"I can fit in the cooler!"

Skyler figured out that the Winder Farms cooler can make a great hidey hole.

It's not quite big enough for him to get the lid closed.  Thankfully.  :)

Freedom.

Skyler has found the freedom that a bike provides.  He's getting pretty good, he can almost keep it off of either training wheel!

Great clouds yesterday.

Back to our regularly scheduled awesomeness.

Skyler had such a good time with Grandpa and the trip to McDonald's,  that he fell asleep on the couch watching "Tractor Ted" on Friday.  Thanks again Dad, yet another example of awesomeness that's happened in the last 38 years.  :)

The Happy Meal smile sums up the day.

Mutant Giant Spider Dog!

I could post about all the awesomeness that happened yesterday.  Like Grandpa taking Skyler to McDonald's for a happy meal, or that we sneaked in a Fat Bike ride before the rain hit, but after being up most of the night with a shaking dog and screaming kid, I'm too tired.  Enjoy this awesome video for today!

Driving & riding.

Skyler (pretending to be) driving my car and riding his bike this week.

From Wednesday when he got dropped off at Grandpa's house.  Every time he climbs across the seats, he has to "drive".

Yesterday, he wanted to ride his bike to the job site.  He did so good, I had to run to keep up with him!  Maizey dog appreciated the exercise too.  :)

Watching the pump truck.

We walked down the street a couple of days ago to investigate an engine noise Skyler heard while we were in his room.  Low and behold, it was a concrete pump truck!  He was so excited, we had to watch it for at least an hour!

Blocking the road!

Skyler approves, thumbs up!

Pumping!

Truth.

I spotted this earlier in the week.  So true!

A hay day.

Skyler and I headed out to my friend Wayne's farm yesterday afternoon to ride in his brand new John Deere W235 self propelled windrower.  It was awesome!  This thing flat out hauls ass cutting hay!  15.5 miles per hour with GPS, 17-18 miles per hour with GPS turned off!  We cut the entire field in a little under an hour.  Skyler was so happy, he didn't want Wayne to stop cutting.  Since there wasn't anymore to cut, we headed over to Wayne's shop and checked out the new Gator and Sklyer played on his forklift.

Our ride.  Look at the size of it!  The drive tires are the same size as a JD 4440's!

Engine rpm top, miles per hour below that.  Yep, 15.5 miles per hour!

5th cutting of dairy hay.

The happy occupants.

What 15.5mph looks like!

Probably the straightest windrows I've ever seen.

It almost looks like Idaho.

Smile! (Like that was hard for him to do.)

Note the 8 42 pound suitcase weights on the rear.  They use the same garden tractor weights I do!  Also, note how tall the thing is! Ignore him holding himself, I don't know what to do about that :( 

The beautiful 6.8 liter 235 horsepower 6 cylinder engine!

The emissions after-treatment equipment.  

It uses the same cab as Deere's combines.  Did I mention that this thing is huge!?

Heading back to the shop.

Playing on the electric forklift in the shop.

This is what happened on the way home.  It must have been a good time, he slept in the garage for over an hour!

Cleaning.

Skyler helped Mommy clean the bathrooms on Saturday.  He likes to clean the mirrors, especially spraying the Windex.

Just like Mommy, he has to stand on the counter to reach the mirror!

Almost finished.  Job well done!

A great day.

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday.  I didn't do a damn thing besides spend time with family.  Skyler and I watched "Tractor Ted"  all afternoon and it was just awesome!  Everyone came over in the evening and we celebrated with presents and Hula Pie.  A huge thanks to everyone, I received way too many gifts!

Skyler getting ready to help blow out all the candles!  He got 'em in one blow!

Birthday, version 38.

That's how old I am today.  Thirty eight years old.  To celebrate, yesterday Altair & I went for a Fat Bike ride up Millcreek canyon.  We intended to ride Dog Lake, but odd numbered days don't allow bikes on that trail. (Doh!)  Instead, we rode pipeline.  I think that was a better choice in the end, I felt like I was 8 all over again rallying a big assed Fat Bike along the trail!  So fast, and much fun!

4.8"Surly Bud tire rolling along!

Autumn goodness.  Yes, I meant my dear wife.  I still can't believe I have a chick that rides!

Lots-O-leaves.

Leaves on the trail.

Leaves collecting on the ground.  The acorns were on the trail at times too.  You should hear the sound of 4.8" tires crushing acorns!

Some fat old man.  :)

The fat old man holding his giant sized BMX bike.

Looking West at the valley below.

Panorama including the chick that rides.

Looking up the canyon.

Fat tired goodness!  Note what chainring I'm in, "Big Ring Eddy!!"

A HUGE thanks to my parents for watching Bubbs for nearly the entire day as a result of heading to the AT&T store after the ride to get the new iPhone 6 for Altair, and ordering a new iPhone 6+ for me.  :)

John Deere Day.

Our John Deere industrial dealer (Honnen Equipment) held a grand opening, open house yesterday to celebrate their new building and location.  I gotta say, it was impressive!  My good friend Ken met us at our house and the three of us headed out.  Upon arrival, we were handed a goodie bag that consisted of, a genuine licensed JD hat with dealer imprint, a JD keychain, JD pen, and JD a sticker.  We registered our names, and got a punch card that if we got 6 punches at various locations, we were eligible to win a flatscreen TV!  We got to see a backstage tour of the parts room (unbelievable!) and it was off to lunch.  Lunch was fresh grilled hotdogs or hamburgers and included macaroni and potato salads and drinks.  Skyler was on his best behavior the entire time because he knew if he was good, he would get to pick out a toy.  And he did.  A 764 high speed dozer toy to be exact.  :)

There were dozens of these beautiful white Deere flags on display as we drove up.

This was pretty cool, an old oil drum in the parts warehouse now used to store shipping materials. 

This Deere 310SK backhoe was much nicer than the rental backhoe we played in last week.

Massive shop.  Note the overhead cranes and central lube and coolant rack.

Looking West in the shop.  Not shown because I forgot to take pics, the overhaul shop and indoor heated wash bay at the far end.  Amazing!

A poor pic of Skyler playing in the backhoe.

The scraper tractor had 36, 100 pound weights!  I've never seen so many weights on one machine! 

Skyler pretending to "fix" the scraper tractor.  Note the tire wear!

Sitting in a giant 844K 8 cubic yard bucket.  Staker Parsons had their loader in for pins and bushings.  Honnen even has their own hydraulic repair shop in house.

Demonstration area where we got to learn about various features on the machines.

Half million dollar 772GP road grader.  Deere factory rep at the rear.

Equipment display along the North side of the shop.

Skyler got to "drive" a new 320E skid steer.