Machines, machines, machines

Obviously, seeing these machines work was the most important part of our day. The machines were at Annapolis and Timber Ridge and they were taking out huge trees and many branches and chipping them up. There was a Bobcat, a Mini-excavator, and this huge "Chipharvester." Jack visited this site three times today.

But first we dug in our garden and mixed the compost up with the dirt. Then we transplanted some salal from elsewhere in the yard. We'll see if it is tough enough to survive our tearing it up by the roots, burying it, and then digging it up again.

At 10:00 or so, we drove off to the hardware store, but stopped on the way to visit the sheep and goats. Jack loved Jay Bakers. He found a wonderful new shovel and then we went upstairs to find child-proofing electrical outlet plugs and a lock for the kitchen cabinet under the sink. I warned Jack that the toy selection might be punk, but he immediately found a plastic boat and a little metal pickup truck. Then he sighted a large Tonka backhoe that he loved. I told him we could not buy it, so he said he just wanted to play with it here. He sat sweetly next to it still in its box and then left it without complaint. We also bought a matchbox garbage truck and some watercolor paper.

It was on the way home that we found the machines (visit #1). By the time we got home for lunch, it was about 2:00. Jack ate a big lunch: turkey and cheese on a piece of toast--all gone. Most of a banana and a strawberry and some of Nana's nuts. All topped off by a glass of milk.

Nana tried her best to read to Jack and get him to nap, but it wasn't going to happen. Jack had his new red round-tipped shovel in mind and was fixed on digging in our garden with it. We went out and watered the blueberry bushes and then ended up at the garden. Jack found a banana slug and touched it. We successfully dug in the garden without destroying the new salal plants. We had a nice conversation with Daddy about the machines and about the flood at the playground. We love our Daddy!

We were to meet Stacy up in Point Arena for dinner. On the way, we stopped by the machine site to get some photos (visit #2) and found the men were still working. It was hard to leave. Despite requesting that I replay and replay the "La-de-do-da" song, Jack fell asleep on the drive. Dinner was delicious and Jack did manage to wake up enough to have a pretty good meal. The Rollerville Cafe is a real winner. Stacy drove Jack home via the machine site, for visit #3. For some reason the working men were more friendly to Stacy than to me.