This Is Our Blog

The downstairs at least is looking pretty good and now awaits our art and stuff from Korea and the U.S. The upstairs and patio have more work to do…

He slept on the plane from 12:40 to 7:20. I watched A Man Called Ove and The Comedian and got a couple hours sleep. After he woke up he buckled himself at one point, went to the bathroom a couple times, ate a little of his breakfast (a summer squash pasta thing and a roll), and was happy as long as we were feeding him mints. As we went through immigration later he would say “I want to go mint shopping.”

We exited the plane with Meghan, and when I asked him what country we were in he first said “Philadelphia”. He then had to do a lot of waiting. And more waiting. At immigration we got in a line with only 10 people or so in it. And it didn’t move. And then there was a shift change. August spent much of his time hanging on the railing next to us. But that portion probably took 45 minutes to an hour. When we got to the counter things went quick. Then, in baggage claim we found our three bags quickly. But Meghan was missing a suitcase. So she went and stood in the lines at lost luggage and we waited and waited. I stayed with all our other bags and read some Game of Thrones while August and Carly went and sat on a bench. Meghan’s hunch had been correct: there was a bag that looked like hers and another guy had picked it up.

We got out and met Ada and the driver (forgot his name, but he was quite funny and liked August). As we were late, they didn’t have time to take us and come back for Heidi, who was arriving around 6:30. So they took us to the coffee shop (confusingly called Kakao, which in Korea is the big chat program/other tech things company) and we had some lattes and August had a pretzel. He was really interested in the orange juice machine but never insisted on getting any. We walked around once to fill up his water bottle, and I was holding him in my arms, on his back, and we made up a “Floaty Float” song after he spotted dozens of helium balloons littering the ceiling of the reception area of the airport.

It turned out that Heidi also was dealing with a lost luggage issue, so we waited and waited. We finally left the airport at 7:55. Drove first to north Tel Aviv and dropped off Meghan. August and Carly got out and walked around a little on the sidewalk. Then a little farther north to Ada’s place to pick up cash for us so we have something to start with. Then on to our place. He watched some Sarah and Duck and some Kipper to keep him awake, then occupied. He was getting rather impatient by the time we got to Even Yehuda, and had more mints and a Zone Perfect bar along the way.

We got to our house after 9:30. August went straight to the little teeter totter in the yard. He wanted me to get on but then realized I didn’t fit. The first house rule is now apparently “If it doesn’t fit you you can’t go on it.” The guy let us in and showed us around.

Wanted to find rockets; link to what Vivian said as we were in the car with Cherie

“I want to go dessert shopping when this is gone.”

Asleep 12:30

 

He was up at 6:30. Csrly took him to the bathroom, then he came out and started to play with the toy vacuum cleaner. He sang a nice song that turned into “This fits in the vacuum” as he put a stick in it. He was then walking on the sunny spot on the floor and sort of chanting. He wanted to go outside, so I went out on the porch with him. He wanted his sweatshirt and shoes, so we got those. He played a little on the porch and with the sad. He was disappointed that the sand had dried out:  “That’s too bad, there’s no water in there.”

He wanted to go for a walk, but when I asked if he wanted to go get mama he said no, just dada and Zinnie. Maybe the first time this summer that he’s wanted just the two of us for something. He repeated this several minutes later when we were out by the lake and he wanted to keep going for a walk and I asked if we should go back and get her. Anyway, the walk was prompted by seeing two women run past and through the lake parking lot. Me headed across the grass to the lake, me carrying him. He said something about how we wouldn’t catch up with the runners, and also how he prefers to be carried on walks. We just went out on the little gravel spit into what is usually the lake. Played with the rocks and threw them in. I threw a rock in to surprise him with a splash and he asked what it was. I said it was a frog and he quickly caught on to the joke, and when we’d throw more rocks in he’d say “It’s a frog!” Playing around, he joked “It wetted me and it tickled me and it poked me and it hurted me.”

We went back in after a half hour or so. He told me he wanted ice cream. “Dinner, then ice cream.” He was excited when Oma and Cassie came in, spying them out the window and watching them as they walked in. A little conflict started when Vivian came down. He helped crack and mix eggs for French toast, just like Vivian. Cherie made the kids french toast. He then played with the toy vacuum, putting coins in it.Vivian joined in on the game. Colin was down too, and he and August ended up playing with a flashlight in our closet. Cherie then took Vivian to the store with her.

They played outside with Carly, then I took a shower and did some packing. When I went out the kids were with Carly and Cherie out at the play area. She and Vivian had brought back little bouncy balls from the store. They switched around a bit, but August ended up with a green and white one, which he liked because he said it was for mama. Much later, when I went through security at the airport, I would forget the ball was in my pocket.

Carly went inside. Played with the balls a bit, then he was swinging with Vivian, her holding his swing to make them both go. I saw two golden eagles fly low overhead. All the kids ended up in the motor home with me and Chuck and Cherie. August tried a bit of dried green bean, then when we were trying to ask him if he wanted apple he ignored us and kept talking about how “Dada, I ate the rest that was in my mouth.” We played the elevator game: “I want to take the elevator.” He developed that sometime with Carly over the last couple weeks, just where we slide him on and off our lap. Then he was: “I’m the pipe that goes up to the water tank.” Cherie let him and Vivian share water from a cup and he had tons of why questions about sharing water with Vivian and why he couldn’t blow bubbles.

They ended up all in the bed in the RV. August said “I made a really strong firework that killed Vivian.” Which luckily he didn’t repeat, but was a reference back to something Cherie explained while we were in the car driving home from the lake. Due to August’s why questions she had gotten off whatever point she had been making to explain why an explosion could kill someone. August was then tightening screws on Vivian. He and Vivian each had a magazine and were reading them in bed. August was looking out his window and could see the motor home. Then took some negotiating with Vivian to let her blind be drawn so he could look out and see the lake, which he quite liked.

Cherie had let them explore some of the cupboards in the bedroom, and I had seen magazines from when Carly and Cassie were born. Then back out in the main room she got out the canisters for flour, etc. that Carly liked. Think Cherie said she got them in 1970. She was saving them for Carly, and later I would manage to pack them in the backamapack and get them to Israel. Anyway, the kids wanted to bang them around, but Cherie let them switch to her cheaper pots and pans. A racket commenced.

Eventually, August went inside to nurse. Vivian put notes through the door, then August ended up playing with the toy coffee maker and mixer and got some tomatos and wanted to make a tomato drink. Very excited by this. So Cherie helped him blend the tomatos with the hand mixer. He saw Colin trying to use the toy mixer and said  “Oh dear. Colin shouldn’t use that.” He drank some and said “I dranked the tomato drink.” Did you like it? “Yeah!” Although he had actually just said “Hhh.” He did end up drinking more of it though.

I spent a dull chunk of time checking in online and signing us up for United frequent flier accounts. When I was done Colin was excitedly pointing to something outside and I went out with him. He wanted to go over to the grape arbor where he pointed out insects and we picked some grapes and raspberries. Back inside August was in the bathroom and declared “Mama, my favorite thing is poop.” Then a bit of sadness. He had been fine with going to Israel up to now, but a couple times today he would say “I don’t like Israel. I like it here.” Luckily, he never got upset about it.

Cassie and Cherie had made spaghetti, so they had some of that. Vivian had worn her dress that Glecy sent her from Sierra Leone. August wanted a turn, but lost interested when spaghetti happened. Too bad, as I would have liked for him to wear it.

He ended up hitting Vivian over something (may have been the dress). I talked about being really sorry, and not just saying it (as he said he was ready to apologize right away). Him: I have a machine that runs on sorries. I put more sorries in there.” And he said “You feel sad for what you did.” Back to the machine: “It only needs sorries to work.” “Real sorries in there.” And he used Vivian’s line: “Stop! There’s a bug on your head! For real!”

Then Vivian said it was time for a treat: “Mama! She says it’s dessert time!” It was Kinder Surprise Eggs. He started with the top, then Vivian immediately traded with him before he knew what he had. He got a little car, but then Colin wanted that, so August ended up with the little skunks, which he was a bit disappointed in. Jeff went to wash his truck, and the kids joined in. August mainly ran the hose, spraying off our dirty rags and spraying the truck. I joined in. August then needed to go to the bathroom, and I let him pee in the grass since it was the last day. He was very excited about this and kept asking for my reasoning. He then said “When it’s the last day I will always pee in the grass!”

Went back inside and I packed the canisters in the backpack. Vivian knew we had sticks for drawing in the sand nod brought in a rather big one as a gift. I said it was too big, and she came back with a small stick. Very sweet of her. It was some quick goodbyes, and Vivian grabbed August’s hand and started to walk him out, saying something like “Time to go to Israel”, which I just missed getting on video. We left by 5:20, me sitting up front with Chuck, and Cherie in the back with Carly and August. August fell right to sleep, by 5:30. So a quiet trip after that, except we saw an Apple mapping truck before exit 30.

They dropped us off, said a quick goodbye, and we headed in. August was only half awake as Carly put him in the stroller and took him in. He gave Opa a high five as he went past. Took some time to check in, as we had to shift some stuff in our suitcases to make them both under 50
pounds. We got dinner. Carly ordered a couple of Boars’ Head sandwiches for us, and August and I went to a salad bar thing and got lasagna, potatoes, and carrots and broccoli for him. He really liked his food. Carly had to wait for our sandwiches, and he kept offering her some of his food. When I was feeding him with a fork a tine got his cheek a bit. He dramatically said “You poked me. There’s a hole there.” He wanted water and we went to find a drinking fountain to fill his bottle. Came back and then Carly took him to get a smoothie. When they came back he said “You can have some, dada.” Carly went to get a latte, and while she was gone he asked for the green ball, which I now knew was in my pocket. She came back, and while he was playing with it he tripped and fell on the floor and ended up nursing.

We went to our gate after 9. Confusing as there was an extra security gate, but no one explaining anything about it. He made a friend, Amalia, who was a girl just older than Colin that was running around. August started rolling on the floor, and she copied him. Carly then managed to find Megan, a new third grade teacher at the school who was on the same flight. So we talked to her. As we were boarding, August then sneezed nine times. Impressive.

While taxing and during takeoff August wanted the window seat and was looking out the window. We figured out how to turn the lights on and off, and he joked “Where’s the eye button?” Which was a game with him and Vivian when we were robots and it would make me blink. He was looking out the window as we flew and could see the lights of New York, etc. We changed seats when they went to the bathroom and I had the window seat for the rest of the flight. Our flight took off at 10:45. There was some dinner, he watched one Sarah and Duck episode wearing his headphones, then he went to sleep at 12:40.

A few photos. Something bothering his foot: 

Vivian in her dress from Glecy: 

Somethinf on his chin:

Snokey and mints:  

Up at 7 after Carly had spent quite awhile getting him back to sleep. But she got him back to sleep yet again before he came back out another five minutes later.

Jeff made pancakes for breakfast. August ate a whole one, but also wanted batter: “The white stuff is batter…I want batter. I LOVE batter.” Jeff gave him some in a cup, but August didn’t really have much. He and Colin started playing with the cash register. There were only the few coins that Carly had found yesterday, and they wanted more. Jeff and Carly both went and got more, so they had plenty.

A bit later August left the bedroom and told Carly he was going to put something under the door for her. He told me he wanted to write “I love mama so much.” He wanted me to write it though, and only wrote the ‘I’ himself, then he went and just told her himself. Last night, before going to sleep, when she had said “I love you so much” he said “I love you so much too.”

We got ready to go outside and he wanted to wear the Minnie Mouse shoes and sang: “I like the Minnie mouse shoes. I like the Minnie mouse shoes. Do they fit fit fit?” Spent some good time swinging. Cassie was picking up sticks knocked down by the wind (it was windy throughout the day) and he yelled “What are you doing Tia Cassie?” Chuck was starting up the weed eater and August wanted to see. But first Vivian spotted a nice fuzzy caterpillar and we watched it. Then Carly came out as we were trying to move it to safety. She finished that, then we went up and watched the weed eater, then they went in and I went to take a shower.

We got ready to go and left at 10:20. We had Vivian, and Cassie had Colin. We went to the Giant Food in Wind Gap, where Cassie rented Sully. She and Colin then did a little grocery shopping while we got going to Wind Gap Park. But on the way there August had some good lines: “The machine runs on wind.” “I’m already spraying foods in the car already…I’m spraying mints!” And he spotted wind chimes while we waited at a red light: “Wait! Some noise! Wind chimes. You love all wind chimes? I love wind chimes.” Vivian asked “Even if they’re loud?” He answered with “Yeah. I love loud things, so…” With a perfect trailing “sooo….” And they discussed the kazoo as they shared it. Vivian claimed “The germs are on the inside.” And once, when Vivian asked “Can you close your window?” He replied “Umm, I can’t. Too busy.” With the kazoo, I think.

Anyway, at the park we went to the playground. Big, but very boring and utilitarian, with random toys placed in a big fenced rectangle. Played around there for awhile, and Cassie and Colin showed up. Carly said August seemed stressed for some reason, so she took him over to the other set of swings by the stage. The rest of us soon followed, and we ended up at a picnic table where we had our snack. He and I shared a banana and Vivian said I was opening it at the wrong end. August spotted a white spot on the bench and was asking if it was bird poop. Carly was being funny and trying to get him to stop touching it, and said it might have bird flu. He broke out crying on this – I think it was the mention of ‘bird flu’, as he knows it as something pretty serious, since it closed zoos in Korea. He kept asking Carly “Did I touch it?” and she assured him no, and that she realized it was a different kind of bird poop.

When he calmed down we headed over to the stage area. The three kids went up and did some performing and running around. Vivian tried to teach August and Colin how to play fishy fishy cross my sea. They were then playing school. Vivian dropped them off with Cassie, the teacher, then picked them up a couple minutes later. She held both their hands as they walked down the steps and away from the stage. I heard her ask “Do you want to stop by a park?” August said “I want the donut place.” Vivian: “Sorry, it’s closed.” I sat on the stage reading for awhile as they played under a tent shelter at the back of the audience area. That lasted a few minutes, then they decided to head home.

We headed to the car and Carly drove back to the house. August was holding his feet up in the sun and singing a “I’m heating up my feet” song. Got back at 12:30. The kids were slow to get out and Carly headed inside. When he was ready to get out I was trying to put on his shoes but we couldn’t find both of them. Looked around the car for a couple minutes, and he was starting to get distressed. I went in to get another pair of shoes only to find that Carly had grabbed his other shoe for some reason.

We went in and had sandwiches for lunch, then he and Vivian made a fort in the dining room and painted their paper mache shapes (August had done a triangle, but Carly did all the work, and Vivian had done a ball, and did about half of it). August then had a bowl and made a random mixture of things: water, ice, paper, starch, and finally salt. Couldn’t drink that one, so he then wanted a drink, so they made one together, including, but not limited to: water, ice, lemonade, cinnamon, jam, and soy milk.

We went out to the play area again. At one point he wanted down from something and called “Get me down Carly. Get me down Ryan.” Looking around on the ground he found a piece of glass and looked through it, then threw it away. He then wanted to find other garbage to throw away. He found a dead dry worm and jokingly (I hope) asked if he could eat it. They got over by the edge of the property and then Jeff told us he had sprayed weedkiller over there. August heard what was going on and asked Vivian if there were dangerous chemicals. When she said yes he got upset again. Carly had to take him inside.

Inside only for a minute, then headed back outside to the garage after Vivian had found the bike helmet. Think they may have ridden mikes for a minute, but when I got out there they were playing with the car washing stuff, although mainly to make a mess on the floor. Chuck finished with his car and we switched to the red car and Vivian and August helped out with the scrubbing and the spraying. Vivian had gotten in the pink toy car and was turning the button. It was just making noise, as the battery was low. Colin and August were also trying to play with it. I left when Carly came out. A couple minutes later I heard a lot of crying. Vivian and Colin were upset as Cassie was putting the car away back downstairs.

They all headed back on the porch. August rode the little tricycle up and down the side, then needed to go to the bathroom. While on the toilet he talked about it just being a bathroom for him and mama. When I said that made me sad he said I could use it too, but no one else. He then got violent: “Yeah. Taking over the bathroom and breaking it. Breaking the pipes and the toilet.”

Went back out and played with the water table and sand for a long time. I went in for awhile and came back out to find them making a big mess of sand on the arm of the chair next to Carly. Went on for quite some time, basically until August had the idea to turn on the water and wash it off. That was sometime after 5. The others headed in, and he and I sprayed and swept off the porch and chair. Colin actually helped a bit by pointing out spots of sand on the chair for me.

We went in to find Jeff conducting a science experiment: they were dropping magnetic balls through copper pipe and observing that it moves slowly. August at first demanded to play with it, but then sat down to watch Jeff demonstrate. Got a bit chaotic though as three kids had three balls and pipes and went in different directions: as Carly and I helped Colin find his ball when he dropped it, Vivian and August went off, marking spots on the floor where the balls found nails under it.

Called the experiment to the end after a few minutes. August wanted his wet shorts off. Carly asked if he wanted his underwear off too. He said “No, because I don’t want to see my bottom or my penis.”

Pozole again for dinner, alo
ng with cauliflower and green beans. A lot of yummy noises from him again as he ate. I was still trying to get August to eat, and Colin was still eating, when Vivian suggested popsicles. I got them over the disappointment of me saying no by suggesting we go out and throw balls on the roof othe playhouse. So we headed out there. Vivian was the first to get a ball to work, standing at the top of the ladder and throwing it up so it rolled around in the grooves. Difficult to do from the ground, as the balls just bounce off.

August ended up sad about something, and went inside to nurse. Then played on his own out in the playroom. He wanted soymilk, then was playing with the coins. I tossed a coin to him. He didn’t see where it came from, so he was confused and asked me. I told him I tossed it to him. He smiled and said “Thank you, dada!”

A bit later he was nursing but was then kicking her. I took him in to do his bath. He sat on the toilet first and we talked about saying nice things to mama. He came up with “I love mama so much.” and a couple of other things, then went and said a couple to her. Cassie came into the bathroom and he wanted to say something nice to her and he said “I love Tia Cassie”. He had been cranky going into the bath, but ended up having a pretty good bath and washed his hair without too much trouble. There is a little ‘stroller book’ called Tweet Tweet that he had me read 5 times. He said a couple times that he loves the book. He did some playing on his own, then dramatically exited the bathtub. He was trying to exit the tub on his own, but needs help. Before I could grab him he slipped down to the ground which is lower than the tub. His left foot hit the ground, his body spun around, and his right foot landed on the stool. I barely got a hand on him, but he didn’t need it.

He got out of the bath at 7:15. Went into the kitchen and they were getting ice cream. I dished up two kinds of ice cream for him and they went out and ate it outside. He came in and wanted some of the pink (strawberry) ice cream like Vivian had. Carly agreed and gave him some more. He was ecstatic: “I got extra ice cream! Vivian! Mama gave me extra ice cream!” A couple minutes later, Cassie was trying to get people to finish off a couple of them that were almost empty. August walked in wanting even more, and she gave him a scoop of peach. He couldn’t have been happier. I joked that she did it because he had said he loved her. After all that ice cream he told Carly he was ready to nurse. He was then straight to bed and to sleep at 7:45.

He came out just after 7. Didn’t come to us, but instead went straight to the cash register for a minute. Then turned away from us and was just sitting, looking at his shadow cast by the bright sun. Then went to nurse, passing Colin going the other direction. When he came back out he joined Colin in watching a Blippie video about letters and vehicles. Carly went into town to go to CVS and UPS. August drank from and sprayed a spray bottle on the porch, then we ended up with Colin and Chuck at the play structure at 8:50. Colin met him and grabbed August by the arm and pulled him to the play house. We played out there fine until Vivian came out. August immediately wanted her swing, then to hit her with the other swing, etc. So I took him inside to Carly. I took a shower. When I came out he wanted her whiteboard, then English muffin. She went outside. Carly found some coins for the cash register for him and he played with that.

We decided on going to Danbury Park as the weather was looking nice (had considered a library with shadow boxes) and going to the pool. Vivian came back in and there was a conflict over markers. A bit later he almost threw Duplos, then wanted to sit on the piano like she had, even though she had been told no. They finally got it together when August started putting paper under the door and they started playing that game together. They also played with the Magic School Bus toy.

We got ready to go and Cherie decided she could take Colin with us as well. We left and got to the pool a little after it had opened at 12. Everyone had fun, but probably Carly the most, as she went down all of the waterslides. August waded in a little – certainly better than at the last pool – and far enough to play with the wheel on one post. But then he decided he didn’t like his shorts wet and he got out. He wanted to walk around the building to get to the “dry playground”. He first tried the grass – spent a couple minutes putting his foot on it “tickling” and “poking” his foot with grass. Then he went for it, walking around the corner of the building on the grass, only to find a fence blocking his way. I got him to stay to watch Carly go down the slides, and he let me carrying him while I walked into the deep pool up to my waist to show him it was okay to get the swimsuit wet.

We left the pool about 1:15. Proceeded to play on the playground for a long time. Carly and I had been here once with Cassie when Vivian was a baby. About 1:50 we headed to the snack stand for popsicles. Vivian and August both got orange popsicles, while Carly got an ice cream sandwich and I got a Snickers ice cream bar. They had ‘twin pops’, which had two sticks. They were able to break them apart, and August said something like “Two popsicles is enough for one day.”

August also played the tea game with me. I ordered a latte and he said “I put sugar, sugar, and coffee…Nothing you don’t want. Just bugs.” And when we were having popsicles I was holding a handful of napkins: “August, I have a hand full of…” “No, I wiped it on my shirt.” And Vivian and Colin were playing at the play counter/window and I heard her asking him “What’s your name?” “What country are you from?” “How many copies do you want?”

We left at 2:50. As we walked away, August said “Bye playground” all on his own. As we got to the car, Carly accidentally hit the panic button and scared all of us. We went to Walmart where Carly ran in for a couple things. I parked and brought the kids in, but didn’t make it past the entrance with the telephone and the claw games. Vivian wanted a stuffed animal; August liked the bear with stars on it. He liked listening to the phone. Then they got into a conflict over the key machine and August hit.

Carly finished and we headed home. In the car he bugged her a bit by putting his foot over the side of the car seat. We were home at 3:30. Out on the porch a bit, then Carly and Vivian talked about doing papier mache. They came in, and August had misheard, saying “I want to do paper machine.” They did art in the dining room, and I went out with Colin, first out back, then to the play area. While on the swings he was doing a lot of pointing things out, including a couple airplanes he spotted. He would make a jet plane noise and move his hands together while doing it. And a lot of asking “what’s that?” At one point he wanted August to come out with him and said what sounded like “Ata. Is. Here.”, pointing in at the house for ‘Ata’ and at the swing for ‘here’. ‘Is’ was more vague, but it seemed he was saying something.

August and Vivian came out, and Colin ran to greet Vivian and was saying a lot of something. August wanted his shoes out to try walking on the rocks and was saying  “Pokey, pokey.” They played in the garage for a couple minutes on bikes, then followed Cassie to the compost and then on to the play area. August was running around in the Minnie Mouse shoes saying “I can run even faster than Vivian.” Vivian and August were on the swings for a long time together. Vivian was holding August’s swing and pushing with her feet to make them both go. They had a good discussion about what worms would taste like. Carly and Cassie were both out and we had the rocking chairs as well and I made us a couple iced coffees. And Carly spotted an ant pulling a green spider through the wood chips and they watched that.

We went in for a dinner of pozole. Kids like that, but the big hit was corn, which they kept asking for more and more of until it was all gone. As they sat at the table Colin roared and August told him “Colin, no Rrring at the table.”

After dinner, August got quite excited when he spotted Jeff driving in, “It’s Uncle Jeff! Uncle Jeff!” We went out to tell him hi, but when we got out to the play area August got shy and was covering his eyes, etc. before finally saying “Hi, Uncle Jeff!” Played out on the play structure more. Colin and August both got a bit hurt going down the slide. Vivian today, as a game, has been trying to reverse the hitting scripts, starting with her responses (tickling him, telling him there’s a bug on his head) and then trying to get him to hit her.

We went back in for ice cream and I scooped them ice cream in the adorable bowls and they ate on the back porch. August dropped his spoon and it went under Vivian’s chair. He was quite dramatic about it, and Colin was excited about spotting it under the chair and kind of reenacted spotting it.

They went in for baths. While it was filled and they went to the bathroom I played with Colin. He was playing nighty night and pretending the bedspread was ice cream (yellow or chocolate). Carly gave Colin a bath, which was amazing as he is okay with you pouring water on his head. Vivian was washing blueberries and then got a little mixer thing and was mixing up a drink for August. Out in the kitchen more ingredients were added: orange juice, cinnamon, ice, lemonade, Cheerios. August actually got washed somewhere in there.

Carly tried to put him to sleep, but Vivian was sliding things under the door. August heard and said “Someone slid something under the door for me.” He got up and was looking at them: ‘It’s not for you mama because there’s no writing on it…it’s not for anyone because there’s no writing on it. Yeah. There was a pencil but I didn’t write on it.” Tried nursing again, then got up and went out and he and Vivian played some more, mainly spending a long time going to the bathroom. Took him back out and to bed and he was asleep about 9:30.

The yard. Fake grass, a patio, a play house, a bench swing, and a slide. And one of the trees. The lights are the kitchen:

Back towards the gate and the seesaw (and August) and the other tree, with the living room windows:

First floor. From the entryway:

The kitchen, with the door out to the patio:

From the dining room back towards the entry way. Small under-the-stairs bathroom around the corner where the suitcases are:

The small bathroom: 

Living room from the bathroom: 

The stairs (from the top): 

Landing on the second floor. Folds out into a bed:

Covered deck with washing machine. You actually go down a few steps to it:

Bathroom 1. Bottom pulls out with a second bed:

Bedroom 2: 

Bedroom 3. That’s a full size bed:

Bathroom: 

From bedroom 2 out to the landing, with the door to the patio on the right, and the bathroom straight across: 

He was first up at 5:40, with my alarm. Carly was already up today so I went and got her. She came in and he fell back to sleep, but walked back out to us a little before 6:10. Nursed for a few minutes, then quietly sat on the floor for a few, looking up at the fan. He walked over to me, then went and sat with Carly. He then got up and said “Back to sleep, please.” He ate a little of Carly’s sandwich, then they went into the bedroom.

Back out at 6:45. Colin out soon after and did laps around him. August was supposed to ask me to read a book but didn’t. August was doing a bunch of sneezing and wanted a tissue and allergy medicine, so he helped me break it up and put it in his water. I wondered allowed how many boxes of tissues we would need in our house in Israeli and he said “Thousands.” He dropped his water bottle, and we joked that he had broken the medicine in it and then the water. I said it had made the water dry, so he drank it and said it tasted dry and said “I like dry water. Just dry water.”

He and Colin then spent a long time playing with the coins, using them in the cash register and putting them in a dump truck. August, knowing Colin sometimes doesn’t like to share, was very cautious at first with taking coins from Colin’s stash but gradually realized Colin was happy with playing together. Cassie went and got a few more coins for them. Vivian got up, and had a backpack, so the other kids wanted backpacks – the first conflict of the day. August put away all the coins though before he got going. They ended up all watching a video (after jockeying for position in front of the computer), and I went and took a shower.

When I came out they had all gone outside to the swings. They were talking about what we were doing today and August said “Anytime I go to a new playground I don’t want to get off swings.” I went in and worked on the blog, then on making sandwiches for our trip. Vivian and August were playing on the porch, filling a dump truck and dumping the water. Vivian was doing the latter ‘job’, then she left and August said “The best part is dumping.” And “Can I dump it out and make the porch wet and get dirt and make it all muddy?”

Vivian came back, and they played together upstairs for quite awhile in Jeff and Cassie’s room. That went nice and smoothly until 11:15 when they came down and Vivian got some sort of drinking straw-making kit or something. I took August away for some alone time and he ended up nursing.

We all got ready to go, and left at 12:30. I was driving the red car with Cherie and August and Vivian, while Chuck drove their car with Carly and Cassie and Colin. Took close to exactly an hour to make it up there. The kids did pretty well. During one of the cuter moments they were talking about getting sick. August said “I don’t want any trees getting sick. I love the trees.” And (talking to Vivi) “I don’t want you to get sick. I love you.”

We arrived at 1:30. Straight to the playground, with clouds threatening rain. Then Chuck walked down and found that the beach was closed due to e. coli. So we played on the playground a lot. They got in line and went down a slide several times. August called out from the swings to Carly: “Hi Carly, hi mommy.” Then to Cassie and Colin: “Come over mama, come over Colin.” Went over to the play structure and down the slide, then back to the swings, trying to drink the rain. To someone, Chuck, I think, August was talking in a silly voice that kind of sounded like his swirly voice, but I couldn’t make out any words. August said “That’s my mixed up voice with other talking voices in it.” And then he randomly asked “Can I have colorful marshmallows?”

It started to rain and we retreated to a picnic table under a tree. Eventually the kids joined us and Carly went over and got a couple of orders of french fries for everyone to share. We ate those, then they did some more playing. Cassie and I then took the three kids back over to the snack counter and got them red, white, and blue popsicles. Carly was reading so I let her be and the rest of us wandered down towards the lake with our popsicles. August and I shared his. Close to the bridge, Colin fell and got a pretty big scrape on his knee. We hung out at the bridge over the dam, seeing some ducks and watching the water foaming below.

Turned around and headed back. Chuck and Cherie continued on with Colin, but Cassie and I ended up with Vivian and August at a volleyball court with sand. The two kids drew in the sand and played around. Carly came and found us after awhile. Cassie and Vivian headed back first, then Carly was making grass rings for August. He said “If it tickles I will take off and throw it down.”

We left the sand area, then played at the playground for awhile longer. I sat and read while they were up on the play structure. Later in the car Cherie would ask what the best part was and August said “Turning the wheel” which was up there. They took the kids to the bathroom. I heard Vivian and August running around in there and a lot of Vivian going “Boo!” Finally, August and I talked to a guy who had a third wheel trailer on his bike like the one I got from Peter. We then all left a little after 4:10.

Pretty smooth ride back, in part because Cherie did a good job of introducing new games when they started to get into a conflict. Over something, I don’t know what, Vivian told him “Don’t think about it.” August replied “I’m thinking about it.” Then “I’m always thinking about it.” And finally “You can’t stop me from thinking about it.” They played a lot of I spy, and when we passed a nursery he was confused as he thought it was a place for nursing. They also did a lot of pretending that the car was full of candy and other things and eating them, and then finally they (mainly Cherie and Vivian) were making a story about a beautiful princess. Oh, and when Cherie said something like “Sparkles always make people feel better” August was confused and asked “Why?” When asked what makes him sad, he said “Mama leaving.” I can’t remember what he said makes him feel better – think there was something he preferred to sparkles or whatever it was.

Anyway, we stopped for gas in Stroudsburg, and were back to the house at 5:15. He played with the little broom and asked Carly  “Can I hit your head?” He then helped me vacuum the area around the dining table. He saw Colin and couldn’t believe he was touching his scrape: “No! He’s touching his scrape!” He’d said something along the same lines when he saw Colin touching his knees in the morning or yesterday, even back before he had the big scrape. August doesn’t like his being touched at all.

It was a pot pie for dinner, and August wasn’t eating much at all until we turned it into a game and he was taking ‘secret’ bites from me. He went up to Vivian while I was dishing up more and ended up hitting her. When I talked to him in the bedroom and asked why he said “It’s fun for me.” He said he was ready to apologize and we practiced what he was going to say, about being story and that he wanted to play with her. But then when we left the room he bumped his foot or Colin ran up to him and he lost the words: “I don’t have the idea…I need another idea.” So we had to practice again in the living room before going out.

Soon after that it was time for baths. Carly washed him quick, as Vivian needed to wash her hair. He then went in and went right to sleep by 7:30.

He was up at 7:30. Colin was already up and ran across the room to him: “Ata! Ata! Ata!” He’s done that a couple times and I’d like to get it on video. Vivian was the third up, and they participated in a cousin hug together, then an Oma hug. They had English muffins for breakfast, and were  breaking off small pieces as “hay” for Colin’s trailer for his tractor. Vivian and August then had a bit of a rough spot. Vivian found a computer mouse in their utility drawer. August of course wanted it, but Vivian had no desire to share it. Cherie got her wireless mouse. August was asking how it worked and guessed that it had a battery in it. Vivian wanted the wireless one, but then sulked when she couldn’t have it. Cassie took her kids outside, and Carly and August played separately for awhile. I took a shower, and when I came out they were all over at the play structure. Things were fine for a moment, but Vivian and August were climbing on a metal trailer, which was wet, and August fell down.

Carly went inside, then Cassie picked up a shovel and Colin wanted to play with it. Which meant August and Vivian also wanted to play with it. Vivian was upset when she had to go third. August was smoothing the wood chips with the shovel. Cassie asked Vivian if she wanted the small shovel and she kept saying no. But when Cassie left and came back with another big shovel and the little one Vivian wanted the little one. August saw it and also wanted it and was then upset Vivian had it. Meanwhile, Cassie and I discussed the difference between a shovel and a spade and looked it up. Ended up in the garage, where Cassie was sweeping, but Vivian tore up more styrofoam and dropped on the ground. August also wanted to do it, even though Cassie was telling Vivian she had just said not to. When he got upset I picked him up and headed inside. He said  “I want fun!”

He nursed with Carly, and I heard him say “That’s not fun.” I think she was telling him about us going into town. He came out and played with the toy cash register. It only had a couple coins in it and he wanted more. A lot of saying he ‘needs’ things today: “I need more coins.” “I need the shovel.”

The three of us left a little after 10:15. We were headed into Stroudsburg to get passport photos for our Israeli visas and to try to download some shows at Starbucks for the upcoming flight. We parked behind Starbucks and first found the photo place across the street from Starbucks. The guy was really nice. Carly went first, then me. August got a bigger stool and sat very serious for his photo. He had moved his eyes when the photo was taken though so had to have a redo. Had to instruct him to straighten his back, raise his chin, etc. which led to funny interpretations (his chin way up in the air, for example) but when Carly straightened him out he looked right at the camera and got it this time. While we waited, he had tons of questions about all the equipment in the shop: canned air, flash diffusers and screens, etc.

We then went across to Starbucks. Sadly, they don’t have his usual chia seed juice, or that brand at all. Got him another juice and we sat down. He was being pretty wild though and didn’t seem too fond of the juice either. Carly started a few downloads on her phone then left it with me and took August over to the park. August had remembered that the park would have the rolly slide. Apparently he went on it once, and the bridge, and in the little kids playground and on the swings. There was another kid there that asked August if he wanted to do parkour. The dad explained that they had run across a video of parkour and were now trying to introduce it in a safe way.

I managed to get a few things to download, but not much. I started to walk over to meet them, and met them walking back towards me at about the halfway point. That was about 12:45. Carly drove home. August spotted a small scrape on his ankle and didn’t know what it was from. He didn’t like it: “It’s not part of my scrape collection cuz it isn’t a line…I don’t like circles.” He was then talking about beetles, and helping them and not helping them, repeating “I’m helping the beetles…I’m not helping the beetles.” I would give a happy or a sad face. That game went on much of the way, with variations, and August said “I like happying and sadding.”

Back at the house we went in to get some lunch. August asked “Can we go back to Starbucks and the photo place? After we go to sleep and wake up actually?” After that, Vivian came in and the two of them had an amazing afternoon and evening. It started with August being in the bedroom and shoving things out under the door to Vivian. She then got more markers and paper and was shoving them under so he could draw pictures and push them out to her. I asked what he was drawing and he said “mountains”. Carly and Colin then got involved, with the two of them on the outside and Vivian and August on the inside. He drew pink pictures for Carly, and a couple times said they were climbing walls. That lasted until 2:40. They were then supposedly cleaning up and making confetti, but it blew up again.

I made a run to Weis to pick up a few groceries, leaving at 3:30 and taking about an hour. When I got back they were playing in the RV. I went in there and they were eating a nice sour apple. August said “The next time I throw up I want gatorade…The blue gatorade.” And then he bit his tongue. I picked him up and Vivian said she saw it bleeding. August didn’t like to hear that, and she insisted “It’s bleeding.” With him insisting back “Its not bleeding!” He calmed down, and Chuck had turned on music. Colin started dancing right away, and was able to ask me to dance to: pulling my hand and pointing to the floor, then doing a little dancing himself. All three kids ended up dancing. August also was excited to use the vacuuming system in the RV. He only liked it with the attachments off as it wasn’t as high pitched. There was also some talk about squiggly worms: “I want a squiggly worm.” Which had something to do with a discussion when I was gone: Cherie had tried to think of something that August wouldn’t want to eat and suggested that, and August said he did.

We then went back outside to the swings and to play with the little shovel. August did some digging in the dirt. We discussed tetanus and rabies and August was asking a ton of why questions. Cherie tried to turn the table on him, and when he wanted to climb up on the end of the monkey bars she kept asking him “Why?” He had several answers: “Because I want to sit on it…Because it is a nice sitting place…Because it is monkey bars.” Then he ran out.

We went in and had dinner, which was noodles and cauliflower and tofu and a tahini sauce and also corn on the cob.

After dinner they did a little art with the glitter glue paint. And Vivian agreed to give August the favored chair during the rest of his visit and she and Cassie made a ‘Z’ and a ‘V’ sign for their chairs and put them on the back. Vivian then went out on the swings. August wanted a popsicle, but there was just one lime one left. Carly and I mentioned confirming that that was okay with Vivian, but August said “I want to share it with Vivian.” We went out and I had him holler across to Vivian on the swings. She came in and we got a cup for it and two spoons. August asked her “Do you want to go out on the porch?” So they went out and did a great job of sharing the popsicle. Colin got a raspberry one and I had a raspberry one as well.

Vivian had the idea of moving to the bench swing to finish their popsicle and offered to carry August over there. They didn’t make it that far, settling for sitting in the wagon. Vivian helped August walk from the steps across the handle of the wagon and sit down. Jeff got home, and Vivian had to pee in the grass. August wanted to pee in the grass as well, but Vivian said there was a special spot. August wanted to see the special spot, so
Vivian started to pull him in the wagon. They got sidetracked by Jeff taking Colin over to the pumpkin plant. Vivian pulled him halfway there, then they stopped and were playing in the middle of the lawn for a minute. Vivian then went to pull him more, but August wasn’t ready and fell in the wagon. A superficial scrape on his knee, but enough to hurt.

Carly took him in, and while nursing he fell right asleep, about 7:30.

August got up around 6:30, came out and got Carly, but then went back and fell right to sleep. He then got up again an hour later. Colin was already up and he ran to greet August and gave him a car. August then sat on Carly’s lap and Colin kept playing with him, asking August to help him fix a truck that kept falling apart. When August and Carly went into the bedroom a few minutes later, Colin went running after them, shouting “Ata!” about a dozen times. There was a lot of “Roar!” coming from the bedroom as they played in there after that. And a few minutes later, after August had walked out to the kitchen, Colin came running after him carrying one of his pairs of pants. Colin had seen them in the laundry basket and recognized them as August’s and was handing them back to him. And once in the kitchen they were both sitting on the floor and Colin was scoot chasing him around the room.

Cherie asked one of them to pick up a piece of chalk that was on the floor in front of the fridge. But Colin rain over it with the Jeep toy he was sitting on and it broke.  Cassie explained what he had done, and the next thing we knew he had run off and came back with a dust pan and was trying to clean it up.

August found the missle thing and was patient as Colin took it and put a grape in it and played with it. We couldn’t find the last piece of the launcher though so he couldn’t fire it. Vivian got up, and was soon sitting at the table, watching something. August wanted to play with her, and at least said “Can I bug her then?” before he ran over and put his face in hers. When she got upset, he hit her. Carly took him in for a short timeout, and then when he came back out he went up to her again. I said something about how it meant he wanted to play with Vivian, but it was Cherie that talked to Vivian and got her to stick her face back out at August and to tickle him when he hit her. That turned it into a good game, and they were both very happy.

I then had August brush his teeth, and while it was his regular toothpaste he spit it out in the sink. I took a shower, and a bit after that the truck came with the load of mulch for the play structure area. At first everyone was out there and I got a shovel. Vivian and August really liked that the mulch was really warm and sort of smoking. August kept saying he wanted to get warm and asked me to throw it near him as he was on the swing. He was asking “Can you throw it over here, Ryan?” Everyone else went in with the kids and Chuck and I could work faster throwing mulch everywhere. Carly came back out after a bit to help. I made up a tongue twister about Chuck: How much wood could this Chuck chuck if this Chuck could chuck wood? This chuck could chuck…

August and Vivian came back out, and August wanted to use the shovel, so I helped him do that and he did a little scooping. He then wanted to use the wheelbarrow and I remembered there was a plastic one out back. We went and got that, and he used it to haul a few loads to Carly. When he was done he wanted to wash off the wheelbarrow, and got upset that no one would carry it across the grass for him. We made him wait a few minutes until we were done with all of it and then I went over with him. He saw Carly washing off with the hose and asked “What’s she doing?”

We washed it off and our hands and feet, then went inside. In the kitchen Carly accidentally hit him in the face. He wasn’t really hurt, but felt wounded. They nursed, then Vivian headed to the store with Cherie. We had some lunch, then he wanted soy milk. The last soy milk was out in the RV, so he went out with me to get it. Back inside, Vivian and Cherie back after 1. Vivian started playing with the little plane (like the one she sent to August in Korea) and August wanted it. It was suggested that August play with the big one from the toy box and he liked that idea. When he got it out Vivian wanted to play with it and got upset when August got it first.

August played with it for a few minutes, then wanted to go find her. We quietly went upstairs to look, as Colin was taking a nap, but she wasn’t there. We found her out on the play structure, swinging with Carly. He played on the swings, then we went back inside to use the toilet. We were then getting ready to go to the library. Vivian said August could wear her Minnie Mouse shoes (he had first worn them to go get soy milk) and helped him put them on. They then did a series of shoe dances in the mud room. He then went out to the RV with Cherie to use the bathroom. There was something about him having a hurt feeling, and really being upset that she wouldn’t let him put pepper on it.

We left a little after 3. I drove with August and Vivian in the red car and Carly rode with Cassie and Colin this time. The drive went smoothly. August was in the vest and did fine with it, and I put Vivian in charge of snacks. They ate a ew slices of apple and Cheese-its.

Got to the library and went inside. They were playing with hand puppets when Carly and Cassie showed up and I went out to move the car (I wasn’t sure I had parked in a legal spot, and only realized after the kids were starting to get out of their car seats). When I came back August was upset about sharing. He got excited about books, at least finding them on the shelves, then needed to use the bathroom. As I took him he said  “it’s the same one? The same library? That’s good, because I really like this one.” I guess he’s not used to visiting things multiple times this summer…

After we were out, Cassie and Vivian read Fish for Jimmy, about the internment, and Carly read a book about pooping. The kids played with toys a bit more, and me and Cassie read a couple books to to them and one other little boy that was there. But August wasn’t paying much attention, and his nose was bothering in. When we were in the bathroom he said he was going to stick his finger “too far” into his nose and I told him not to. He now seemed afraid to stick his finger in his nose at all and kept asking for a tissue and wanting to nurse. So Carly and I took August back in the red car and Cassie stayed longer with Vivian and Colin, who were playing on one of the computers.

At home Cherie was finishing up the vegetable soup and making some letter pasta to go in it. August had fun looking at the dry letter noodles. He really liked the soup, much more so than the other two, and while he was eating it he got out of his chair once, did a very Colin-like dance as he spun in circles a couple times, said  “I like soup” and sat back down.

After dinner we all went out to the play area. August is getting better at hanging from the underside of the curved ladder. Cherie had some green beans that were getting old, so the kids had fun throwing them into the woods for the bunnies. August and I then went inside and got a popsicle. I was trying to convince him to get a different flavor, but he stuck with the bigger lime ones but said that tomorrow he’d have an orange one. I had some pie, and when we finished that he told me “Grab some more pie, dada.” It was the last little bit and August decided “From now on I like the last of the pie.” Walking out of the kitchen he accidentally kicked a cup that was on the floor and said “Sorry, cup.” While eating his popsicle he was spinning his head around and holding up the popsicle above his head and talking in a lower funny voice. He called it his “swirly voice”.

It was then bath time. Carly gave him a quickish bath, then he played while Colin and Vivian took theirs. Vivian remembered me saying we should read Daisy-Head Maisy, but then it wasn’t actually downloaded on the iPad. While it downloaded, Vivian started the kids doing a dance performance. Carly then did some ballet, and Cassie did some gymnastics. We read the book, during which August headed to bed. They liked the book, and Vivian wanted to read more. But it was now past 9. I talked to Jeff and Vivian for awhile – to Jeff about his time in west
Africa and to Vivian about how she and August were doing really well together. August wasn’t asleep, however, and came back out after they had headed upstairs. Carly took a shower and he and I played around a bit and then read all of Bread and Jam for Francis. Another one that I really remember from being a kid. He went to sleep by 9:40.

He was up at 7:30. When he wanted cereal for breakfast I asked which kind of milk he wanted in it. He said soy, then as I poured it he sang a little song: “I like soymilk because it doesn’t come from an icky cow.” That was apparently the lesson he took from our trip to the farm yesterday. I remember telling him that “this is where milk comes from”. Apparently he thought about that.

After breakfast he took off his shirt. He then played with the toy drill for quite awhile, “fixing” things. The cutest was when he fixed Colin’s truck for him and Colin pointed to spot after spot, saying “Here”. It was pouring through the morning. Augist stood in the doorway once and Colin said “Outside” and pushed him in the back to make him step outside. August decided he was too cold though and came back in. He also drilled holes in the floor and said “The holes is just for beetles.” Colin and Vivian ended up watching Sarah and Duck on our iPad somehow and the Vivian switched to a game and was playing it. August came along and a minute later I saw him running away from the couch, the iPad held over his head. He later told me that he had wanted a turn, but admitted he didn’t use his words. So I’ve been practicing scenarios with him when he doesn’t use his words, having him act out what he should have said and we did that with this as well.

The rain let up and we decided to head to Belvidere to walk around, get coffee, and go to a park. As we were getting ready August wasn’t doing too well with Vivian. He tried to hit her with shoes after he couldn’t handle the seats again (basically, both he and Vivian only like the red chair with no scratches on it; since she is always using that chair he can’t sit at the table with them). So on the way there I said that Vivian needed to ride in the car with Cassie. Neither was too happy with that, but as we left at 10:15 he said “After we go for a ride and come back I will act much better.” Also, it meant that on the ride there he hummed and sang the entire way without Vivian telling him to stop and without him getting really loud to annoy her.

We drove into Belvidere and parked near the Thisilldous Cafe. We got out the two strollers and started to go for a walk, down to the park square and past the county courthouse. Then Vivian needed a bathroom. So we reversed directions and tried to go to the library, but found it closed. We walked around the block and back to the Cafe, but it turned out to be more of a diner than a coffee shop, so we decided to head over to the Sarivan Bake Shoppe, which was supposed to be open, according to the hours on Google Maps. But we walked the three blocks only to find it closed. Along the way there were some big bumps in the sidewalks which Carly and August called the roller coasters. So we reversed course and went back to the cafe.

The woman that seated us was grumpy, bordered on rude, but the rest of the staff was nice and the food was good, once we were able to order and got the food. We ordered a couple plates of fries, a waffle, and scrambled eggs and toast. Carly took Vivian and August outside while they waited for food and they went up and down the block, going up and down the steps to buildings, hanging on railings, and playing in the water on a table out front. When the food came they came back in and of course enjoyed it all. Vivian stuck a piece of waffle on her finger and August followed suit.

After that lunch of sorts Cassie headed back with Colin and he fell asleep for a nap. We transferred Vivian’s seat back to our car. The four of us initially went for a short walk to a playground at an elementary school. Along the way August saw a church with a pretty tall spire and asked  “Can we go to the top and look out?” Not being something we’ve really focused on doing before I thought that was an interesting request. We kept going, finding a really impressive old house (there were a lot of impressive old buildings through the town) and getting to the playground only to find that it was apparently closed until 2 while a summer camp group used it.

So we walked back, got in the car, and drove east to find the ‘Shoe Tree’ sign I had seen when we drove through at night on our way back from Philadelphia. Found it and learned that it was an old oak tree that the barefooted country families would stop under to put on their shoes on their way to church on Sundays.

We then ended farther east to check out Pequest River Park at 1:10. There was a decent playground there, although it was getting overrun with prickly plants. Also, there was no river access. August started to practice the monkeybars, which was cool. He needed to use the bathroom so we did the long walk to the outhouse. We had brought Cassie’s emergency toilet with us. We didn’t use it, but August wanted to and said “I like red suitcase emergency toilets.” After the outhouse he was being a broken machine and also told me “If you are broken I will pick you up.” Which was very nice. He also talked about having a tank of electricity: “There’s a tank with electricity in it.” “When the tank is empty, a truck comes and fills it up. An electricity tank.” Which kind of sounds like a combination of our talks on how portapotties work and rechargeable batteries.

Back to the swings he said “I want to have privacy on the swings.” He then went to the monkey bars and was practicing hanging on them. Vivian then wanted to use the monkey bars, so I was showing them how to share the monkey bars, with Vivian asking nicely, August stepping to the side so she could go by, then when she was out of the way hanging again. That was going well but then he had gone up another step missed it going down. He fell onto the step below, then off it onto the ground. He got up, and said “There’s pain”, referring to his ankle. They nursed, and he recovered.

Vivian played a good joke on me. She said “Ryan, let’s go down the blue slide.” I went around to see that the the entrance was actually boarded up. She had seen that. We ended up playing with the slide, pretending there was a family of badgers in it. After that sillly time we got going. Vivian went to the bathroom, then we headed back west and across the river to the ‘Jerry Brunetti Environmental & Welcome Center’.

This park was nicer, and while Carly stayed with the kids on the playground I walked down to see if there was water access. There was, with a little trail leading down to the shore. There were a few feet of shallow, slow water and lots of rocks to throw. Went back and got all of them and we went and threw rocks in the river. They argued a bit about saving or throwing certain rocks, but otherwise had fun together. They also found little shells and dug in the sand. When Vivian had to go to the bathroom August and I stayed a few more minutes and played. We also took out Smokey and took a Smokey photo by the Delaware.

We headed home and got back sometime after 3. It was all about playing on the play structure after that, since it is finished. On the swings he was walking in a  “my favorite circle”. They got all the cars and were rolling them down the slide and dropping them on the ground. Cassie went in and got the sandwiches that Carly had made for our trip and brought them out for a picnic. August generally wasn’t wanting to get dirty, and didn’t want to get the picnic blanket dirty. Cassie then found out that he doesn’t really like wet wipes, so then we were asking and determined that he likes getting wet even less than getting dirty. Although by the end of our time outside he had decided he liked wet wipes and was requesting them.

When Carly came out, Colin initiated the tea game and played it with her: “Carly, Carly…Tea” August had another slightly frustrating fall, climbing up the bottom of the curved ladder. He had just asked if it was okay to do so, then slipped and hit his nose and face on the bar. He said “I was trying to climb!”

He was talking and Cas
sie noticed that he sounded like Sarah from Sarah and Duck. Earlier I had told Carly that his “Oh” and “No” and other words were sounding like Sarah. He was really gentle with Colin, saying at one point: “I stepped on your foot a little, sorry.”

He and Cassie were talking about cleaning things and she asked “Aren’t vacuums the best?” He replied “No, Colins the best, “ which was really sweet, but then continued “Vivian’s actually the worst and Colin’s the best.” Which wasn’t.

He and I went over and washed off our feet and hands in the hose, then headed into the house at 5:45. He ate some ramen and broth, then we all had spaghetti for dinner. August was wearing the Pippi Longstockings sort of wig and bothering Vivian with the end of it while she still ate.

They headed out on the porch at 6:25. Thunderstorms and rain had come through so no going on the grass at the moment. He asked Cherie “Can I pee in your tea?” Then really got funny when he said “Yeah but I need to poop too.” He went to the bathroom instead. He then had a popsicle and ate it outside. I got pie and we shared the two. I asked about his favorite foods. He said “My worst is spicy things…My best is popsicles…Blackberry pie.” He saw Cherie mopping the floor inside and told her “I really like that mop.”

The rain had stopped and he wanted to go walk in the grass and mentioned it a few times. So I told him I would go get my shoes in the mud room and we could go. I got my shoes, but then found that August had found Carly in the bedroom. He nursed, and soon fell asleep, just after 7:30.