Harvest Time!!

Alright, alright! Here's the harvest post Binga!!! :) And Mia, I cannot believe you don't know what a combine looks like!! Tell your Daddy he should be ashamed! ;)

We went out west for a couple days to "help" with harvest. We got to ride with Aunt Cara & Uncle Terry and Grandpa Frank! They happened to be cutting close by, so it was easy to see both of them in the short time we were there. I love harvest. That was probably my favorite thing about summer growing up. I mostly rode in the wheat trucks with either Mom, my great Aunt Lois, or my cousin Becky (sometimes Beth). Once in a while I'd ride the combine with Grandpa Frank or Dad (those are the harvests I remember, anyway! I know I rode with Grandpa & Grandma Stinemetz during harvest, I just don't remember). I just feel so at home out there. It's peaceful and it feels good to see something that big accomplished!

So anyway, this time I convinced Kim to let us take Jake along!!! Anna and Jake were beyond excited! Although neither one of them had a nap Sunday afternoon, they didn't sleep on the way out there! They were much too excited! I think I might have to end every sentence in this paragraph with ! That's how excited they were! :)

We arrived around 5:30 Sunday evening. We stopped on the way and grabbed supper. I think I was asked at least 20 times "Are we there yet????" We hadn't gotten 5 miles out of town and Anna saw a combine. She got excited and said "JAKE!!! That's my combine! We're almost there!!!" hahaha She still had an hour to go! :) I think Aunt Cara was just as excited to see us!

Jacob surprised me...I figured he would be over-the-top excited about all these huge wheels and tractors. But I think it was a little too noisy for him. Once we got inside the tractor and sat down and started moving, he was fine. Then he got excited about seeing the combine pass by.


Jake and Anna rode in the combine with my cousin TJ and his girlfriend Marissa. They were so excited (I think I'm going to use that phrase a lot in this post!!!).

Hi Mommy!!!

So excited, in fact, that they didn't even make it 2 rounds before they fell sound asleep!!! HA See how Jake is still holding on to the door handle?! Isn't that funny? I honestly don't know how the drivers stay awake. There's something about a combine in motion that is very soothing and methodical...puts ya right to sleep!

Marissa was a champ and held them both in her lap, sound asleep (that's about 65+ lbs. of dead weight!) for quite a while.

Grunt! (translation: I'm so excited! I see a combine!!!)

I just love this one.

I wasn't prepared for staying out in the field for so long Sunday evening (I don't know why I thought we wouldn't!). So I didn't bring any extra drinks or snacks! Luckily Cara's got some extra cans of pop with their suppers, so Jake & Anna shared a Pepsi. They were THIRSTY!

They also shared their cookies with the kids. I told them "Look at me!" so they did...and looked right into the sun! I wasn't thinking!! Jake looked up and said "Ooohhh! Dat da sun!"

Anna got these cowboy boots a long time ago, and even now, they're too big. But she loves them. And I love her in them! :)

Riding with Uncle Terry to go dump the grain cart.

Oh boy! Look out!! Jake's driving the "brrrum brrrum"! :)

I think this might have been all the kids' favorite part of the trip...riding in the semi! Anna and Jake sat in the sleeper and just thought it was the greatest and funniest thing in the world! Jacob sat on my lap up front and had his arm up on the widow checking everything out. He LOVED the horn. He did his perfect "o" face and looked around to see where the noise came from. I'm not sure if Jacob or Uncle Terry liked it more! :)

Gus. The giant Anatolian Shepard! For as big as he is, he loved the kids. Anna & Jake were scared to death of him, but Jacob wasn't the least bit scared! Gus loved to have his belly scratched :) He also loved to lick, which sent Jacob reeling!

Look at those paws! Practically as big as Jacob's head!

All excited, waiting for Grandpa Frank to come pick them up!

Running to get on with Grandpa.

You can't see them, but Jake & Anna are in there with Grandpa :)

After a very long afternoon/evening (I'm not telling what time they got to bed!), these two were out cold in no time! Aren't they so sweet?!

Day 2, hanging out waiting for the cutting to begin for the day.

Anna collected a bouquet of leaves while she waiting. And no, they aren't weeds! Or so the princess in green cowboy boots informed us all!!

So many memories in this red truck! :)

This field was hailed out, so they had to cut close to the ground. Therefore, there was a lot of straw left behind. They bailed most of it.

We had more fun than I can describe and I really wish we could have stayed all week! Maybe next year. Thanks for letting us come out! We had such a good time!!