Boys of Summer

How do a dad and two boys enjoy a summer afternoon on the farm? Throw a baseball around. Take apart the tractor and end up making it worse. Kick the soccer ball around. Dig up the dirt pile covering the future grey-water pit and use it to fill in the holes in the soccer pitch from when 7-year-old Galen learned to use the excavator 2 years ago. Dig some more dirt and build a bike jump in the forest. Take down the last storm window while the boys get their bikes and helmets. Finally buck up that log across the forest path while the boys do more and more daring jumps that'll make their Mama sweat. When the chainsaw gets stuck, use a long strong branch and a stump to make a lever that the boys sit on to raise the log back up.

Then inside for some quick liver burgers and fried potatoes, a long "childhood story" of various mishaps and almost-arrests on my first ever trip to France, a soft sing-along of Sweet Baby James, and a delightful falling asleep with Galen on my shoulder and Zekiah on my chest.

Four chores done, three games played, one impressive scratch each, and only one broken farm implement. We may be a long way from circus camps and roller coasters, but there's no shortage of summer thrills here on the WildSide.