To the east of our home they are building a new home on one of the two remaining building lots in our neighborhood. They just dug the basement a week or two ago and are getting ready to pour the basement floor and footings. The kids have played nearly everyday on the huge dirt hills that were left by the track-hoe that dug the basement. Max loves the dirt hills the most and is content to just stick his toes in it and let the dirts pour through his little fingers. We have to be careful to keep him away when the workers are there because Max likes to help out with the construction process. Especially if heavy machinery is in use. 

Our little town is starting to grow as more young families like ours continue to flock to the good life. It’s fun to see the young children play and frolic in these lazy days of summer. Our kids all have friends their own ages within a one-block radius. There seems to be about twice as many girls as there are boys.

This weekend we went to a church party at a prominent local doctors farm. The kids had a ball and they were thrilled to just run wild in the country. Alyssa was running with Max when he lost hold of his baloon.

As usual, Max disappeared and was found in the seat of this old Ford tractor. Later, we enjoyed a hay-ride on a big wagon pulled by this very tractor. One of the men brought his banjo on the hay-ride and just played some old-time music.

For most of the children in attendance, the horse rides were the highlight of the evening. Travis has ridden an elephant before but never a horse. He thought he looked pretty good in the saddle.

Alyssa was disappointed that she couldn’t ride the horse with a baloon tied to her wrist. But, she finally decided that I could watch her baloon for a few minutes so she could try being a cowgirl.

Today is the day that Max turns two years old. Jolynn bought him a cake with a farmer scene and a pig and cow on it. He got some new boots this week and he wishes this tractor was his. Max loves tractors and anything to do with farming. Tonight we will have a little family party for Max and I will assemble his new bike with training wheels. He is so much fun to be around and makes everybody smile. He already has quite the little fan club here in Annabella amongst our neighbors and friends.

After digging a small hole for what I thought would be an easy fix, I discovered I was mistaken. 20 feet later I found the end of the cracked pipe nestled in a pile of tree roots. I got the repair made and tested the system for a few days before covering the hole. I suspect that the pipe froze during the winter when the temperature dipped into the minus twenties. I have been told that the frost level can go deeper on tightly compacted areas such as driveways and roads. The pipe is 24 inches deep and had a spider web type crack from one end to the other.