Riding the 'Gator

We had the grandchildren at the farm this weekend. They had so much fun they cried when it was time to go home. Now that they're gone it is so quiet here.

We rode the Gator around the farm, looked at rocks and bugs and plants, including the 30 or so tomato plants I planted last weekend, all in a row down the side of the sweet corn field. I think they are going to survive, although I'm not sure if they will actually bear any fruit. I brought another 30 plants up this weekend. It was funny to hear one grandson tell the other to be careful not to step on the plants.

Of course they rode the tractor with grandpa, and also a short ride in Maybelline, the antique truck.

The boys had fun fishing in the pond, too. I let them practice casting for a couple of hours with "plugs" on the end of their lines before we put actual hooks and worms on the poles. Casting was a lot of fun, but looking for worms and then the actual fishing was a little more boring, until we actually caught a fish! I was glad they got at least one, so that they will look forward to coming back and doing it again.

Last night we went into Muskegon and went to the Pere Marquette beach. The boys fell asleep in the car on the way, and we were quite concerned that they would be disappointed when they woke up, because the 50% chance of thunderstorms looked more and more likely as we approached the beach. By the time we got there, it was pouring down. We opted to do dinner at Docker's near the beach. By the time dinner was over, the skies had cleared up and we had sunny skies again. It was a little chilly at the beach, and I lost one of their Crocs, but we had a great time. The boys had fun making castle walls, then stomping then or letting the waves wash them away. They cried when we left the beach too, but the stop at the ice cream stand seemed to fix that right up.