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He was up at 8:30. I made him and Colin and Vivian French toast for breakfast. They were then outside, spraying windows and things with spray bottles. I was inside and saw them through the window. August sprayed Vivian and she screamed in his face. I went out and intervened. They ended up making dirt soup. He tried to sell it to me by saying “I put yummy dirt in it.” He started drinking from the spray bottle at one point then stopped, asking “Wait, where it filled from?” He knows we don’t want him drinking the water from the pool or water table. Luckily, this was filled from the hose.

They also spent some time playing on the play structure, which is coming together. The floor is on the elevated part of main structure, so they could climb up the curved ladder or climbing wall, play at the top, and go down the slide. August mainly wanted to be set up at the top as, due to the rain and then the mud on Vivian’s shoes, the ladder and climbing wall were to dirty for him.

It took awhile but we got going and headed to Klein Farms about 10:30, getting there by 11. Vivian rode with us, Colin rode with Chuck and Cherie, and Jeff stayed to work on the play structure. Cassie slept as she had worked the night. At the farm Vivian and Colin headed straight to the animals, while August started at the playground. We all then looked at animals together. August showed his clear city boy signs, very aware of the muck and mud and smell. While looking at the chickens he asked “They’re not wearing their shoes?” Meanwhile, Colin, a farmer in another life, was trying to drag August farther into a barn, repeating “Cow! Cow!” He also was fascinated by the tractor and trailer. Later, when Colin was going to bed, he and I reviewed all of the things he had seen at the farm, him nodding and saying “Uh-huh” to each thing. When August did go closer to the animals it was with us carrying him.

On the playground August was really working to pump on the swings like Vivian. He’s pretty much there, having the rhythm down and throwing himself forwards and backwards forcibly. They played a lot, and the other two main things he played with were some rings that you could swing on on the deck of the ship (the shape of the play structure) and a fire pole in the center. Vivian could go down it just fine and was working on trying to climb back up it. August went down it close to a dozen times, with me holding him. By the end I was supporting him less and less. He would also have me place him halfway up and then let go so he could do part of it on his own.

We sat at a picnic table and ate lunch (we had packed sandwiches) around noon, then after more playing went up about 12:30 and got ice cream and ice treats. August wanted the same thing that Vivian got, lemon ice, but he has a love/hate relationship with lemon so Cherie worked out an arrangement where she also got a mango one. The adults got ice creams – I got a sweet cream cheese ice cream that basically tasted like cream cheese frosting. August declared mine the best and had a few bites and finished the last of the cone. He finished the last few bits of the lemon and mango ices outside, drinking down the “juicy bites” as Carly talked to Glecy on the phone.

Cherie and Chuck left with Colin to stop at the store and then put Colin to sleep with a drive. Carly realized it was easy to change the height of the swings and was doing it for Vivian and August. She started to regret it as they kept requesting them up and down. August used an odd construction to ask if Vivian’s was as low as his: “Is it as low as he’s?”

August and I went up to use the bathroom when he needed to go. We had to wait in a line and someone wasn’t happy when she couldn’t go in first, nor happy when we then headed home. We got home at 2:15 to find the playground almost completely done. Vivian and August started playing on it, going on the swings. Cassie came out, then Chuck and Cherie back with Colin. He had fallen asleep in the car, but when Cassie picked him up he instantly started saying “Cow! Cow!” So no real nap for Colin. August played at the play structure a bit longer, then came in. He and I played with water and dirt and then he nursed. He was roughhousing with me and Carly on the beds, then went to the bathroom. He wanted to go upstairs so we went up and looked around but didn’t read any books.

He was hungry so we went down to the kitchen and he had some ramen and seitan soup while Carly cooked the mushrooms and spinach for the pizza. We put some mushrooms in August’s soup: “That one was super good but the last one wasn’t.” What made that one not as good? “It was just how it growed.”

When Vivian came in he started to have some problems. He wanted to watch a video with her, but as I moved his chair he reached out and pulled his hair. First time he’s done it, so seemed like he just did it to find out what happened.

He ended up nursing a bit later and was falling asleep. But got him back up and he and the other kids made it through dinner while watching some Sarah and Duck, taking turns choosing episodes and smearing pizza sauce on my iPad. The pizza turned out really well though, with goat cheese and spinach and olives and fake pepperoni and artichokes.

Carly gave him a bath. Today it was his left foot that he didn’t want in the water, so Carly drained it and washed him that way. After his bath he was playing with the drain, but a few seconds later said “If you put your finger in your ear it hurts.” He burst out crying and then went in to nurse. I told him that Oma was going to read Bread and Jam for Francis: “When they’re done I want them to read it again.”

Vivian had been looking at her reading and math flash cards, then started pushing them under the door to August. Eventually he was outside with her, pushing them under the door to Carly, who pushed them back. Hyper time ensued after that and Colin joined in. I kicked them out of the bedroom and they cleaned up at one point, then Vivian dumped them out again and they ended up putting them down their shirts and then “peeing” them onto Carly.

Got them cleaned up again, then Chuck and Cherie headed out to the RV. I finally got the kids corralled and in on the low bed. They each got a pillow and each got their water bottles. We read about half of Bread and Jam for Francis, then Cassie and Jeff were outside and invited them to help bail out the pool. So we went out and did that, and Jeff got Vivian with a bucket of water. August wanted me to pick him up and take him over to the grapes where Vivian and Colin were getting raspberries. I took him over and he chewed and spit out several sour grapes. I took him inside to check on Carly although he said he wanted to stay out. He was getting tired. He hummed the entire time he was falling asleep, gradually getting tired, and was asleep by 8:30.

He was up at 8:30. While he was in nursing, Colin was drawing pictures, and when Cherie asked him who he wanted to give the pictures to Colin went and was sliding them under the door like he’s seen Vivian and August do a lot. He was very proud of himself. Colin then spotted a water bottle outside, then two other water bottles inside and knew which one was Cassie’s and which was Jeff’s. August had mixed cereal for breakfast, then took a form that Chuck had printed for her into her. Vivian got up and sat on Cassie’s lap, and August had the idea of sitting on Vivian’s lap. When she wouldn’t let him he hit her.

A bit later Cassie was alone in the chair and closed her eyes. August made a loud noise to wake her up, then when Jeff massaged her arm with a car August liked the idea and did the same. Colin and August went outside with me. Colin was carrying some Duplos I wasn’t sure he was supposed to take out and August was concerned about Colin getting them wet. He then said “I want to walk on the flat sandy dirt.” He meant the new dirt between the garage and house. There, he asked “Could you make a ball for me oma?” He and Vivian ended up in the garage, hiding and finding little green plastic things left over from building the play structure.

I took a shower. He couldn’t handle the chairs and video again. I then went out to help Jeff and Cassie move pieces of the play structure out of the garage and over to the dirt area. Carly made August a cheese and broccoli grilled sandwich. He said it was “really good”. Sat there for a long time eating his sandwich. He got cold sitting right under the air conditioner so eventually he agreed to put a shirt on. They nursed, and he pinched her or something. He seemed to think she was joking about it hurting and kept adding ‘really’ to his question: “It really, really, really hurt mama?”

Cherie had gone shopping and came home with a bunch of hot wheel sorts of vehicles, mainly from the dollar store, to be used on the roadway printed on the floor of the play structure. She made sure she got the same car for Vivian and August, but of course he still wanted whatever one he didn’t have at the moment. Still, they had quite a bit of fun with them.

He ended up going out to the RV with Cherie and Vivian. I went out a bit later. They were watching the bulldozer and playing on the bed. August needed to use the bathroom, but Vivian took the one in the RV so I took him back inside for that and water at 12:10. On the toilet he talked about always wanting his toe nails painted: “If my toes are not painted I don’t like it…Can we get green?” “I want to paint it again. I want to paint my whole body purple.” Apparently he also told Carly he didn’t like her toenails since she didn’t have them painted.

Chuck skyped with Derek and Thatcher. The kids had fun saying hi to each other but it was pretty chaotic. Carly ended up with the kids out on the porch and I then skyped with my parents. I started it out on the porch with August and Vivian, but then the workers started spraying straw on the dirt area where grass would go. I went inside because of the noise. A few minutes later I saw a big cloud of the straw come up on the porch and Carly and Vivian retreating from it. The hose had come unattached on the truck and sprayed it up there. I went back out on the porch a bit later when they were done, but then the woman came by with a leaf blower to blow some of the straw back off the porch.

Vivian and August did more playing out on the porch, and I went with Cherie to help spot the RV while Chuck parked it in the new spot. It fits nicely and now they have electricity as their cord can reach the outlet on the garage. And with the RV out of the main driveway it now feels huge.

Things were getting rough between the two kids so Carly and I decided to take them to Weona Park. We left a little before 3, Carly driving. They had complex ideas about switching between Cheerios and crackers and who would get what first. Carly is good about that attention to detail. I was more like ‘here’s the crackers you get on this trip – make them last.’

We first went on the carousel. We rode the giraffes this time. They are the tallest animals, and both the kids noticed they were higher this time. They did okay with it. I’d read the whole application for the carousel to become a national historic place so knew a lot about it now and could appreciate that the animals still have their original paint on them.

We then went and played in the playground: swings, tire swing, up to the play structure, back to swings. Eventually Vivian needed to use the bathroom so we went there. After they had both gone they played on the railing down from the men’s room, swing from it. We then went over to the baseball field. August had one of his funny moments of opining out loud: “I don’t like baseball. I love baseball. I love it the most…We’re not playing that?” We walked around the baseball field a bit and the kids played on the portable bleachers, jumping off the ends.

We headed back towards the car, August chasing Vivian. We stopped to get a drink and when August asked to use Vivian’s harmonica, which was in my pocket, she got upset and I took the harmonica away from both of them until we were home. We left at 4:35 and after they were calm in the back August asked for a mint. I heard “Vivian can go first.” Which seemed impressive on his own until I realized that Vivian had actually whispered it to him first.

At the house August still wanted a harmonica so Cassie found him one of the others and he was happy. Cassie put in the ramen noodles to eat with the seitan and veggies and August had dry ramen noodles for the first time and liked them. Colin drew all over his face with a blue marker, and Jeff joked that back in his day that would have meant his face was blue for a week; nowadays there are no consequences as it will wash right off. During dinner Jeff told his Cambodian noodle soup story. August ate a good amount, but really liked the broth, which was funny because it was just the plain ramen. He ate a ton but then said “I don’t even like the food.” Which I think just meant he was full: “When I’m not eating that means I’m full.” He had a long conversation with Jeff about being full and when he does and doesn’t eat food.

We headed outside with Vivian and played by the RV, jumping down the gravel embankment, then over by where Jeff was working on the play structure. August had worn Vivian’s pink rain boots so she put on her snow boots. They stomped in the puddles of the slide, which was now lying on the ground out there. For the past couple weeks August and Vivian have been playing the “I love ____ more” ‘game’. Today Vivian had decided she wasn’t playing that game anymore (a development of which I approve), so when August started to say he was dirtier she said she wasn’t playing that game and he asked “We’re not playing the who’s dirty game?”

Carly and I then took the kids for a walk down the short bath from the road to the park parking lot. We made August walk and he complained a lot about poop and wet grass despite wearing rain boots. He’s definitely a city kid and we have a ways to go to make him into a ‘wild child’ (which is a book I’m reading). We walked just a little ways down the trail around the lake, then came back and played by the boat launch – they wanted to tromp in the edge of the lake and I said no. They then walked on the edge of the retaining wall next to it and stomped on some shells.

We came back in to find Cherie making blackberry pies. They got to each play with and eat some extra dough. Then it was bathtime. Vivian and Colin went first. August sat on the toilet for quite awhile (he had had a long sit earlier in the day as well) then I gave him a bath. He complained about his right foot hurting and wouldn’t keep it down in the water. Looked like he had a mosquito bite. He walked out into the kitchen, wet a
nd naked, and found everyone having ice cream. So he had a little ice cream, then brushed his teeth, and went in for bed after that and was asleep just after 8.

August stayed at the house today while Carly and I escaped for some shopping to Stroudsburg.

August got up during the night and said he needed to go to the bathroom. Carly told him to go back to sleep but he insisted. She took him to the bathroom, he went, then went back to sleep.

A guy came with a backhoe around 8 to remove the pile of dirt and rocks where they plan on parking the RV. I took Colin out to watch for a few minutes. August was up at 8:30, and after nursing he went outside with Cherie to see the backhoe, then they were in the garage. There, he hit Vivian when he wanted her bike. She brought him in and he had a timeout with me. We discussed strategies for when someone has something he wants.

I took a shower and when I came out he was finishing his breakfast. He was having  “Mix” cereal of Life and Cheerios. The backhoe started up again and startled him. I took him outside and Vivian called to us from the RV. They greeted us as we entered the RV. Colin was chanting “Eat! Eat!” And grabbed August’s hand and led him to the table to where they were eating some of Oma’s cereal. August didn’t want any but the three of them ended up playing on the bed for several minutes then August, just for fun, hit Vivian on the bed. We went inside again. Then back outside, where we just stood and watched the “digger” for a few minutes before going back in the RV where they ate some pumpkin seeds that Cherie had just roasted.

Carly headed to the Walmart past Tannersville for an eye exam so she could get more contacts and Cherie and I and the three kids then headed to the back porch and the water. We emptied the pool and moved it and the slide towards the corner and away from the door down to the basement. August was cooling down his hand by putting it in the water and said “I’m colding it.” He spent a lot of time running the hose through the rocks at the corner by the tomato plant, making a sort of stream that Colin put some green tomatoes into.

The backhoe driver then drove it right between the house and the garage – a tight fit – and started to work. Colin, then all the kids, watched from the play room. Colin started a little digger dance, then Vivian and August joined in and Cherie sang a digger dance song. I got just the end of it on video. But then August was playing with the workbench toy thing and asked if he could turn the hook things to hang tools on. I said yes, but then Vivian told him he couldn’t turn the top one and he hit her again.

After another break, Vivian and him had a glorious hour and a half where they played without conflict, starting by having privacy time in the bedroom, starting at 11:45. They came out and got toys and took them back in the room and were calling it their “house”. They came out for some apple, then went back in the bedroom, then came back out for lunch. Chuck made grilled cheese sandwiches for Vivian and August and he really liked that. While they waited they sat at the counter. August really wanted the bottle opener that Vivian found on the counter and was playing with. Eventually, August started using a toy syringe as a microphone. Vivian then gave him the bottle opener and once he had it told him he had to trade and took the syringe. He was happy though.

Carly home little before 1. Soon after she came home it was the end of the glorious time, as Vivian was lying over the Ottoman and August wanted a turn. They ended up nursing, then the kids were playing on the porch again. Colin was pushing Vivian around the porch on the tricycle. They ended up needing a timer set for that. When August had a turn we ended up at the front porch and Vivian was playing a disgusting chocolate game, putting mud on the spoon to feed me, then telling me it had something disgusting in it. I requested vegetarian chocolate, so a lot of them had animals in them.

Carly and I wanted to go and see our next car option, the Kia Forte, and there was one in Stroudsburg. Cherie said we should leave August with them, so we did. He cried as we left and cried for about four minutes. He didn’t want a cookie, but finally agreed to a popsicle when Cassie offered one. Later, Cassie asked them if they wanted a snack and when they went in she offered them something like carrots, green beans, or something else. He said “That’s not a snack…It’s not crackers.” He interacted with Chuck and Cherie more than he has. And he hit Vivian once, then as Cherie was talking to him about it she asked “What are you going to tell Vivian?” He said “I’m going to tell her to suck it up.” Which is hilarious. I’ve never heard him use that phrase before and don’t know where he would hear it. It’s possible he was just making a vacuum cleaner reference, as he often starts acting like a robot or vacuum cleaner when he doesn’t want to talk about something.

Carly and I got to check out the Forte5 and liked it better than the Chevy Sonic. We then drove to the Stroudsburg Walmart and got more contacts as the first Walmart didn’t have enough in stock for her. Finally, we drove to the Weis in Pen Argyl and did the grocery shopping and got back to the house before 4:30.

After we were back, someone offered snap peas to August and said there was a bowl of them out on the porch. I went out with him, and he didn’t want to eat one at first until I said they were Vivian’s and she had left them. He started eating one and said “I’m eating all or Vivian’s snap peas…Dada said I could eat all of Vivian’s…”. He then found one of the pig masks that he and Carly had painted and sent and played with it. He asked “What if just Vivian can wear it?” and was a bit concerned but I told him it was okay. He was acting sleepy and yawned six or seven times by the time we found Carly outside.

Colin was delighting in the big ruts of mud left by the dump truck and called it “dirty time”. August joined in, but complained (as he didn’t have his shoes on) when they ran across to the a different tree: “They’re not going back to the shade!” August then played the chocolate game with Carly and I headed in to work on our car choices spreadsheet.

On the back porch though Vivian and Carly were going to have a water fight. August and I ended up out there participating. August had the big soaker thing and hit Vivian a couple times, and did okay with getting sprayed with the spray bottles as long as it didn’t get his face. Somehow, Carly ended up sitting down and I did most of the water fighting.

Dinner was then ready. Hot dogs and sauerkraut and green beans and asparagus. He made a game of bugging Vivian, standing up really close to her face. He ended up going in with Carly for some Mama and Zinnie time. I was there and he said “I want privacy. Shoo, shoo, shoo.”

Colin and Vivian were then watching Bob the Builder. August was visibly tired and then upset about the red chairs and threatening to hit. I took for a break and we talked about “hugs not hits”. He wanted to nurse, so we found Carly. She and I were discussing cars while he nursed and he twice sat up and said “Stop talking!” At 6:30 she asked if we should let him sleep, but I went in and he got up and we went out and he got on the horse and rode that. He then wanted to try watching the video again, but still couldn’t settle for a chair so he went back in with Carly.

But he didn’t fall asleep, so Carly gave him a bath, then while she took a shower he and I went upstairs. He was really interested in Vivian’s room but knew she didn’t want us going in. We spotted a Bernstain Bear Bedtime Battle lying on the floor though and we took it to the changing room and read that. Then took it back to Vivian’s room and borrowed the Sarah and Duck Visit the Doctor and read that.

He wanted to then watch Sarah and Duck, but when I said no to that he decided he wanted an apple instead. We went down to the kitchen. I started to get the apple and knife out, but then he asked me about something at the end of the counte
r. It was the outlets, and specifically he was asking me about the ground hole. I explained what it was, and he asked if it hurt. He then got really sad and was holding his finger and said it hurt and broke down crying. I don’t think he actually got shocked, but maybe had it pinched in there. And especially after reading the safety rules in that book when he realized what he was playing with I think he got scared. We went in to Carly and he was asleep at 8.

I finished listening to S-Town in the morning.

He was up at 8:30. Opened the door, saw the other hyper kids, and closed it. Carly went in and the other kids went in as well. At one point in the morning Colin and August drew with crayon on the bedsheet and we washed it. At another he hit Vivian. Instead of apologizing he gave her a big hug. Vivian and August then ended up outside, where Vivian painted August’s toenaile and fingernails purple. They then started playing in the water. I took a shower and they were still out there. August walked up and down the slide, but wouldn’t actually slide. I sprayed the hose up in the air like rain for Vivian. They kept playing and playing. August drank water from a spray bottle and said “I like hot water. I like warm water. But I don’t like shower water.” At first I thought he said ‘shallow’ water, but he carefully pronounced it so I got it. While he had the hose “Vivian’s picking tomatoes and letting me wash it.” We talked about the “digger” coming tomorrow to level the spot for the RV “After we go to sleep?…Thats fine…I don’t want it right now.” Vivian and August played the shutting down robot game after they drank water. Vivian got him to start dropping the bottle when he shut down.

About 10:30 August finally ate some breakfast when Carly brought some cereal. They ended up inside, and Carly and Vivian read Merle the High Flting Squirrel, which had just arrived in the mail. August played with the wand/club thing that lights up when you hit things. He said “I only hit the butter chairs.” Vivian and August were outside with Carly on side porch while Chuck mowed the lawn, and their when the gas guy came to refill the tank on the house. A funny moment of confusion, as Carly asked him what he was doing, and the guy thought she was Cassie and was confused. The kids, Colin included, watched him and his truck.

Then out on back porch playing with water again. August was getting his hands dirty in the soil out front, then running to the back and washing them off with th hose. Vivian turned off the water and I joked that the well had run dry. August then decided to refill the well by putting the hose in the pool. They played for several more minutes. Vivian went inside about 12:30, and August played a bit longer on his own beforing going in.

Vivian made a lemonade cafe for Carly and Cassie’s birthday, and they sat and had lemonade. Vivian and I had eaten the last of the pizza for lunch, then August had some of the curry for lunch. When he was done they were allowed to have a cookie. I suggested a version of the Stanford marshmallow experiment, where you offer a child one treat now, but two if they can wait. We only asked for 5 minutes of waiting, and they had plenty of distractions, and both Vivian and August easily made the five minutes. When I handed each of them their second cookies though I  suggested they share them with their moms, which they did. As August ate his he exclaimed “I just love chocolate.”

Awhile later I found him crouched in the mud room, just admiring Vivian’s pink flip flops. Vivian went to the RV with Cherie and August headed around to the back with me where we filled up the water table but didn’t use it, then filled the pink water bottle but didn’t spray it, then peed in Colin’s toilet. He dumped it out and we sprayed it off with the hose. He then decided to head inside, a little after 2, where he very quietly asked me if he could use Vivian’s towel to dry her feet. He then kept going out and spraying his feet, then coming in to dry them again. “I love this towel.”

He ended up in the mud room again, this time admiring Vivian’s other pink shoes:

“I like vivian’s sparkly pink shoes” I said he should probably ask if it was okay before he wore them, and he responded with his best Sarah and Duck impression: “Yeah, s’pose so.”

We did some art. He used up the last bit of the sparkly paint, then drew on his foot with a marker on his foot. Sang “I want to wash it off in the pool. But if I wear my shoes they’ll get dirty. So I’d like you to carry me.” Then asked “Could you please carry me dada?”

We got ready to go to a park. Hot and stifling today, so we wanted a park in the shade. We decided on Mountain View Park as it is big and shady and Cassie told us there was a Crocs outlet store near there. Before we left, Vivian and August played wonderfully on the bed for quite awhile. While I was in there, they were pretending to go on a journey to Mexico. Vivian was pretending to fly the plane and asked “what’s that noise?” August said “That’s the plane moving.” She changed the noise and asked again and he replied “That’s the engine breaking.”

We headed out, about 3, and stopped at Chuck and Cherie’s car to get the booster seat for Vivian. August said “Their car’s super cool. I don’t like our car very much.”

We got to the outlet mall and went to the Crocs store. They both had a ton of fun trying on shoes. August liked the ones that were fuzzy inside and with Mickey Mouse on them. Vivian found a pair she really liked and we took a photo to show her mom. Carly had to take August outside while I chose a second (buy 1, get 1 50% off) pair. They didn’t have orange, teal, yellow, or gray in the next size up, but I found a nice dark green pair. So he has a sea green pair to replace his dark blue ones that are getting small, then a bigger pair for after that.

Vivian spotted escalators on our way out and asked to ride them. They did one trip up and down, then we got going. Vivian had asked to ride a second time, but didn’t protest when we said we wanted to get to the park. But back at the car she said “I really wish we could have ridden the escalators again.” I then realized that escalators were more of a rarity for her, kind of like when I was a kid and we rarely got to ride them. August likes escalators, but got to ride them daily.

At the park they got out and first ran across to the tire swing. I pushed them on that, then they ranged over all the playgrounds. Carly talked to a woman who had three older sons there. She was from Norway but had a New York accent, although she had never lived there. She had lived in Florida and got the accent from her husband. Vivian pushed August on the swing and taught him how to make poop balls out of the moist and dry sand. He would then throw them on the ground and they would break apart kind of cool.

We left at 5:30. We stopped at the bathrooms, and while Vivian was in with Carly, August and I made a river going down the hill using the drinking fountain with the clogged drain. Something to do more of if we go back.

In the car they had snacks, and August exclaimed “I love apple so much…I love crackers so much.” Carly had been working, before we went to Philadelphia, on having them say the other person could go first. Only Vivian had done it before, but this time August started doing it: “Vivian can have cracker first.” They then played a poop tea game, offering each other tea or water with poop in it.

We got back at 6:05. Yummy tofu and mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner, although August barely had any. August got upset when he saw Vivian with his chopsticks, and hit her. We had a timeout in the bedroom and he said he was ready to apologize. We came back out, but then he was asking “If you hit Vivian there will be a consequence?” He was clearly testing consequences, and a couple minutes later he hit her again, for no apparent reason. Carly took him for a timeout, and he sat in the room by himself. No crying like when she’d try to do it before.

Back out he played with the bouncy ball that lights up when it hits things. He called it the “super cool” ball and would get it to light up, then give it to Carly. We were then playing outside on the porch when a thunderstorm rolled in. We admired the wind and as it really hit the ducky floaty started to blow away. Colin saw it and said “U
h-oh, oh-oh.” I ran and got it. A few minutes later the rain and wind really hit and the kids retreated to watching from inside the bedroom.

Vivian and August did more art on the floor in our room and August was being silly, hitting Vivian with Marshy. He was then lying down with me for a bit. Then he stood on the bed and was throwing Marshy well over Vivian’s head – he’s definitely improved his overhand throwing.

Back out in the kitchen it was time for ice cream. In the chocolate container August spotted a perfect little bead of refrozen chocolate and I scooped it out for him. They then each had ice cream out of the small “adorable” bowls.

Before bath time Vivian and August had the idea of trying to go on the toilet at the same time. While admiring this attempt at equity, Carly didn’t think it a good idea. He spent a long time on the toilet, and Vivian didn’t want to go in the bath until he was off. She instead drew funny pictures (of poop) for Carly. They took a bath, then were jumping off the bed. I hung out with all three of them while Carly took a shower. That was fine until August was asking to play with a ball that Colin had set down. Vivian got it first and then he hit her.

After Carly came out I read Hug Machine, Gaston, and Creepy Carrots to the three kids, although August wasn’t paying too much attention. He chose Merle as the fourth book, but then asked if he could touch a bracelet thing that Vivian had left on a table. When she said no and took it instead he hit her again. Carly did a timeout with him this time, and reading time was over.

He didn’t fall asleep, and I went in and read Bernstain Bears No Girls Allowed with him. We switched, still didn’t fall asleep. I read two Frog and Toad stories to him. Then he was looking out the window and saw all the fireflies under the street lights. And we saw a bat flying around in them. It looked like it was on fire. August went and told Carly about it and we watched out the window. He also spotted the stars up in the sky.

I had some cereal, and he wanted some. I made him share from mine, but then when we were done he very sweetly asked “I want more cereal, but could I please have my own bowl and could I please have my own cereal?”

We went back in again, and he finally, finally fell asleep a little past 11.

I moved the car at 8 and August woke up when I got back at 8:10. I took a shower, and then he told Carly that he wanted to stay at the children’s museum forever. He was also talking like a robot through the morning, although I’m not sure what prompted that. We packed up to get ready to go, and he sat in the rocking chair drinking the mango smoothie drink from a straw. He wanted me to hold it, but I encouraged him to hold it himself. Carly brushed his teeth, then he brushed some more. He sneezed, then said “You did sneezing music?” He grabbed his stroller and said “Now, ready to go.” We walked to the end of the all and went to Pure Fare for breakfast at 9:05. I got the kale frittata and Carly got a yogurt cup. And I got a real macchiato.

Got back just before 9:30. August kicked his shoes off as Carly carried him to the bathroom. He’s so trained to take his shoes off. We grabbed our bags, walked to the car, and drove off at 9:40. We made it to the Please Touch museum, paid our $57 dollars, and started playing at 10:10. He started in the water area, then went to the pond area. From there he saw the carousel and wanted to ride, so I went and bought a ticket for that and found them in the Adventure Camp. It kind of had random stuff in it – a telegraph, a flagpole you can raise and lower a flag, and a handle you can turn to light a lightbulb. August saw wires from it, followed the wires with his eyes around the room, and realized it also made a propellor mounted above the door turn.

We went to the carousel and I rode it with him. He sat on a middle horse. He was a little quiet as it started up and went up and down, but he liked it. I talked about how he was making a sine wave through the air, and we discussed how it was going up and down and how the pieces all went together as a machine. When we got off, he told Carly “I likes the up and downness.”

Next, we found a blue blocks area. It was like the area at the children’s museum in Seoul, but bigger. It felt really odd not taking our shoes off – it was the one place where they really should have people take them off, as the blocks were looking rather dingy. He rolled around on his tummy on some round ones when he saw someone else doing it, waved around a long one, swordlike, and started to make a sculpture. Another kid came and grabbed part of his sculpture. Carly got the part back, but he seemed a little bothered by it and asked to go somewhere else.

From there it was down to the Alice in Wonderland area. This was really cool. Would have been cooler if he had remembered the movie a bit better, it’s been awhile. But he really liked painting the roses red, sat down at the tea party table, and wandered around. There was the other end of the pipe that you can speak through from the Adventure Camp room, and Carly went up to the other end. August was really excited by all of this, and was screeching and covering his eyes when he spotted Carly going up the ramps or in the room. Thought I caught much of that on video as she came back down, but then realized it wasn’t recording. Very funny though. At one point, in the maze part, he crawled under a wall and disappeared. I thought he had crawled to where Carly was, but he hadn’t. Found him back in the roses area. It all felt a little odd, and appropriate for the area.

Then into the area commemorating the 1876 expo. I really liked the displays about the expo and the big diorama of it. August really liked the model train and pulling the rope to make the bell ring. August and I headed to the town area, where he played with the brick conveyor belt for several minutes. At 11:40 I then went and read, sitting on the benches of the model train station in the middle of the floor, while they kept playing. They came over after awhile and ate some dried mango as a snack, then headed to the bathroom and back to playing.

I went to the bathroom after awhile and then found them upstairs in more of the town play area. They had spent a lot of time in the grocery store area downstairs, and then with the backhoes upstairs. I found them waiting to get in the car. Played there for awhile, then we went over to the ice cream shop, where August and other kids kept making really big ice cream cones for Carly. We also went in the bus and he and Carly pretended to drive. He said “If I turn to the left there’s no cars. It’s clear over there…I hitted the pigeon.” “I want to hit a kid.” The last came, I think, after a bigger kid ran up against the windshield as if he had been it. Very amusing.

We went to the cafeteria and got three pieces of pizza for us, and a fruit punch drink for August. We went to the tables near the Statue of Liberty to eat. August and I went over to the Statue of Liberty sculpture, but he was disappointed to find that you couldn’t go in it. While I’d been reading the signs there I noticed two typos in them.

Carly then sat and read while I went back with him to the water area. He basically spent the next 20 to 30 minutes playing with the lock, making it fill and empty, having boats go up and down. Even when the immediate area got crowded with bigger kids, August kept his nose in, pushing through to put ducks and boats in it. I gave him several reminders that we were almost done, and at 2 we started to get going. August said he wanted to go back to the children’s museum next time – he meant tomorrow, but I said maybe when we come back next year.

It was about 2:20 when we drove off. I had chosen a route through norther Philadelphia that would be a bit faster than on the way down, but still have us drive the 611, the scenic part, for the northern portion. Even with Google’s help the beginning was confusing, with Google taking seemingly random back streets. Near the beginning August started singing loudly, and Carly told him to let dada concentrate on driving. When we got out on an actual highway a half hour later or so, he asked “You can sing now?” And he asked Carly to sing about dragons.

About 3:30 we stopped at a Chevy dealership. Third time a charm, as this one had Sonic hatchbacks. We checked one out in the showroom, then a guy took us to one outside so we could see the trunk, as the one inside didn’t have a battery in it. We generally liked it, although the driver’s seat seemed a little low.

Carly drove from there. August and I did a lot of the pretending to sleep and wake me up game. We read George Gets a Cold and watched videos in the Musical Instruments book – the first time in quite awhile. And we watched Sarah and Duck. The first time I actually saw several of them, as I’d only heard them.

We got back to the house at 5:45. He seemed hesitant for a moment, but was then right back to playing with Vivian and Colin. For some reason he and Vivian wanted milk from baby bottles. As he got it he said “I really want a bottle…I want to be the oldest.” They then played outside for a long time, doing a good job of taking turns with the hose. The big playground that they’re going to install had arrived, and they had set up the slide as a sort of waterslide into the kiddie pool. August wouldn’t go down it, but liked playing with the water. They went over to the pumpkin plants with Cassie at one point, then he got upset about the stuffed animals that Vivian had. He wasn’t eating dinner, probably because he was so excited with playing. Carly and I slipped off one by one to eat dinner out in the RV. He eventually ate some broccoli and tofu that Carly heated for him, although Colin ate more, taking all of it when August wouldn’t eat it.

August nursed, then Vivian came in and they kicked us out: “Kids only!” Vivian got paper and crayons and they started drawing pictures, and August would bring them out and give them to Carly or Cherie. The ones for Carly were all talking machines (like the tube they had spoken through at the children’s museum): “you talk through it…It goes around there and through the lines…I used your favorite kind of green.”

I moved the car at 8. They were both still asleep when I left, so I sat in the car and listened to a few more minutes of S-Town before heading back. Carly was up when I got there, and August got up just before 8:20. He and Carly kept doing their tea game and British accents. He’s now requesting teas as well: “Mango tea. Yeah, that’s my favorite.” Carly made coffee, but discovered that the coffee in the cupboard was old and stale. I took a shower and got out to find that he had eaten all the crab filling from the sushi Carly got at Trader Joe’s. He wasthen ready for a walk: I’m gonna put my shoes on and go for a walk.” He got them on the correct feet. There were three umbrellas and he chose the green one: “I want green for mama…I folded it up for mama…Now it doesn’t fit through the door…It’s a nice color green?” He was spinning it and said “it has batteries in it to make it rain.” He then wanted me to lift him up so he could let the air from the air conditioner into his mouth: “Yummy air.”

We found our car at the new parking spot and as we drove off he said “That place is my favorite.” Wasn’t clear if he meant the parking spot or apartment or what. We got up to the Imunch Cafe in the Brewerytown neighborhood at 10:15. We ordered a mang strawberry smoothie and two egg croissant sandwiches. Carly’s with cheese and mine also with salmon. We found a seat upstairs (it was empty) and August went back down with Carly after a few minutes. I heard “Is it done yet? Is it done yet?” We got the smoothie and headed back up. Reviews said the service could be a bit slow, and it was. Not sure why we had to wait for our sandwiches, but we did. People were all very nice though. But when we did get our sandwiches, August suddenly said “I need to go real bad” I took him down to use the bathroom and he sang a “Spiraly spiral” song as we went down the spiral staircase. That bathroom was in use, but we were told there was one upstairs. We went in there and he exclaimed “Nice bathroom!” Went and finished our breakfast, then went over to the Smith Playground.

Got to the playground at 11:05. I hadn’t really looked into it much, but knew from the map it looked big. It didn’t disappoint, as there is playground after playground. On the walk over from the car though he said “I’m not going to walk in ANY grass.” We gave a five dollar donation and I let him put it in the box. Carly then had a few coins that he was able to put in the alligator (well, actually a dragon) thing.

Play at the first playground fir awhile. There was a monkey bar sort of thing that tilted back and forth. Did that quite a bit, and he called it a pump, pumping up a tire. But when other kids started coming he didn’t do so well. He didn’t want to share, and wanted whatever toy other kids were playing with. We had to pause and Carly talked to him for a minute. He got better after that, but mainly because we found the historic wooden slide that you ride down on burlap sacks. He and Carly went down. And did it again and again and again. Ten or more times total. I sat and read and watched them.

Then over to a ship area for awhile. He sat in a swing thing that went back and forth and said “I call it a back and forth swing.” From there to the train, which he pretended to drive to another playground, but where mainly the kids would sit next to each other in the cars, not really doing much. A little odd, actually.

It was hot and humid, so next we headed inside August spent almost all of his time playing with a little grain elevator sort of toy that went with the wooden train set. I showed him that the K’nex pieces lying about would work in it. He had to collect all the pieces he could find: “I actually need all those…I need all the K’nex to make the conveyor belt go.” He tried to keep it to himself when another kid tried playing with it, but otherwise did just fine. He also played a bit with a toy vacuum cleaner.

We went to the bathroom, then left just at 1. We went to The Monkey and Elephant coffee shop. All they had for August was a lemonade, which he first wanted, but then said he didn’t like when it came, but then drank a fair amount of when I coaxed him into liking it. They had a few shelves of children’s books and I  read Bernstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends. We left the coffee shop at 1:40. Carly and I traded drinks as they made hers with too much chocolate and cinnamon in it (just a mocha). Here they had the coin parking meters, and he asked how they worked, so we talked through the whole process.

We decided to go for a drive and see if he would take a nap. We had neglected to ask him about the bathroom, and as we neared West Fairmount Park he said he needed to use the bathroom. So we went to the children’s museum and parked on the street and used a portapotty across the street. I looked up the hours and price for the Please Touch museum and it wasn’t good: 19 dollars for each of us and it closed at 5. So we decided to leave it for tomorrow and went for a drive. He did not, however, fall asleep. Everntually he wanted a snack and had some Cheerios. He was pretending they were coins (pennies, in particular). When he had had enough he said “And that’s enough coins.”

We got back to Smith Playground at 2:50. Before we went in though he found a mystery flavor lollipop in the car and we let him eat it. But first I tricked him, flipping the stick over as if there had been nothing under the wrapper. He looked at the stick though and said “That’s my favorite pointing stick.” I think that had been a reference to the Berenstain Bears book in which a pointing stick gets broken. Anyway, it turned out to be root beer, and then outside the car (maybe when we were leaving?) we found a pair of white sunglasses that somebody had lost and we decided to keep. We’ve lost a couple pairs ourselves, so it seemed reasonable to get a pair back.

He asked to put more coins in the alligator (dragon) thing, so he and I went back to the car and got all the pennies, nickels, and dimes out of it, and I remembered the bag of change in my backpack. He had a good little stack of coins to put in.

We wandered through the nature playground area this time, then walked over under a great big tree before going to the bathroom with Carly. On his way out he kept repeating “The things they’re using I want to play with, but the things they’re not using I don’t want to play with but…” Down in the playground he sat in a spinning cup thing that he was able to make spin by himself. Had a lot of fun on those, then wandered off with Carly while I looked for Wanamaker Organ info on my phone. They ended up at the swings, where he was swinging on his stomach and kicking his legs way up. He spotted some colorful cotton ball things on a tree as decorations and sent me to investigate, then I took him over to look at them. He fell off while getting back on the swing. He then wanted me to steal Carly’s swing, politely asking: “When mama’s done could you please steal mama’s swing?”

But then the best toy of the day: a big rotating cone made out of rope. He climbed halfway up and basically hung on for the next twenty minutes as people pushed it, chanting “faster, faster, faster” or “not much faster”. We also spent some time on an odd sort of teeter totter before he went back to the cone.

Before we left I took him into the bathroom. There were lots of questions about pipes in the bathroom. We left at 4:50. The plan was to drive into downtown and go see the Wanamaker Pipe Organ, the largest in the world, getting played at 5:30, then go to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Driving through downtown was crazy, and we couldn’t find a parking garage. Not a lot of them. Finally found one right in the Macy’s building at parked at 5:30. Went up and saw the organ, then watched from the second floor. August liked it, but was getting tired and hungry. We stayed about a half hour total. He was lying on the floor by t
he jeans area, pretending to be a pump and saying “The pump wore out.” There was lots of being a machine today and also sucking people up.

Anyway, that seemed like a good sign that we should get going so we left at 6. We parked just north of our place and August got upset when I put the credit card in the parking meter and he didn’t get to do it. He hit me with his sunglasses.  Carly asked if he had hit dada and he admitted “Yeah”. They headed to the apartment to turn on the AC and ended up staying for awhile as he sat on the toilet. They then went to the market and got some drinks. I went to a Thai restaurant but it was permanently closed, so I went to another one a couple blocks away and ordered a couple things and brought them back.

I was back after 7. I had developed quite a headache and lay down for a a few minutes. He said he had the same headache as me, which was funny, but then it turned out that he was actually quite concerned about me. Very touching. I got up and we had dinner. He really liked the wide noodles that Carly had gotten. He wanted some water and said “I want to get the food in my tummy soggy.”

After dinner he found the Wheat Thins and I joked that those were car snacks and that if he ate any we would have to go for a drive in the car or the snack police would come. He said “There’s no snack police?” Carly took a shower and we put stuff away and talked while she showered. He sat on the rocking chair and it bumped the wall. I moved it forward to it wouldn’t bump, and he joked “There’s no wall police?”

He wanted to read the Intro to Electricity book so I started to read it, then realized I needed to move the car one more time at 8. I went and did that and was back at 8:25. I came back to find them reading the rules of experimenting with electricity. He had her read that section several times: “I want to read the rules again. I like the rules.”

She gave him a little bath, then he was asleep about 8:40.

They started walking up around 7:30. I had gone for a little walk down the trail along the lake as I listened to S-Town. I came back in about 8:15. They were sitting on the floor, August sneezing. Colin came out and he gave August a hug, then was giving other people hugs. August really wanted mama to get a hug, and he made sure she got one from Colin. I ate some of the leftover pizza for breakfast, which confused Carly and Cassie when they saw me turning on the oven. August requested toast, then peanut butter, jam, and honey on it.

I took a shower, then found him being unhappy with things: Chuck had made an egg for Vivian so August wanted one too and he made him one as well. But then August wasn’t happy with the fork he got. While he was protesting the forks and not eating the egg, Cassie cut up apple and handed it to Vivian and Colin. August demanded some. I picked him up and took him to the bedroom where we had a quiet timeout. He just sat there.

We were getting ready to head to Philadelphia, and Cassie was taking the two kids to the gym. August wanted them to come with us to Philadelphia. They said goodbye and left and we finished loading the car. He then ate his egg and some other food. Then, he was being funny on the toilet. He was kind of hitting his bottom and saying “The poop’s not coming out. I need blueberries.” We left  at 10:30.

We took a blue highways route to Philadelphia. It was a wonderful and scenic drive with all sorts of landscapes and views of the Delaware River and old houses and abandoned buildings and historical markers. That lasted for about an hour until 611 left the banks of the Delaware a ways south of Phillipsburg. And that, of course, was when August, who had settled in and been watching Sarah and Duck for awhile, decided he was hungry and wanted to get out. We made it to Doyelstown, parked and they nursed in the car. I found the Sweet Pea Ice Cream shop and we went there for ice cream. He chose straight chocolate, and I got a cinnamon twist pretzel. We sat and ate those. I had found the Mercer Museum and the James A. Michener art museum. We decided to walk over to them so Carly could get a postcard for her grandmother, who really likes Michener. We left the ice cream place at 12:35, did that, then hurried back and left. We’d liked to come back and actually visit the museums sometime.

August promptly fell asleep at 1:15 and slept until Carly woke him up as we entered Philadelphia after 2:20. We had driven through Manayunk, a neighborhood Carly had researched when we were considering moving to Philadelphia, on our way in. We decided to go over by the University of Pennsylvania (one of the other neighborhoods Carly had looked at) for lunch and to walk around. We started walking at 2:40 found a Cori and ate there. Carly got a salad and August and I shared an order of mac and cheese, a cup of tomato basil soup, and some carrots.

We then walked around the campus, August in the stroller. We headed from the east to the west. Along the way, a woman with a two year old talked to us. She was quite amusing, talking about how people tell her her son’s too old for a stroller and that he shouldn’t liked pink. On the way back west through campus we stopped at 3:45 and he watched a couple of workers sawing a block of concrete and building a walkway and steps for several minutes. At one point Carly asked if he wanted to stay longer or get going and he said he was ready to go. Then he said “Stay. I changed my mind.” We then went in a building and used the bathroom and filled our waters and walked back east, then diagonally northwest back to where our car was.

We got to our Airbnb place on Moravian St. near Rittenhouse Square at 5. At first we couldn’t get in, but I called the owners and they quickly had the door entry code fixed. We settled in, then decided to go for a walk over to the Schuylkill River and to the Markward Playground. We got going, him in the stroller. We walked along the boardwalk. We stopped so he could get out and walk, and he saw a low big bench, the sort I would use if he was in the big backpack, and asked “That ones for backamapacks?”

Because of the lack of exits from the boardwalk and the railroad tracks we had to go a little long and circle back around, but we made it to the playground. It was quite nice, and he wandered through it, playing. We left by 6:30.

On the way back he wanted to nurse and he said he wanted to nurse in the car. He had been a little nervous upon getting to the Airbnb place. Carly remembered that he’d been really nervous in Thailand and told him about it and how he ended up liking it. That seemed to help, and he did fine. There still seemed to be a little nervousness as he was hesitant to go back. Anyway, I asked “Why not the hotel?” And he replied “Why not the car?” We repeated that several times.

We walked on up to Trader Joe’s to get snacks, milk, drinks for dinner, fruit, etc. It was busy, but didn’t seem horrible. Then I noticed the line that circled ¾ of the way around the grocery store. I stood in line, did a little more shopping as it moved, and Carly left with August to go to the pizza place. The line moved quickly though, and I caught up with them at the pizza store, Rione, as they were paying. We went back to our place and had dinner. Carly cut up the five kinds of pizza, and we had fruit and smoothie drinks from the store.

August has started wiping himself on the toilet, an influence from Vivian. At 8 I went and moved the car. Was afraid it was going to be difficult to find another spot, but found one just at the east end of the alley as it rained slightly. Got back to the apartment and August said “Now I want to clean up and go.” August tasted the berry drink and said “Ewww” when he tasted the berry drink. He was joking though, although he had done the same thing to the tart cherry one earlier and had actually not liked that one. He needed cream on his bottom, and when Carly got it he asked “This is the normal cream we have in Korea? I want to lie down like in Korea.”

We went out for a walk at 8:30. We walked over to Rittenhouse Square. We walked around it and looked at the fountain and talked about how it worked. He got off the stroller and was pushing it around in a wheelie. He wanted to find a bench, and Carly was pretending to not see any. He started pointing them all out, using the stroller as a pointing device. They played more of the tea game: “smoke with milk” and as we walked back to the apartment he was making a humming noise. He said he was a machine digging underground.

We got back at 9. He showed a little nervousness it seemed as he didn’t want to go back inside. He pointed back down the alley and said “I want to go back that way.”

Convertible table. He then said “I want one extra walk…Can we please do one extra walk?” And of the apartment he said “It’s not even fun.”

August sat on the toilet and Carly took a shower. They had a wonderful conversation in the bathroom – about how mama washes her hair, sharing the soap, playing peekaboo, and all sorts of other things. I’ve noticed that, as talkative as he’s always been, his conversations have really taken off since he got to the U.S. and has had so many people to talk to. Now, when he’s with Carly in the bathroom or the backseat of the car it’s just constant conversation.

He talked about not using tissue when he has snot: “I just pick it.” And he talked about the low bed and the bed on the floor: “I’m used to having it low. But normally I like it high.” And he was talking in a British accent (comes from the tea game and watching Sarah and Duck) and was listing all the things he doesn’t like “I don’t like…” He was asleep at 10.

Boardwalk: 

Playground: 

Trader Joe’s: 

Dinner in our place: 

Our place: 

Returning from our evening walk: 

August was the last up today, around 8:30. He made his way to Carly through all the hugs, etc. Carly started to take him in for a moment of private time, but then he said he was okay with Colin and Vivian and so they stayed in the bedroom and played. Carly was a saint for handling all that craziness so early. They were playing out on the porch when I was taking a shower. I ended my shower to hear crying: It was Colin. He had started to come in the room with his hands covered with sand. Carly tried to stop him but poked him with a fingernail and he got upset. Then he got the sand over the bed and managed to wipe his snot on a blanket. Calmed quickly though. Carly got the vacuum cleaner out and August vacuumed the floor while Vivian and Colin took rides on the vacuum cleaner.

August came out and sat next to Colin at the counter (August can climb up on the tall chairs) and wanted the same cereal (Life) and soy milk as Colin. Vivian came and was the one left out of the chairs and got upset – remarkably, this was our first conflict over the two chairs. I poured cereal and milk for him. I didn’t put much milk in and August just gave me a look, like “Really?” He then said he wanted them floating. I gave him some more, then a minute later he asked Jeff “Could I please have a straw to drink my milk?” Jeff showed August a little compass and August asked a ton of question about it. He hasn’t used a compass of any sort since using my phone in the subways and our apartment.

Bathroom. He tri D out Colin’s seat. Vivian came down and went to the whiteboard. August scribbled on her writing though so I took him out of the room. He and Colin then played in the bedroom. I gave Colin a piggy back and August wanted one from Carly. We walked out to the dining room to find Jeff working on the RC car. The kids all “helped” Jeff with that for several minutes. Jeff took off another wheel so Vivian and August could each have one. August had a lot of questions for Jeff about why it had broken and how it worked.

Before we left for brunch at Little Corner Cafe, I went to the back porch with Vivian and August to get our shoes. On the way to the front, Vivian and August ate some leaves that she said were edible. We left at 10:25 and made it to the cafe a few minutes later. We got the big table in the yard, which worked out really well; it would have been difficult to have Vivian and August in the restaurant. They were a bit difficult to start with: August didn’t want water, Vivian was standing on her chair, etc. Things started to turn around when they got up and started walking on the rocks, and then the fruit plate came. For the core pieces August was throwing them on the ground. Carly told him to put them on the plate and he matter-of-factly said “No, I’m throwing it on the ground.” Vivian and August both got big orders of French toast to share with Carly. I got the frittata special. Chuck and Cherie got the eggs Benedict and the corned beef. August and Vivian both ate a lot:

“After I eat those two I want more.” Vivian ate a ton of syrup, then didn’t want to share her third piece of french toast, which should have been Carly’s. August gloated by walking to her as he chewed a bite. Chuck suggested that would be a 15-yard penalty in football. A couple minutes later I was with August and he asked “Why like they do in American football?” Carly had picked up August and hauled him away when he was gloating, and as she carried him we noticed he was wearing one pink shoe; he had slipped on one of Vivian’s shoes as he stood there. I asked him about it and he said “I like pink.” Carly and Cherie took the kids in for the bathroom. There was only one toilet, and they ended up playing musical toilets as they both needed to go multiple times. Overall a good brunch. Service was a little frazzled, but nice. And the food was excellent.

We left at 12:15. Chuck and Cherie headed to do some shopping. I spotted Pennico Park on the map and we drove over there. We played there for over an hour. It was an empty park, but had a nice playground. Did swings, August was brave and went down a steep slide, etc. Vivian wanted August to go on a two person rocking thing, but it was in the sun and August sat in the shade under the play structure. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back they were both on it. I got there water bottles at one point, and August said “I don’t like my water bottle. It’s not purple.” Because Vivian’s is purple. His is pink, which he always likes every other time.

Then, the fire siren went off. Which was new to Carly as well as the kid, but reminded me of Chelan when I was a kid. This one kept going and going though. The kids covered their ears, then wanted to go. I said it would stop soon, but they wanted to go. Of course, it stopped as we got close to the car. Vivian said they could play again, but then the siren went off again. We left for real.

As we left, I pointed out the Chevy emblems on cars. They then looked for both Subarus and Chevys on the way home. When we got to the corn field that is close, August called that one out – I’ve taught him to identify corn – and said “Corn! Yeah! Corn! Yeah!” We were back at 1:35. Chuck and Cherie had purchased flip flops for Vivian and August, pink and blue. August wanted pink, but wore his. They were difficult for him to walk in.

Vivian really wanted to go for a walk in her new flip flops. Eventually Carly gave in and took them for a walk down the gravel road across the street. She used Cassie’s nice stroller with August. They met a couple of girls that Vivian knows along the way and walked with them. They were back about 2:30.

In the play room, August reached into the toy box and activated a piggy bank toy that made noise. He did it a couple times, but had a scared/sad look on his face and said “I want it off.” Don’t know why. Vivian dug it out and showed him how to turn it off, then they played with it, then moved on to other toys and Duplos. That lasted 15 or 20 minutes, then they calmly divided for private time. She went upstairs and he came to me and he and I read Sid the Science Kid three times and Maisy Cleans Up. Colin woke up, so the end of reading time. August was playing with the gate, and Cherie explained the baby gate and the concept of ‘jail’ to August. He kept asking ‘why’.

He went in to nurse, and Vivian hung out in the room as well. They went out on the porch. He mentioned a wheelbarrow and Colin went in and got a Duplo one. August was spraying with the water bottle and sprayed Cassie’s coffee when she spilled some. He then helped Cassie with the watering, and he said “Don’t spray people ever.” Not sure if he was just reciting a rule to himself, or saying it to Cassie when she got water close to him. He was a bit upset when he got sprayed by Vivian a little later. He then spent a long time in the bathroom, Carly with him. Vivian was looking in the window and feeding him green beans. He ate a lot.

We had thought to go to Belvidere this afternoon, but I realized all the shops were closed. Cassie had mentioned a playground in Roseto she had heard about but hadn’t found. I found it at the ballpark. So we were going to go there. But then the kids just kept playing and playing and playing in the yard, so we didn’t go.

Instead, Vivian and August were playing with rocks, and August said “I’m making a tower for Ants that has one really big rock on it.” He found another rock: “Oh! That’s nice! It has holes in it. What the holes came from?” “I’m making a home for Ants. JUST Ants!” As he points at Carly. But then Vivian said she was making a home for fireflies. August’s story changed and he was making a home for fireflies, but then was saying all sorts of insects could come in it. He drew the line at rabbits and bears.

Vivian carried him across the grass to the stones in front of the old outhouse. They played there with the rocks. He was excited about peeing in the grass and was drinking a lot of
water so he’d have to pee. In the meantime, Vivian peed in Colin’s potty chair. So he wanted to pee in that. Vivian brought it over to him and he used it a couple times. Vivian wanted to glue rocks together so went and got glue but couldn’t make it work. She got watercolor paints instead and they painted smiley faces on rocks, then painted their fingernails and feet.

Colin had been playing with them, but went in close to 6 for dinner. I went in after awhile and he was pulling my hand and saying “dinner” and wanted me to sit. I went and told the other kids that Colin wanted us to come in for dinner but they were playing so well that we didn’t want to interrupt them. I ate, then switched with Carly. They painted their nails a bit, then Colin got involved by stealing the rocks with smiley faces on them.

August went in to poop, then when we came out we found Vivian and Colin, naked (Colin had a diaper) in the kiddie pool. August climbed in, but I said “time out” to pause to take off his clothes. He said “Why a timeout? You mean the other timeout?” Vivian was using a scoop to get bugs out of the water. August kindly asked “when you’re done with it, can I have it?”

August then pooped in his diaper and contaminated the pool. They got out, then were over by the grapes arbor. They ate parts of grapes and spit them out and ran around the yard naked. I left for the store at 7. He ate a chicken burger but then bit his tongue while eating veggies. He wouldn’t show it to Carly, but she saw a good amount of blood.

I got back at 8. They were all screaming in the bedroom. Like really screaming. Started getting ready for a bath at 8:10. I walked in our bedroom to find Colin playing night night. He had come in through the screen door. Carly had carefully cleaned the room after the earlier sand incident. I got him out now to find a bunch of grass in the bed. She vacuumed that while I dealt with August. Carly and I were both in the bathroom for his bath. He was doing a great job of letting Carly wash him, including his hair, until I said something about it and then he started whining again. Back in the bedroom, Colin, who hadn’t had a bath yet, ran in, climbed on the mattress on the floor, and intentionally wiped his diaper area with the sheet. So funny, but now time to wash the sheet.

Carly took a shower. Vivian wouldn’t let August go upstairs. When she did, she was bossing him around and I told her she needed to stay away from August and guided her away from August. She got upset – I think she interpreted it as she couldn’t play with August at all any more. Jeff showed August his office, but then we headed downstairs. August and so read the Sid the Science Kid book about germs twice (now five times on the day), then Maisy Cleans Up. Vivian stuck her head out at the stairs and we invited her down. I suggested she could choose the next book, and she chose Miss Bindergarten, which August says he didn’t like. “I’ve read it too many times.” (We’ve read it once, but August had been asking why Vivian doesn’t like the Maisy book and I suggested she had read it too many times). We read that, then started on the Little Clifford Graduation book.

Vivian and August both said they were thirsty. Vivian got a cup of water and let August drink from it. When he had trouble with it and wanted a straw, she went and got one for him. He started to blow bubbles in it and we told him to stop. He asked why and I said because that gets germs in someone else’s water. He then heard Vivian telling Cassie that he was blowing his germs in the water. He looked at me and got a very sad look on his face, exclaimed “I got my germs…” and broke out crying before he could finish his sentence. He was both incredibly tired and we had read that germs book five times. He was asleep around 9:15.

After I came out, Vivian was waiting for me on the couch. We finished reading the Clifford book, but I said I needed to get ready for bed, so no books after that. She was sore with me, and wouldn’t say goodnight or thank you when Cassie asked her to. A bit later Carly and I were sitting in the play room and she came in and interacted a bit with Carly, but ignored me. When she came back a second time she did come and give me a hug, but didn’t say a word. All four of them came down a bit later though for a snack as no one was falling asleep. I got Jeff to tell his whole Ukraine story and about the stuffed cat toys with testicles. So funny. Could be a Moth podcast story.

RC car: 

Pink shoe: 

Park: 

Feeding August green beans: 

Hanging out in the yard: 

Naked time: 

Kazoo and bite mark: 

Less bad dreams last night. But I did hear him clearly say “It’s mine” awhile before I got up. He was the first kid up, at 8:07. The others were down shortly. Oatmeal for breakfast. Cherie and I were being silly and August was laughing and said “I don’t want to laugh or I’ll spit my food.” We then gave him conflicting advice on either not laughing or not eating. Vivian watched a new show. She didn’t want August to watch at first. He finished his breakfast then went back and she was more accommodating.

August was the first to get antsy and want to go outside. He found Vivian’s umbrella and played with it, then August and I played outside. We found the pink bottle, which had been missing, and sprayed things. We piled into two vehicles and left for downtown Bangor and the farmer’s market. Parked at 10:30 and walked to the little square in town. Say a couple of dogs along the way, including a Norwegian ridgeback.

First stop was the fire truck, where they got plastic hats and got to sit in the truck. Then to get cookies. August went to Carly and said “Mama you can share my chocolate cookie.” August complained about not having free samples that he liked. He refused to try cheese with me, and was upset when the beer ones were only for adults. He had fun climbing on the cannons though, then we ended up at a big puddle and the kids took off their shoes and played in it. I got a cold brewed coffee that was really, really good. August and I went and put a few dollars in the guitar case for the musician. He was playingsongs like “Hotel California”. August didn’t want his feet on the sunny pavement so I held him sideways to put the money in. We then talked about where the electricity came from and how all the cords worked.

Back to the puddle for a couple minutes, then it was decided we were headed home. Beets, basil, and a few other things had been purchased. There had been talk of a park earlier, so the kids were a little upset that we were just heading home. Vivian and August had held hands much of the way there, and Vivian kept asking August to get down out of my arms so they could hold hands on the way back. Did that at the end.

We were back before noon. August played in the car for a few minutes then I carried him in and we had some leftover pizza for lunch. They were then playing really well on the bed, which was impressive because the three of them were being pretty rough, hiding under the blanket and attacking each other and pulling it around. That ended though when Vivian grabbed my pillow and declared it hers. August of course then wanted that same pillow. Vivian then declared the window hers as well when August wanted to see out. I declared we were done playing on the bed. August nursed for a bit, then Vivian had laid out the blue towel like a red carpet to our door, but pulled it away right before August stepped on it, then grabbed the green towel, held it up, and declared that hers as well.

A bit later they all went out. August was pulling Colin as he sat in the red plastic wagon. They then went to the garage and were riding bikes. I went out as they were playing upstairs. I had to stop August from trying to throw his shoes down the stairs. They then wanted to slide down the stairs on their bottoms. They had done this once the other day and August was scarily fast. We said they couldn’t race, but at the end August did the last few fast and Vivian was upset she didn’t win. They then did it again, but despite making it clear to them that they couldn’t race, they both started going fast. I grabbed August up before he got to the bottom and Vivian was upset that she didn’t win again. I joked to Jeff that it was like illegal street racing.

I had also been spending an insane amount of time trying to renew our cell phones for another month and finally got that done. Back inside it wasn’t clear if the two of them were getting along nicely or not. August got too close to her as she wrote on the whiteboard and she picked him up, like she does with Colin, and went and set him on a chair. Cassie told he she couldn’t do it, but Cassie also asked August “Do you like it when Vivian picks you up?” He thought and said “Umm, I don’t like this chair.” Cassie and I cracked up.

Colin didn’t go down for a nap, so Cassie decided she’d take him along to the park as well. The three of us took the three kids to Weona Park again. Cassie and I took the three kids on the carousel. As we left, August pointed out the giraffes and Vivian, him, and I decided we’d ride those next time. Then to the playground. They chased Carly around a bit. Cassie suggested we go get slurpees, so we walked across the street to get those, Vivian and August holding hands. We came back and August and I sat at a picnic table and he drank some of my cider drink and more of his slurpee and went back to play. I sat and read for awhile. After a bit they all went to the bathroom, then headed to the stage. I headed over to the stage a few minutes later but found August crying. Colin had bit him, probably while August was giving him a hug. August nursed, and kept pointing and saying “Leave”.

So we all left. He and Vivian were both upset we didn’t do the carousel again, then he was upset we were leaving. We all stopped at the bank and he was upset about stopping. And then I had told Vivian she didn’t need another mint, and when he asked he was again really sad because I said no.

Got back to the house at 4:30. We did a family hug at one point. Carly helped a little with dinner, but then she had to take over with August and Vivian when I skyped with my parents. August wasn’t in a Skyping mood. I gave my parents a tour as we skyped and they saw a bunny out in the lawn and saw the garage. When I was done Vivian and August were fighting about a broken little gear thing in the garage. Carly had been working on getting them to share, letting the other person go first when they are having snacks in the car, and has had some success, but it will take awhile.

Back inside Colin appeared to be about to bite him again and Cassie yelled. She assured August she wasn’t yelling at him, but that, and/or realizing Colin was about to bite him, did it and August was upset. He went into the bedroom with Carly and they nursed and watched Sarah and Duck. Some well-needed quiet time. Vivian, meanwhile, thought they were taking too long and wrote a note, with Cassie helping spell it, saying “You’re taking too long” and slid it under the door. I got out the iPad keyboard and had Colin and Vivian play with it for awhile, then played with Colin in the Duplo area.

They came out for dinner, which was delicious. Cassie had made pesto. Cherie had done beets, which August decide he liked and ate several of. Carly and August had alone time again and I had the game of figuring out how to put all the leftovers in the fridge.

Carly and I then took August in the stroller for a walk around the lake and got back to the house at 7:10. Cherie had made two apple pies and they were eating pie as when we returned. August and I sat at the counter and he said that apple was his favorite pie. Also, he’s been loving the combo fork and spoon (they’re at opposite ends) and said “I really like fork spoons.”

They were outside with Carly for a bit and Vivian bit an apple that had fallen to the ground. Vivian and Colin went to pick apples with Cassie, and August wanted to pick one too. As we went to get his shoes he said “I want to pick an apple but first I want to but my shoes on cuz I don’t like the feel of the grass…cuz with shoes on I don’t have the feel of it.”

I gave August his bath and Vivian got in as well. He discovered a small but tender scrape on his ankle and didn’t want to get it wet, so stood with his left leg over the side of the bath. But eventually he had it in the water and Vivian was counting to see how long he had kept it in (Carly had suggested this to him, saying that she and Cassie had done that when they we
re kids). But then Vivian was sitting on the edge of the tub with a foot on the ground. August wanted to do it, but he just isn’t tall enough and I explained that. He got really sad and started crying. Got him out, dried him, and took him to Carly. He was asleep at 8:30. He then kept rolling off the bed. At one point he just had his head off, then rolled off onto the floor completely. And at some point early in the night he was sort of kicking the closet door in his sleep.

Fire truck: 

Cannon: 

walking back to the car: 

Carousel: 

Slurpees: 

Walk along the drained lake: 

Apple picking: 

And more fireworks: 

On the carousel:  

At Weona Park: 

Colin and bubbles: 

Surprised by Vivian: 

Lollipop: 

Floatation devices: 

In the car: 

In the gazebo: 

Popsicles: 

Reading time: 

More reading: 

Watching a show: 

Wagon: 

Weona Park again: 

Admiring Vivian’s shoe: