Faulkner
Member
Being a grandpa is pretty cool, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. My four year old grandson spent the weekend with us and he is a bundle of energy with an inquisitive mind. He and I spent some time out in my shop where it seemed I spent most of my time answering questions like "what is this Grandpa?", and after answering his question there was the obligatory follow up question of, "what does it do?". Eventually he came upon a couple of game cameras I had laying on my workbench and asked "what do these do Grandpa?", so I decided we'd work on a little project together. I told him we would set up one of the game cameras so we could get some critter pictures tonight.
I took one of the game cameras and I let him load it with fresh batteries and an SD card, apparently that's a no brainer for four year old's these days, he even already knew the "+" had to match up as he inserted the batteries in the camera. I then let him pour some deer corn in a pale and we topped it with some deer attractant molasses I had left over from deer season.
I then grabbed a game camera pedestal mount and strap and we walked out to a spot in the back yard near a cedar tree I'd recently trimmed. I jabbed the camera mount into the ground and he helped me strap the camera to the mount, then we stepped off a few paces and he poured out the corn and molasses mix on the ground. We went back to the camera and turned it on and then I explained we would come back tomorrow and check the camera and see if we got any critter pictures.
After that we loaded birdseed on the ATV and he and I filled up Nana's dozen or so birdfeeders, and when we finished that he asked, "Grandpa, can we go check the game camera?".
"No buddy, we have to wait until tomorrow."
Next, we cranked up the tractor and rode down our quarter mile driveway to the mailbox, him sitting in my lap helping steer the tractor. Once we retrieved the mail, he was assigned the very important task of holding onto the mail and not letting it blow away on the trip back up the driveway. We stopped by the house and I let him climb down and run the mail inside to Nana, then he was back in a jiffy and climbed back up and we took the tractor to the shop. As soon as I shut off the tractor he looked up at me and asked, "Grandpa, can we go check the game camera?"
"First thing in the morning, buddy, we have to wait until then."
Between Nana and I we kept him occupied the rest of the day, and it wasn't until after supper that he brought it back up again. "Grandpa, it's dark outside now, are the animals out there getting their picture taken?"
"I'm sure they are, but we'll have to wait until in the morning to check."
Nana raised an eyebrow when she looked at me and whispered, "you know he's going to be at your bedside at dawn wanting to go check the camera, don't you?"
Well, sure enough, he was at my bedside at dawn! "Grandpa, Grandpa, let's go check the camera." I took a quick look at the outdoor thermometer and it was 28 degrees outside. We got all bundled up with boots and gloves and hats and made the 150 yard hike on the frost covered ground to the camera. Nana said she'd have the hot chocolate waiting on us when we got back. When we got to the site I noticed all the corn was gone, that was a good sign. He noticed it too, "Grandpa, they ate all our corn!"
I took out the SD card and I assigned him with the important task of hanging on to it until we got back to the house. He placed it between his gloved thumb and forefinger and held it out like a prize on the trek all the way back to the house.
He could hardly wait to get all the cold weather gear off to get to the computer and see what pictures we had. Apparently it was a busy place overnight. He sat in my lap as we scrolled through pictures of a whitetail deer, then a pair of foxes, a skunk, then a raccoon and 'possum nosed around, and finally a single fox came around. He was pretty excited!
I took one of the game cameras and I let him load it with fresh batteries and an SD card, apparently that's a no brainer for four year old's these days, he even already knew the "+" had to match up as he inserted the batteries in the camera. I then let him pour some deer corn in a pale and we topped it with some deer attractant molasses I had left over from deer season.
I then grabbed a game camera pedestal mount and strap and we walked out to a spot in the back yard near a cedar tree I'd recently trimmed. I jabbed the camera mount into the ground and he helped me strap the camera to the mount, then we stepped off a few paces and he poured out the corn and molasses mix on the ground. We went back to the camera and turned it on and then I explained we would come back tomorrow and check the camera and see if we got any critter pictures.
After that we loaded birdseed on the ATV and he and I filled up Nana's dozen or so birdfeeders, and when we finished that he asked, "Grandpa, can we go check the game camera?".
"No buddy, we have to wait until tomorrow."
Next, we cranked up the tractor and rode down our quarter mile driveway to the mailbox, him sitting in my lap helping steer the tractor. Once we retrieved the mail, he was assigned the very important task of holding onto the mail and not letting it blow away on the trip back up the driveway. We stopped by the house and I let him climb down and run the mail inside to Nana, then he was back in a jiffy and climbed back up and we took the tractor to the shop. As soon as I shut off the tractor he looked up at me and asked, "Grandpa, can we go check the game camera?"
"First thing in the morning, buddy, we have to wait until then."
Between Nana and I we kept him occupied the rest of the day, and it wasn't until after supper that he brought it back up again. "Grandpa, it's dark outside now, are the animals out there getting their picture taken?"
"I'm sure they are, but we'll have to wait until in the morning to check."
Nana raised an eyebrow when she looked at me and whispered, "you know he's going to be at your bedside at dawn wanting to go check the camera, don't you?"
Well, sure enough, he was at my bedside at dawn! "Grandpa, Grandpa, let's go check the camera." I took a quick look at the outdoor thermometer and it was 28 degrees outside. We got all bundled up with boots and gloves and hats and made the 150 yard hike on the frost covered ground to the camera. Nana said she'd have the hot chocolate waiting on us when we got back. When we got to the site I noticed all the corn was gone, that was a good sign. He noticed it too, "Grandpa, they ate all our corn!"
I took out the SD card and I assigned him with the important task of hanging on to it until we got back to the house. He placed it between his gloved thumb and forefinger and held it out like a prize on the trek all the way back to the house.
He could hardly wait to get all the cold weather gear off to get to the computer and see what pictures we had. Apparently it was a busy place overnight. He sat in my lap as we scrolled through pictures of a whitetail deer, then a pair of foxes, a skunk, then a raccoon and 'possum nosed around, and finally a single fox came around. He was pretty excited!
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