Tag Archives: neighborhood

Meet My Construction Site Friends

Do you have friends at a construction site near you? I’ve been walking through the new phase, Phase Three, of our neighborhood almost daily with Daddy. Along the way, we have developed many friendships. They’re all great, but this yellow dump truck is my bestie.

construction site, kids, toddler, humor, chuck the dump truck

Last week he surprised us by springing back to life after sitting dormant for weeks. I credit my healing hugs and duct tape bandaids. We’ve seen him busy hauling heavy loads of dirt and rock a few times, but he always goes back to the same spot in the back. Poor guy, he always looks so lonely. I make sure to give Dumper, that’s his name, a big hug everyday so he know’s we love him.

construction site, kids, toddler, humor, chuck the dump truck

 

I love playing construction site at home with Mommy and Daddy and have almost all of the trucks we see working hard in Phase Three. My favorite is my little yellow dump truck, his name is LIttle Dumper. I don’t get it, but Daddy always laughs when we talk about Big and Little Dumper.

He tried to suggest we call him Chuck the Dump Truck like on The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, but Dumper is what I’m sticking with. Pshhhhh, Chuck’s not even as yellow as Dumper!

The Adventures of Chuck and Friends DVD

 

Most of my other construction site friends have names from The Adventures of Chuck and Friends and Bob the Builder though. Daddy and I just called them by what type of vehicle they were at first, but as our friendships grew, I sensed even these great big machines have a soft side.

Muck, our bulldozer buddy, explained how he and the other work trucks truly feel about not having real names.

construction site, bob the builder, kids

 

He likened it to if people just walked around calling everyone human; it’s impersonal and greatly drains morale.

These trucks work so hard, taking constant abuse, usually for the benefit of humans, asking nothing in return. The least we could do is give them names and show a little appreciation. Maybe even play with them a little. Muck loves when I do scooper squats with him.

duct tape, construction site, adventure

 

And climbing into his cabin simply to take a picture, not start him up to push more dirt around, puts a grin on his scooper.

Bulldozer selfie with Daddy

The trucks even told me they tense up when someone climbs on them because that usually means more work and abuse. Even when they’re not feeling or looking (don’t tell Dumper I said that) their best, they love posing for pictures.

Sitting in Yellow Dump Truck

 

His poor seat guts need more duct tape bandaids than Daddy is willing to give. Unless I break out my sweet daddy’s girl look, then I can get enough of the cloth adhesive to dress a mummy.

Yes, more, a little more.....a little more....keep going
Yes, more, a little more…..a little more….keep going

Now that I’ve gotten to know most of these guys, big and small, in the Phase Three construction site, I thought I’d introduce you to the kind hearted motored machines.

To start, I’ve been getting to know Spinny the portable cement mixer a lot lately.

Portable Cement Mixer_Spinny from Chuck the Dump Truck

 

Ahhh, that Spinny, he’s always on a roll! Daddy told me to say that, then laughed. I don’t get it.

I don’t know how he does it as he seems to get passed around house to house when it’s time to brick. To just sit in the heat in a constant twirly whirl makes me dizzy just watching. His line of work just seems to get harder and harder. Again, Daddy made me say it.

Another relatively small friend is Benny the mini excavator. Him and his brothers and sisters are all around Phase Three digging ditches or deep holes.

Watching Mini Excavator on WOOM 1 Balance Bike

 

Because I know how much it means to them, I’ll climb into the cab of Benny or one of his siblings just to sit and smile for a while. Don’t tell Benny, but I like his Bobcat brother the most.

Waving in Bobcat Excavator

 

We see Grabber, the big excavator, every now and then, but not as often as Benny.

Excavator_Side Profile (Medium)

 

I have  my own Grabber at home, however, he’s the biggest in our living room construction site.

Sitting with toy Excavator_Grabber

 

Scratch is a Skid-Steer Loader and his kind make up the majority of work vehicles around the site. You’d think they might be competitive about who works the hardest, but they’re actually quite affectionate. I even see them giving butt hugs at the end of a long day.

bobcat butt hugs, #mysundayphoto, kids, cute, bikes, adventure

Dizzy, the cement mixer, is another hard worker around here. He and his family are constantly helping to pour foundation for a new home or a sidewalk around the new neighborhood.

Cement Mixer Turning Corner

 

Even on the run, he’ll say hi with the honk of his horn when I pump my arm up and down. I don’t know why I do that, Daddy just tells me to and then Dizzy honks. Such a nice truck. Mommy and Daddy just got me a Dizzy of my own, but I had to be a good kid before I was allowed to have him.

Looking at new Green Toys Dump Truck_Roller

 

His giant teammate, Cement Pump Truck is a super hard worker, and a super grump!

Cement Pump Truck pouring foundation

 

Might have something to do with not having a name yet. I’ll have to get on that and hopefully it’ll cheer him up.

Pumpy? Pumpsters?

Similar to Pump Truck’s giant boom arm, Lofty the crane truck makes an appearance to help unload heavy brick and sidewall for new homes.

Red Crane Truck_Lofty

 

I don’t talk much to Lofty because she always has heavy things swinging overhead, but she’s a gentle truck deep inside.

At the start of a new home, I see Ditch Digger (another with a TBD name) and the larger Horizontal Directional Drill. They both excite me, but like Lofty, I need to spend a little more time getting to know them before we get as close as the other construction site friends.

Yep, these are my big big friends at our Phase Three construction site. Some take longer than others to really show their true truck selves, but they all have a unique personality I enjoy watching unfold day by day.

Avery in Shades Looking at Construction Site

They are always happy to see me come by and wave, and I’m happy to see them too. Next time you have the opportunity, be sure to stop and give Dumper, Scratch, Dizzy, Lofty, Spinny, and friends a hug or high-five, it just might make their day.

Party in the Neighborhood and Chores at Home

Does your neighborhood have a social (or any kind of) committee? Ours has a social committee, which Going Mom is a part of, and they planned an awesome summer kick-off party for all our neighbors to attend.

Being the husband of a committee member, I, along with a few other husbands, had the pleasure of helping out with the event. I loaded Avery’s Fisher-Price Basketball goal to bring  (it ended up being a “slam dunk”) and helped with the kid’s fishing station. We didn’t know so many kids lived in the neighborhood until our big party. It’s great knowing there are so many playmates right in the hood.

Hopefully they won’t become hood-lums as the get older and terrorize all of us parents. Just like I (neverdid when I was a kid. Sorry, Mom. Not that I’m concerned our little angel would cause any trouble when all she want to do is play with bubbles.

Bubble Play at Neighbhorhood Party

The bubble machine was THE highlight of the party for our little girl, and many others. Then there were the piñatas.  Going Mom was in charge of buying these, and she chose the coolest turtle piñata for little kids…

….and a giant flip flop for the older kids.

I’ve been part of a piñata massacre before, but never a turtle; it hurt to watch.

Pinata Party Meme - Stop the Violence

No pictures of the abuse, but if you’ve seen an mob of zombies hovering over a fallen human on the The Walking Dead, it’s basically the same thing. Only kids are the zombies and scattered candy is the fallen human.

Avery has yet to taste candy or anything that’s basically pure sugar, so she didn’t care much about what came out of the papier-mâché vessels. I know the day will come, but until then, we’ll enjoy her not begging to satisfy her sweet tooth unless it’s something we  ourselves.

The party was a major hit for the neighborhood and we’re all thankful for an awesome committee. I suggested another party with a Midsummer’s Night Dream theme. Sounds cool, but I guess I wouldn’t be the one doing all of the hard work, so I won’t push it.

The rest of the weekend was low key with us just taking care of chores around the house. Avery made sure to help when and where she could.

party, cleaning with mommy, parenting, toddlers
I’ve got Mommy’s back….literally.

My wife continued her paint everything beige project around the home and enlisted the help of some non-toxic finger paint from Alex Toys to keep our toddler’s wondering hands busy.

DSC_0585

And guess what? It worked!

DSC_0588

After finishing in the kitchen, I sat down and painted with her to make sure she kept busy. The paints are nothing great, but they are inexpensive and colors go on paper. That’s all toddlers care about! I still have yet to help with the actual painting.

DSC_0590

Sorry, wife. Hope you still love me!

That’s about it for our weekend of fun, cleaning, and projects. This time next week, we’ll be living it up in North Carolina at the Outer Banks. It will be Avery’s first trip to the ocean and we’re excited to play in the sand with our beautiful girl. The sleeping arrangements, on the other hand, are something we’re not quite looking forward to. We’ll be in bunk beds with me on the top and Going Mom on the bottom with Avery. Sounds simple, but from what I posted on Instagram the other day, well, I’ll let you know afterward.

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner No More

The mystery of our neighbor’s wrangled chickens has been solved! This little ring-tailed bandit won’t be saying “Winner winner, chicken dinner” anytime soon.

winner winner, chicken dinner, raccoon, rodent, animals
Ummm, I’m sorry?

Yep, our nice neighbors who let Avery pet their chickens on our daily walk, and would give some of their eggs to us for months caught animal responsible for killing all but one of their chickens. A raccoon, of course, it even has bandit as a nickname!

They set a trap before, but the sly guy would reach his paws into the cage and grab the food without going inside. Then our neighbors outsmarted the night raider and rigged the trap to finally catch him. As you’d expect, celebration soon followed.

raccoon, wiinner winner, chicken dinner, kids, celebrating

That’s Avery in the middle with our neighbor’s two year old boy, Bexar (pronounced Bear) and five year old gymnast, Taylor. She was the only one up for facing the camera, Avery and Bexar were having too much fun playing….or celebrating.

Kids posing with Racoon

They also have an older boy, Brazos, but he’s suffering through the last few days of school before summer starts. Taylor is the girl who usually caught a chicken for Avery to pet and is always happy to show her cools things she has.

Looking at chicken
RIP, Rose the Chicken

Being the kind folks that they are, they released the crazy bandit back into the wild, just away from their home. Hope it learned its lesson to stay away! With only one chicken left, they plan to restock their fowl soon.

I gave them a little money to pay for one just so Avery could name one of them. So far, when we ask what name she wants to give a chicken, she says “Yellow”. I keep asking at different times, but she keeps the same answer. Guess our neighbors will have a chicken named “Yellow” soon…..even if it’s black.

As for the other crime in the neighborhood, we have a break in the case. They haven’t been caught (yet), but were captured on video as they attempted to use a stolen credit card at a 7-11. Here is the report and some pics, maybe you’ll see them and can help trap them just like the raccoon.

Police Report
Police Report
Bad Guy Vehicle
Bad Guy Vehicle
Bad Guy 1
Bad Guy 1
Bad Guy 2
Bad Guy 2

Hopefully, with the raccoon trapped, the criminals exposing themselves, and an awesome neighborhood on high alert, our little crimewave will vanish. Once the replacement chickens arrive, I’ll be sure to share a pic of “Yellow” and the others soon after.

That’s it for now. Avery and I are going to go patrol the neighborhood to maintain order in the community!