If you live in the Quad-City Area, you know what the John
Deere Commons is. But, have you been
there? I have to admit, before I had
kids, I think the only time I had been there was to take my little cousin Bruno
to see the tractors. No offense, but I
didn’t see the attraction—considering I had grown up in Iowa, I had seen my
fair share of tractors and didn’t understand why it was so exciting to walk
into a room full of them..
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| They were so enthralled they wouldn't even look at the camera! |
…but now I am the mother of two boys. And now I
understand. It’s like a dream come true
for them—life size toys! And you can
“drive” them! They are literally
fascinated; their eyes just light up when we walk into that place. This week we had a whole carful of boys
along…their cousin Bruno is here visiting from Boston, we had their cousin Jack
and their friend Landon. Five boys and a room full of tractors is truly a
blast. Watching them run from one big
machine to the next (no, I do not know the names of any of them, I’m sorry!) is
so fun for me. And even their Daddy is
enthralled by the big green and yellow monsters!
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| Playing on the smart board |
Since we last went to visit the John Deere Commons, they
have added a lot of new things; lots of informative videos and demonstrations,
but more importantly (at least in our case), they now have little tables full of
tractors and other toys for the kids to play with. And a Smart Board for them to write on…what a
genius idea! (Heck, when I was a Teaching Assistant at the University of Iowa,
even all of us graduate students used to fight over the Smart Board! Those things are cool!)
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| Playing tractors |
This week I was reminded of what a great community the
Quad-Cities truly is…as I take my boys around to all of the great places in our
town (we’ve also been to Vander Veer twice and the Davenport sprinkler park
twice…all in the last week), I am thankful that they get to grow up in a place
like this. As we were driving home today, Matt said to me, “what do people do
in the cities?” . I had to laugh, because obviously there are a million things to do in a city, but I
think what he meant is that kids love space, they love big parks with lots of
grass to run around and play their own games.
And although I really do love the city and always thought I would live
in one, I can honestly say that there
isn’t anywhere else I would rather raise my kids than right here in good ol’
John Deere country.
Tonight I am thankful for tractors, for good friends and
family, and most of all, for my boys.
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| My little tiny Cooper in the great big tractor! |
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