Farmer Boys

Last fall (so about a year ago) our family discovered Wheeler Farm. (Rereading the post made me cry. My boys are so cute, I love them.)

Anyway, we love it there. We have probably been every other month since our first trip there, and would go more if it weren't so darn hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

Every time we go, the boys are ecstatic to see the ducks and geese, mildly interested in the sheep, horses, and cows and completely bonkers-insane for the tractors.

In fact, I think the perfect little boy park would just be a muddy lot full of broken down tractors, backhoes, diggers, and mini-loaders.

(In case any one is wondering, thanks to my children, I can now name over a dozen different "big trucks" and pieces of construction machinery. And so can they.)

I have so many pictures of my children sitting on tractors from the last few months. Dozens.

I always thought it was obnoxious when men were really into cars, but I think I understand it now. It's not a topic they decide to take an interest in, is it? Somehow it just seems to be hardwired into them. I certainly didn't teach my boys to love trucks! In fact, I tried really hard to push stuffed animals on to them. Instead, they tuck their dump trucks into mini "Digger beds" and fall asleep spooning books with titles like "The Big, Tall Book of Machines."

Sometimes, after Micah screams for a half hour in excitement over an excavator or Grey spends a morning waiting anxiously outside for the garbage truck to come (talking about it nonstop during that time), I think "They must care about trucks more than other boys do. They'll probably grow up to be engineers or mechanics. Maybe they'll work in construction, or be farmers with a barn full of tractors and trailers and threshers. Because there's no way these little boys will ever love anything as much as they love trucks."

I wonder...

I love how small Micah looks in the above picture. His tiny little legs and chubby cheeks. I try to imagine his legs long and lanky, as I know they will be someday. I can't picture it. 

Looking at these pictures is like a blow to my memory. I keep thinking, "They're not that much bigger than last year. They haven't changed much, grown much, and there's not much more they can do now that they couldn't do a year ago."

Then I looked through these pictures, and was struck forcibly by how much they've changed. They are so different. They're so strong, smart, capable, and their legs are getting lanky already. 

How did they grow up so much without my noticing?

It's kind of sad to think that Grey and Micah will probably outgrow this fondness for anything with tires and buttons.

That "The Farm Store" won't be the best store they can imagine.

That they won't request that I draw a million pictures of "Choochoo Chwains" for them.

But maybe they won't really outgrow it. Maybe they'll be those men who are really into cars.

Maybe they'll grow up from Farmer Boys into Farmer Men.

Sigh.

A girl can only hope.
As for me, I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing them on tractors.