting the different episodes of the TV show.

One of the first things we had to do when we got home was check the pumpkins.  L and N both enjoy watching the pumpkins grow, and now we finally have some small watermelons starting to grow too.  L is just the right height to spot the little ones starting to grow under the leaves, although he gets really excited about the "BIG, PUNKINS". 

And finally, I couldn't take a whole week off without taking on at least one home improvement project.  When I first put up the windmill, I had envisioned putting up some cedar split-rail fencing with it.  This weekend, Menards had the fencing on sale, and I had the time to do it.  L and N both enjoyed helping at various points in the project, although they had better sense than I did, and went inside after a bit to cool off.  The heat was brutal, but I think the finished product was worth a gallon or so of sweat.