From Girl Power to Excavators

The Kid is obsessed with excavators. Apparently two going on three year olds have their obsessions too. Tonight when I was putting him to bed I asked him if he wanted to hear the "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" story. He said, "Excavator story." So I made one up. So here it is.

Once upon a time a little boy who lived in the yellow-blue-purple house neighborhood saw a BIG machine on his street.

It was yellow.
It was rumbly grumbly.
It had a long arm with a bucket.

The little boy walked down the street towards the BIG machine. He saw a puppy dog.

"Puppy dog, do you know the name of the BIG machine?"

The puppy dog drooled a little on the sidewalk. "I don't know, but the BIG machine is yellow, and I want to find out."

The little boy and the puppy dog walked down the street towards the BIG machine. They saw a kitty cat.

"Kitty cat, do you know the name of the BIG machine?"

The kitty cat sprawled on the sidewalk and did not look at them. "Yes, of course I do. But I'm not telling you."

"The machine is yellow," said the puppy dog.

"Of course it is," said the kitty cat. "Did you also know, slobber-face, that the machine is grumbly rumbly?"

The little boy and the puppy dog and the kitty cat walked down the street towards the BIG machine. They saw a little girl.

"Little girl, do you know the name of the BIG machine?"

The little girl kicked off her soccer cleats. "No, but it has a long arm with a big bucket. Let's get a closer look."

The little boy and the puppy dog and the kitty cat and the little girl with the bare feet walked down the street towards the BIG machine. They saw a tall man with a hard hat.

"Tall man, do you know the name of the BIG machine?" The little boy asked. "We know it is yellow, it is grumbly rumbly, and it has a long arm with a big bucket."

The tall man spread his arms high and said, "What is yellow and grumbly rumbly and has a long arm with a big bucket?"

The puppy dog drooled and the kitty cat swished her tail and the little girl squished a bug with her big toe and the little boy thought and thought. Then he knew! "It's an EXCAVATOR!"

"Right!" said the tall man. "The day is over and the excavator is done picking up dirt, picking up rocks, and picking up wood." The tall man put orange cones around the excavator and brushed the dirt off the metal bucket.

Just then, the little boy heard his mommy calling him for bedtime.

The tall man was sleepy.
The little girl was sleepy.
The kitty cat was sleepy.
The puppy dog was sleepy.
And the little boy was the sleepiest of all.

He ran home as the sun sank behind the mountains and the bicycles rolled into the garages, and he drank some milk, and he went to sleep.