A rite of passage: mowing the lawn.

When I was 9, my grandpa let me drive his riding mower in Iowa - over a HUGE, beautiful hilly green lawn. It was one of the biggest days of my life!! Then, when I was 12 (I think - maybe 11), he let me actually MOW the lawn, and it was the best chore there could be. I looked forward to it every summer when we visited!! (My grandpa was the BEST!!!!!!)

Reese is 14 1/2, so I figured it was time he started mowing. He's been wanting to for some time, and I let him drive it on the street on our dead-end when he was 12 or so, but today he became a Man.

He did great, too!! We have a lot of debris in our yard, which makes it a difficult yard to mow (which is one reason for the delay). Lots of sticks, dog toys and plaster chunks from all of the remodeling and the room we put on, but Nikolai and I helped pick up as much as we could and I let Reese do his thing.

He's trying to be modest, but I know he's as proud as he can be at his new responsibility!!