This Is Our Blog

 

Note: Sorry, no photos until I figure out a more reliable internet connection. 

Around 2:30 at night I woke up because of allergies. But it meant I was up to hear something right out the window and then watch two baby raccoons as they ate something and rolled around. 

August slept through the night, without waking at all. Eleven hours, which is a new record. He was up around 6:30. In the morning he did more vacuuming with gramma. We were doing a lot of last minute cleaning and packing and closing up of boxes. While I finished up some of that, Carly took him for a walk. They stopped at a gas station for some apple juice and a snack, then went to Riverwalk Park. But then they realized that his heart sunglasses were missing. They retraced their steps twice, but with no luck. Carly thinks they fell out of her pocket at some point. They were home around 10:30, then were sitting out on the front porch. He was feeling a bit nervous/upset, although not nearly like yesterday.

About 11 we started to get going. As we were loading up the car, mom joked about taking him out with the other stuff. He argued “I’m not stuff.” Then, he was looking at the vacuum cleaner and said “I need to vacuum more.” Carly turned it on and he was good with like a 3 second vacuum. Then, August was sitting on the couch and did his first ‘When this episode is over…’ A car show was on, and August said “When its fixed, I’ll leave.”

Outside, we did group photos, and August had to use mom’s camera to take a photo of him, dad, and Paul. Saying goodbye to Paul he he gave a bunch of high fives and we did an uncle hug. We left by 12:30. As we drove by the lake he spotted a parasailer. HE did a lot of humming, and hummed Eine Kleine Nachtmusik through the tunnel. He also spotted a few dead trees out the window. We stopped for gas before 1:30.

I had put the car seat behind the driver’s seat, and he kept kicking dad’s seat. Carly was worn out by trying to make him not do it. So when we stopped at the rest area, after I took him to the bathroom (he was startled first by the sensor flushing the toilet when he was on it, then by a loud train whistle as we left the bathroom), I switched the car seat to the other side of the car and I switched with Carly. While I moved the car seat he played with mom and Carly on a bench. I was now in the middle of the backseat with mom to my left and August to my right. We left the rest area at 2:20.

As we were leaving, he had noticed the small scab on the side of his face was starting to come off. He was concerned about it and told me “I need you to not touch it.” As we left he noted “Now you can see grampa driving.” And he said “The motor’s making it drive faster so we can get there faster.” He wore his sunglasses and said “In the car these are powerful.” And he held his fingers just an inch apart and said “This is a little vacuum cleaner that sucks scabs up.”

He and I played with a new nature education app I had downloaded and the Smurf’s object finding app. A few times he said “We need another rest area.” As we got close to Seattle he claimed he didn’t like blueberries and laughed. I said “don’t do that.” He knew what I was talking about and said “Don’t pull a Thatcher?” I’d said he was pulling a Thatcher earlier when he was doing something else like Thatcher.

We got to the house at 4:20. Unloaded the car and my parents stayed for a few minutes. August had a really nice goodbye kiss with gramma, which I was too slow to get a picture of, and then let grampa give him a forehead kiss as well.

They left, and we had some chips and salsa. He was then out on the back porch, climbing with the other two kids until we found out they weren’t allowed to climb on it at all. He played with the extendo arm and said “If you stick your finger in the motor it will KILL you.” We talked about going to the bathroom, and he remembered the downstairs one and called it the “Special special bathroom”. He put on Thatcher’s shoes and wore him around the backyard. Andrea pulled him and Kayla around in the wagon, then I took over, the Carly: “More coins makes it faster.”

Derek made a wonderful dinner of salmon on the grill, rice, and a salad. Andrea made a lemon cake with a honey glaze and whipped cream for dessert.

Then, the big event: fireworks. They had gotten a big box of Pop-It fireworks, and we contributed the three boxes we had. They started out doing one at a time, and August was doing a great job picking them up after he used them. Eventually though they were doing handfuls, and we stopped cleaning them up, although we still cleaned up the streamer ones. It lasted a long time. August did a few where you pull the string on his own, but mostly needed help. Kayle did the Pop-Its by squeezing them in her fingers. As a grand finale Andrea brought out sparklers and they did those. August was frustrated though that Carly wouldn’t let him hold it all on his own. He liked helping Derek spray them with water though.

Andrea convinced everyone (well, mainly Derek needed convincing) to go for a walk at 8:20. Just down the street. August wanted a blanket on him like Kayla had, then after a couple of blocks wanted to walk. He stumbled and scraped his knees a bit, but kept going. Thatcher found a feather, which made August a little upset when he couldn’t use it at first, but Thatcher was nice and let him have a turn. August rubbed it on his face and hair. We got back at 8:50.

Took him up to get ready for bed. Brought in the small mattress and it was leaning against the big one. He said “Know what I want to do? Slide down it.” I took him to the bathroom, then he gave him a good kiss. He was to bed and asleep about 9:20.

Note: Sorry, no photos until I figure out a more reliable internet connection. 

He woke up at 7:10 as I was getting up. Seemed to be from a dream, as he was saying something. We went upstairs and found Carly. He was a bit off through the morning, in part I think because he wasn’t actually ready to wake up. So it became a mama day as he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. We used the left over broccoli, olives, and cheese and mom made a scramble out of it and we had that for breakfast. After Paul went to work August wanted to go find cans on his desk. We found two, and took them up to smash them. August had left one half-crushed in the crusher, so this time he finished that one and then wanted to leave another half-crushed on in there. Mom tried to hang out with him, but as part of his off morning he didn’t want to do that. Carly took him downstairs at some point when he was upset and he talked about being nervous. He was also hitting her when he was frustrated. They nursed, and I thought he might fall asleep even though it was 10 or so. They were in there and quiet when Peter left to drive back to Edmonds.

He vacuumed cat litter with me, then Carly took him for a walk to town. They tried  going to the creperie but it was busy and hot. So they went to the sandwich shop by the barber and had a smoothie. Something like mango, strawberry, banana, and something else. They then went to the nice air-conditioned library and played with the toys for a long time. His favorite was the Melissa and Doug vacuum cleaner.

While they were gone dad and I went box building. We first went to the U-Haul place down in Chelan Falls. She didn’t really have big boxes, but she referred us to the Mini Storage place up the hill. Went there and had more success. Got two lamp boxes that we could combine two of to make a bigger box. No strapping tape, so we went to Walmart, but no luck there. Saw Bob, the owner of Local Myth Pizza where Paul works, as we were leaving. We also saw him on I think our first walk to Riverwalk Park. We then drove across to Mailboxes and got a roll of strapping tape there and one more of the square boxes as Carly wanted it as backup.

We got home and Carly and August were home a bit later, before 2. He had been great with Carly, but reverted to a bad mood once back at the house. I took him downstairs when he was upset and wouldn’t let him back up until he had calmed down, and he sat in front of the closet doors in the family room and pulled his first  “You’re mean.” on me.

When he did calm down we went up and he ate some of the leftover mac and cheese with broccoli before saying “Dada eat the rest”. We played with Legos for a little while: “This is a new kind of diving board people have never been to.” I then got his toothbrush and toothpaste. He said “I want to do it with mama so I don’t have too much.” as if I let him have too much toothpaste. He ate some of the dried toothpaste in the cap, then sat in my lap and brushed his teeth.

He then spotted the fireplace tools and asked to use them. I showed him the extendo arm ones and he started to get impatient when I was showing him how they worked, but then he stopped and said “After you teach me I’m going to do it myself.” After we were done with them he spotted Iris eating from her bowl and practiced saying “Heeeeeere kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Carly got the cotton balls and a glass and they did science experiments at the table, putting cotton balls and ice in water. He wanted something dark and we used Peter’s leftover coffee from the morning. They then took it outside to get messier with the food coloring and what not. I went out and did some of that with him.

He then helped Carly wash the car. I helped a bit, getting parts she couldn’t reach and watching him. Dad then had August crush a tin can in the vice.

For dinner we ordered two pizzas from Company Creek. Ordered a California veggie pizza and the Company Creek Combo. Knew it would take awhile for the pizza to arrive, but took well over an hour. August was getting hungry, so Carly got him a gardenburger and he ate almost all of it.

I was working on putting the big box together to hold the bike trailer for August, my guitar, two of our frames and prints, and some books and Legos. At one point August climbed in and asked of himself “You want to be shipped?” And said “I’m hiding from mama and dada.”

That was just before 7, then Carly took him down to bed. But he went in for a Paul visit and stayed in there about 20 minutes, watching Paul play Age of Empires. Paul was at his computer and August sat on the edge of the bed, close to the monitor. He kept pointing things out and asking questions. Very fun to watch.

She took him in to bed at 7:20 and he was asleep soon after.

Mom has noticed that he doesn’t like the fan oscillating and he would stop it every time he walked by if it was oscillating. Also, regarding the “You’re mean.” Carly said that when he first said it to her yesterday he kind of stopped and you could see he was thinking and then realized that that was what fit what he was thinking.

Note: Sorry, no photos until we have a more reliable connection. 

He was up at 6:20 with Carly. He went outside with dad, and Iris let him pet her. When I got up at 7 they got ready to go to the park. August was quite hyper. They went to the park at Don Morse. Did some bouncy thing and climbing and up on the play structure. They went to the water for a few minutes, then he sat on a bench and lamented his wet shoes.  Carly got sunscreen on him against his protestations. They did a couple swings – he still prefers the bucket ones as they are new to him. They got back to the house about 8:50.

He was watching a car show with gramma and grampa and grampa left. He watched for a couple more minutes, got up, and said he wanted to go see the garage. He found grampa and they first went to the old garage, which he hadn’t wanted to do the other day with him. They ended up in the new garage, where he turned the vice (when he did it last time, the rod fell through and strartled him), August told him “We need to oil something so it doesn’t wear out.” And they played with with air convertible. It was running out of compressed air, so dad asked “Do you want me to turn it on?” August firmly said “No.” When asked which of the cars is his favorite, August said the new convertible. And when he’d seen the old one he had noted it only held two people.

We all came in about 9:35. Dad needed some breakfast, August went downstairs with Carly, and I took a shower. They were downstairs for quite awhile, and when Carly and August came out he was talking about cinnamon rolls. They went up and shared one.

We left about 11 and drove down to the Beebe Springs Wildlife Area. August was being grumpy, and also complaining about some itchiness. Think the heat was also bothering him today. He was better once I got him in the backpack. We got walking at 11:20. The trail to the west was closed due to water over the trail, so we went back to the area close to the parking lot where you can get down to the river. Went to a different spot than our usual, actually out on the river side, and played with rocks: turning them over, throwing them in the river, and doing some stacking. We all relaxed until close to 12:30, then got in our cars and headed over to Powerhouse Park.

Had fun there as well. Peter and Carly went in a couple times, with Carly doing a lot of floating. When we first got there and were choosing a spot in the shade, August was particular: “Yeah but I want tons and tons of shade.” I took August down to the water and he was doing well with some wading, but then he stumbled and got his arms, shirt, and face wet. He got upset and we ended up back at the towel site. He wandered off and led me on a walk past the picnic shelter and along the path. When I caught up and asked why, he said “For funsies.” And he proudly said “I also did it without my shoes.” I got him back to the towels and he had the raspberry strawberry walnut Orchard Bar and he was feeling pretty good. He played with the floaty that Peter and blown up and sang a “Peter’s float” song. He fell down, then sang a “Ow ow ow” song to Peter, then a “Peter P” song. August wanted his wet shirt off, then I got sunscreen on him, mainly without complaint, although he told me “You did it on my belly button. I don’t like you doing it on my belly button.”

He was also doing a lot of pretend vacuuming, sucking up the people, the sunscreen, and the dog nearby. However, he noted that the dog was tied up, and he slowly got closer and closer. There were a boy and girl with it. The girl said a few times “It only licks.” Which was rather funny. And we found out its name was Leo. August also sang a “I’m distracted” song, although it wasn’t clear why. He was eventually petting the dog, and it licked his hand and foot. So maybe a turning point for August. August also got a graham cracker from the woman they were with. Eventually, I was worn out by monitoring him as he tried to step on/jump over/touch more and more strangers’ stuff, so I said we were ready to go. On the walk out, a woman asked us if he wanted to see the baby in a crib that August had walked by a few times. His name was Sebastian and he was 5 months.

Left 2:30 and August promptly fell asleep in the car. That helped explain the whiny tone he had been using at the end. When we got back to the house we parked the car in the shade and left the AC on and Carly stayed with him and read.

Mom had helped a guy carry a watermelon as we left the park and needed a shower as a result. After she did that, we left about 3 for the Chinese restaurant. Carly stayed in the car and woke him up. The rest of us went in and ordered: veggie delight, chow mein pork, honey shrimp, and sesame chicken. Carly got August to eat the vegetables, by saying that Uncle Paul was going to eat them. August took this seriously: “Don’t do it uncle Paul. Eat your own…I ate all the broccoli, Uncle Paul.” When there was something messy on the table he told Paul  “Clean that Uncle Paul.” I took him to the bathroom before we left and he kept asking why there was no urinal. I ended up doing a “I don’t know” dance, which he requested more and more of. He also said he wanted me to pee in the sink and said “The water would wash it down?” Needless to say I did not. He was still complaining of being itchy, so Peter and I took them him and Carly to the house then headed to Safeway where we got a few things to turn the steaks into steak tacos. Came back and found Carly and August down in the bedroom, him watching Sarah and Duck. I rested on the bed for awhile, then we all went up. They went out to play in the sand.

Carly then brought him in to do the root beer tasting at 5:15 He first asked if root beer was an adult drink, and when told it was a kid drink he asked “When you’re a grown up you don’t get any anymore?” He got to try each of the four kinds of root beer with ice cream, but it turned out the ice cream was his favorite, and he was very excited when Carly gave him just some ice cream at the end.

He then went down and did a long Uncle Paul visit. Carly went down and saw him playing with an empty tin of Altoids: “What these mints for?” Paul: “Enjoyment” August “I’m going to get the crumbs.” Paul left to go back to work just before 6. August found an empty can on Paul’s desk, so we recycled Paul’s cans for him. August crushed three cans in the crusher. The last one wouldn’t start to crush and he said something like “Maybe this one doesn’t want to be smashed.” He then played does it blow or not with a Pepsi box from recycling. When he was done he put it on his head and sang a “This is my hat” song.

We then did the science experiements again. Carly told me what to do, and I did them and she relaxed a bit. When she did the glove thing for me though August said “Not the glove thing! Because I’m running away!” He watched from a distance. We did the science art and ended by pouring all the leftover vinegar in.

Carly gave him a bath. He had fun playing for awhile, but didn’t like the washing. I was outside with Peter and my day – we took apart the third wheel that Peter gave me, trying to figure out how to ship it. Peter then fried up the steak for tacos, and August seemed ready for sleep around 8 so she took him in. The rest of us ate, but then they came back out. Carly went and took a shower, and he came out with me and played outside. He actually started by sitting down at the table outside with my parents and Peter and putting up his feet and talking to them for a few minutes while I went and got him olives and avocado to eat. He ate a good amount of both. He and I then measured things with the tape measure, which he had been wanting to do when we were using it on the bike.

He saw Carly with a quesadilla and said he thought it was bread, and he wanted bread. We said no to that, and he argued “But bread is the yummiest.” I helped him do a headstand, then we ended
up out front petting the cats. They are very accommodating with him. Peter keeps commenting on how calm they are. Finally, back inside he was climbing on the chair and said “I’m sleepy. I want mama to take you to bed.” I took him out back to say good night to gramma and grampa and Peter. He said “Night night gramma, grampa, Peter, Zinnie, Dada, Mama, Peter, Gramma…I messed it up.” He said he wanted to read with me, but when we got down to the bed he decided he wanted to nurse and turned around and went upstairs to find Carly. He wanted the chocolate-covered coffee beans on the counter, and Carly told him they were off-limits. He thought about it and asked “What’s ‘on limits’ means?”

At some point today, in talking about the meat we had for Chinese, or the tacos, he decided “I won’t eat any meat”.

Carly took him back down and he was asleep 9:30.

I went down to wake Peter up at 7:45. Instead, August opened the door to our room. So I started to accompany him upstairs. As we went up, he asked “Who’s taking a shower?” It was uncle Paul. I then told him Peter was here but still asleep. He kept asking “Why’s he still asleep?” August was good with Peter when he came up a little later. August played near and far, saying “bigger, bigger, bigger” as he walked closer to Peter and “smaller, smaller, smaller” as he walked away. August was out front a little later and got his fingers banged in the screen door. Luckily not bad. He then spent quite some time playing with the hose, making his lake and watering flowers. He told mom that one of the flowers on the vertical flower pot “it’s not petaling good.”

Peter and I drank coffee and did some reading and whatnot at the table and I took a shower. About 10 Carly, August, Peter, and I headed out for a walk. We showed Peter our usual routine, walking into town and going to the bakery. I made the Korean mistake of ordering an iced cappuccino and settled for a latte with cinnamon. August chose a cinnamon roll. We walked back to the park and AUgust chose a metal picnic table to sit at. We sat there quite awhile talking, and August had fun talking to Peter and was also being a machine: “It sprays and makes the wood hard so you can’t cut it.” He went to Carly and said “I want to cuddle with mama.”

We then went to Bear Foods and Carly got a few things and a big bag of popcorn. She and August put the usual yeast and olive oil on it. Peter got chocolate covered coffee beans for my parents. Ate some popcorn there and as we crossed the street, then they left the popcorn with me and Carly and August went to the bathroom and Peter and I went to the bookstore. They came back, got the popcorn, and headed back to the table in the park. Peter and I got there a bit later. Carly said that August was surprised that she was eating so much. He told me “I really don’t want mama to get sick of it.” But then he also said “I want all of it.”

Back at home, the two of them went downstairs for a long time. He had asked to watch Sarah and Duck but I think he forgot about that. When Paul got home he was carrying a pizza box, and August kept asking “What’s in it uncle Paul?” He wasn’t content with being told it was just a box. I asked August where Paul worked, and what he thought Paul would bring from there and he correctly concluded it was pizza.

Back at home he played outside more, walking around the yard in Carly’s sandals at one point. She got him apple as a snack and I picked him up at one point. He said: “Don’t rock me; the apple might fall out…I have my mouth closed.” When he was done: “I already ate my apple, mama.” And at some point earlier he had allowed mom to give him a hug but told her “Yeah but not too long.”

I made a long shopping list for two quiches, science experiments Carly wanted to do, and several other things we needed. Peter and I jumped in our car and went and braved Safeway on Saturday of 4th of July weekend. Busy, but we did well and didn’t have a lot of back and forth in the store. Peter got four rib eyes to cook on the barbecue, and we also got asparagus for dinner.

At home I unpacked the groceries and mom and I started on the quiches. Peter did some reading, reading parts of my copy of Popper’s Conjectures and Refutations and more of his Wittgenstein. Carly and August did their science experiments out on the grass, making some cool “science art” with the food coloring and vinegar and baking soda, and doing the glove thing where you blow up a latex glove with vinegar and baking soda. But the first time they did it some vinegar got on August when it popped off the cup and then he didn’t want to get close the second time, or even when she was just blowing them up with her mouth.

I went out to play with him and the eye droppers and what not for awhile, then we went in the garage to look at cars and stuff with Peter, then dad came up. Carly did the asparagus on the grill, then Peter did the stakes. August helped me test the quiches as they were cooking, poking them with toothpicks. August was really hungry and had some quiche at 6. When we all were sitting down for dinner he had a bite of my broccoli quiche and it was too hot and he got quite upset. Went downstairs with Carly for a few minutes, then they came back out for dinner. Carly took him in at 6:45. He was already looking really tired, tired out by the science experiments. She gave him a bath he wasn’t too happy about and then went to sleep at 7:30.

I had a long day. Alarm went of at 3:50 and I left at 4:05. Got to the Amtrak station in Wenatchee and found street parking for the day, then waited. My 5:35 train was running late and didn’t show up until 6. On the train I finished season 4 of The 100 and finished reading the Eleven Prague Corpses book from Paul. The train had made it from Chicago to Wenatchee only 30 minutes behind schedule, but then we got stuck somewhere around Leavenworth waiting for a freight train. We lost another 90 minutes and were now two hours late. I’d been out of cell phone coverage while we were being delayed, but once back in range Peter and I decided I’d get off at Everett. He and the kids and Stephanie picked me up at the Everett station a little before 11, and we got to Breysse’s cabin about 11:40. Along the way Micah, Peter, and I discussed The 100, as I had just finished season 4 and was caught up.

Jen and Stacey had beaten us up there by a bit. We had a good book group meeting, not really talking about the books until after 1, as Chris was supposed to be showing up from his AP training. When we decided we’d waited long enough we started discussing the books.

By four we were ready to get going, and people were packing up to go. And that’s when Chris got there. He had been delayed by traffic and other things. Stacey left, but the rest of us sat back down and sort of had a second meeting, although we also talked about things at MTHS and the Edmonds District. Chris and Peter went down for a swim and I talked to Breysse for fifteen minutes or so and then we all left around 5:15.

We drove back to Peter’s house and dropped off Stephanie and the kids. We grabbed the third wheel for the bike, Peter packed, and we hit the road. Stopped for gas, then drove to Leavcnworth. Along the way discussed the band East West and who sang “Marseilles”. And all our usual politics and writing stuff.

In Leavenworth we parked and looked for somewhere to eat. Found the Bavarian Bistro and Bar and had a nice table by an open second floor window. We each got the sausage plates. Quite good. Got on the road from there about 9:15. We drove into Wenatchee where I got my car then led him to Chelan. I had Ben really tired leaving the cabin, so White had done all the driving. I picked up dinner to compensate. But by Wenatchee I was feeling good, and the adrenaline from having to lead him to Chelan and knowing he didn’t have a cell phone so I couldn’t lose him helped keep me focus. We got to the house just after 11.

While I was gone August slept until 8. He sat with grampa out on the porch, and they sent me photos of him sticking out his tongue. Carly took him for a walk and they got popcorn from Bear Foods and ate it in the park. Back at the house he helped gramma vacuum for a long time. And he asked about the silver fan, and why it has a switch and not a button. They talked about the thing that makes it rotate, and they tilted it, and he put things in front of the fan to see if they’d blow. Cotton balls were interesting, and then he got them wet to see what would happen when they blew. As Carly said, cotton balls were big today, as he also experimented with them in the bath, pouring water on them and putting them in the bath to see them expand.

Out in the kitchen sink, he poured things in a pan to experiment with color, and they did a science experiment where you soak an egg in cola, then brush it off with a tooth brush, which takes off the brown color. He wanted to add water to the cola, then that turned into an investigation of whether it was making the cola lighter or darker. He wanted to use other things, so they used some left over soy sauce, then some barbecue sauce, and Carly made tea and they used that and discussed whether their mixture was getting lighter or darker.

For dinner they had Kraft macaroni and cheese and some sort of sausage. He really liked the mac and cheese, saying “I like this. This is good.”

There’s also evidence that they played with Legos, as part of a water park that they made, with a water slide and other things, was still together.

He fell asleep about 8:40. He resisted going to sleep until Carly used the reverse psychology on him and told him he couldn’t go to sleep. That’s worked quite well on him for awhile now.

He was up at 8:30: “Mama!” They went and sat and nursed in their chair by the steam. Came back and had maple and brown sugar oatmeal for breakfast. Paul picked up the box of oatmeal and August asked “Are you just looking?” When Paul poured his milk he asked “Why that much milk?” I got his underwear out and joked about getting Carly’s instead. I then put it on his head and Carly’s while he had some milk, and he said put it on Uncle Paul’s head, so I did. I took him to the bathroom and we had fun avoiding the sprinkler both ways. Paul was walking the other way and I told august to tell him “Watch out for the sprinkler!” Back in camp he started to run to Carly and tripped over he corner of the tent. I said “soft grass” and as Carly picked him up he said “hard, hard, hard”.

A bit later Carly got him ready for bike riding. As they were going to the road she stubbed her toe and we switched. I took him for a lap around the campground. We had to go fast at one point to avoid a sprinkler. Got back and got his helmet, then we switched, with mom and Carly watching him and I went for a shower. While I was gone they rode a ways, but then August fell. Didn’t get too hurt. On the walk back a small dog came running at him and barking and he ran away from it. I got back and Carly went to brush her teeth. He was blowing bubbles in milk and asked for more with a song:

I want to blow more bub

I want to blow more bub

I want to blow more bub

I want to blow more bubbles

He then stole Paul’s chair: “Uncle Paul, I went to your chair. This is your chair and I’m sitting in your chair.” When he was done he was nice enough to put Paul’s book back on the seat. He brushed his teeth and repeated the tune as he had his brush stand on the tube:

Standing on the top of the

Standing on the top of the

Standing on the top of the tube

Carly got him dressed then August wanted to go in a car. He wanted Paul’s but he had gone to shower. We said that gramma and grampa might let him in the FJ Cruiser if he asked really nicely. He plugged his ears, nervous, and just whispered it. We got in the car and he played around. He asked why this car was different from the ones in the garage. I explained that this one was tougher and for rough roads and pulling things. He gen referred to them as “scratchy roads”, which I quite liked. Played for a few more minutes then Carly switched with me. They came out and then to the bathroom. When they came back he was walking around the campsite chanting “I want to go in uncle Paul’s car”. But we were heading for a walk. He also wanted uncle Paul to go through the sprinkler. I took him bike riding for a couple minutes, then we went for a walk towards the end of the lake.

Think we were gone about an hour, back at 12:10. Along the way we all saw a nice snake, and lots of lovely flowers. August got upset when we stopped to put on sunscreen, especially as he got some in his mouth. At the end of the lake we stopped for a family photo. August wanted to keep going – both along the road and along the trail that kept going. On the way back he spit water on the trail. Carly and I both Carrie him for portions, and in the stroller on the way back we were doing “faster, faster, faster!” On the way out, pre-sunscreen incident, he was humming his current walking tune. He also did bigger/smaller with Paul and Carly as they got closer and farther away.

Carly got out a snack of hummus and cucumber and carrots and crackers. She did the one cracker/one veggie game that’s worked well with him. I took him to the bathroom and on the way back we waited for a sprinkler to pass. Only it went about three feet further than its wet zone and got him wet. He thought it was funny though and we called it the “sneaky sprinkler.” We also saw a boy in a hammock and decided we should have one in Israel. Yesterday he had declared he wanted an SUV in Israel.

Back at camp Carly changed and then went down to float as August didn’t want to go. He played with the stick in he fireplace. He had been interested in the moldy berries that Carly had out in there. I asked what kind of sandwich he wanted and Paul suggested peanut butter and turkey. August, rather seriously, responded “I’m not a big fan – I don’t really like turkey.”

He ate his half sandwich, then asked Paul to play in his car. In there we saw the dead bee Paul mentioned, then we turned on the CD. It was Cloud Cult, track 14. I asked Paul to confirm and he said it was my CD and he didn’t know how it had gotten in there. Turns out it was a burned copy of Light Chasers. I have no memory of burning it, or giving it to Paul. August also spotted a rainbow in the spray of a sprinkler in the rear view mirror. I went and got a snickerdoodle and we shared it and discussed getting the recipe from gramma and making them in Israel. We then talked about what would happen if all he gauges on the dashboard went high, and we played around with the fan dials.

Carly got back from floating in the lake at 1:35. August got out and gave the keys back to Paul. We then got ready and headed into town. We went to the ice cream place and got ice cream. August wanted his own and he chose a cone with bubble gum ice cream. Carly had a coffee flavor, and I had black raspberry cheesecake. He got to try all three – his first taste of coffee. He was very excited about all of this. In the middle of eating, he needed to use the bathroom. Carly hurried him to the bathrooms across the street.

When he was done, mom got him to sit on the saddle chairs and she taught him “giddy up!” Carly and I then played mini golf and mom came along to help with August. August tried to golf a lot, and it went okay for awhile. But the people behind us were playing fast, and August was getting tired. We skipped the last several holes and went to 18.

From there we walked across the river and got to the playground at 3:30 and went straight to the swings. Carly and everyone else went down to the river. When I needed to fill his water he stayed in the swing and let me walk over and do it. Carly came back and we switched and I went and saw the river. Came back and pushed him more. When I left he had been very calm, not being pushed, making little sleeping noises. Mom was pushing when I got back and he wanted to be pushed high. As I pushed him he kept trying to spot everyone: “But I am wondering where Uncle Paul is.” Carly switched with me and I went to read. Over half done with Eleven Prague Corpses. I pushed him some more, we pushed again, then got going.

I had thought to walk a bit around town and go to the bookstore, but he was too tired. Carly had to carry him and when we got to the intersection they went to do some looking and go to the store. We went to our car and he promptly fell asleep just before 4:55.

We got back to the site and woke him up just ten minutes later. Nursed and woke up slowly and asked where everyone was. Then said he was hungry. Carly got out veggies and hummus and peanut butter. He asked if I liked carrots and I said I did. He asked “Not your favorite?” Afterwards, we walked down to rinse out some dishes and fill the water jug. When we got back my parents and Paul were there. We took August on a walk in the stroller around the last loop in the campground we hadn’t yet walked. He was clearly tired, but made it. At one point there was a duck stand in the middle of the road that flew to the side when we got close.

Back at camp a dinner of raviolis and hot dogs was ready. We ate, with Carly and I switching off for drip patrol. He ended up with a nice saucy face though. Clearly he liked the raviolis. Carly wiped it off a bit, but still quite visible. He wanted to ride his bike so she took him out. He wanted to do laps like the other kids riding their bikes. I went to the bathroom, but when I came back they were nursing. He hadn’t been able to ride with the other kids and got upset.

After awhile Carly suggested getti
ng some milk: “special camping milk” since she can’t heat it. He had been upset about this the first time until she changed the name. Now he’s excited about it. When Carly went to rinse some dishes, he wanted more milk. I have him some more, but told him not to tell mama. I also told him to not tell her about the snickerdoodle we had in Paul’s car earlier. When she came back he was really excited and jumping around, but he covered his mouth with both hands and said: “I’m going to keep it a secret…I’m keeping both secrets.” That has never happened before; he’s always happy to tell. It lasted several minutes until I said he could tell, and he whispered to her about the milk. He kept the second. Instead, he told her he had spilled the milk in uncle Paul’s car.

Paul headed out sometime after 7, back to Chelan. We warmed water and I held August while Carly washed his face and legs and feet. Some cute protestations, but he handled it. She took him in and he was asleep at 7:45.

He woke up at 8:20. We heard “I want to nurse” from the tent. Carly went in with him for awhile, then she came out and he just stayed in the tent. I went in and hung out with him for awhile, then we got out and I took him to the bathroom. On the way back I called him “my little Smokey ranger” and he laughed and said “I’m Zinnie…what a Smokey ranger is?” We came back and he was hungry, so I made us a piece of bread with jam and butter, which he didn’t want to hold because he didn’t want to get his hand sticky.

Carly headed to the showers while we ate that. She some back and the sausages and hash browns were ready. August liked them well enough, then had a few berries. He wanted in the car to play and found the black bottle of air freshener. I ended up teaching him how to use it and we squirted it together. He kept getting some on his hands and went and told Carly “My hands smell good.” Back in the car we listened more to the Posies CD at his request. My parents came over and August had fun talking to them out the windows. But then he politely told gramma “I want some privacy.” But he still wanted me in there with him. We kept playing and listening to music, and he started being a machine, moving his arms around, and said “I’m making power for the music. He wanted different music, so we put in the CD for Charles Vaughn’s Pylon Reveries, which we haven’t heard yet. Track 2 was kind of atmospheric and brooding and I said I liked it, and he said “Why, because it is a dark sound?”

Carly and I switched and I went and took a shower. I came back and got some coffee and August finally got out of the car, about 10:45. He wore gramma’s sunglasses, then ran over to visit the dog for a minute. He hung out with grampa and I went back to reading Eleven Prague Corpses. With grampa he asked what the bottle was that he was using and it was sunscreen with a Minion on it. Grampa said “Minions” and August corrected him: “One minion.” They played with the frisbee, then he wanted to read the Smokey Bear story, so I got the iPad, but he got distracted. He got his hand dirty in the dirt, and I washed that off, then Carly took him on his bike while I read for a bit.

I finished a story and went and met them as they finished a lap. Came back and they made a sandwich. We got going on a walk at 12:15. August talked about his sunglasses: “My heart sunglasses make things completely dark…my white and red ones are completely bright.”

We found the spot where the Heaton family had a house and looked at it as best we could, then kept walking. We got over to the second campground. He saw a donut float similar to ours: “That is a yummy donut that’s made of rubber?” Carly went in a few sprinklers to cool off, but he wasn’t too happy when I took us through one in the backpack. He saw a truck coming and going by us: “Bigger, bigger, bigger…smaller, smaller…It’s an optical illusion?” We stopped to reattach the drinking system hose so he could drink from it. We ended up sitting there for twenty minutes or so in the mist from a sprinkler. Mom and dad got a map of the campground and confirmed there was no playground. Carly found some horseshoes and threw those, then took him up to the bathroom. Got him in the backpack and we headed back.

He didn’t fall asleep on the way back. I took him over to the bathroom. He was looking pretty tired on the way back but he said he wasn’t going to take a nap. He and Carly nursed over by the stream, then he came and played with grampa. Dad put his leg up like a door, and I told August the magic word was ‘abracadabra’. So August kept going around in circles, using it and dad would move his leg. August asked if it was an electric machine, then he exercised dad’s leg to make the machine work better. They then found a caterpillar and looked at that, then I helped August set it free on a tree. We set up Paul’s tent after that, August helping with the poles and pretending they were vacuum cleaners.

About 2:30 we headed down to the beach. Carly went for a short float, but August wanted to play with everyone else’s toys and not ours or the abandoned ones. So we headed back to the campsite and got there a little before 3. Carly tried to nurse him again. No luck. She took him to the bathroom and we got in the car and went for a drive. We saw Paul driving in as we headed out. August fell asleep at 3:20 just after we had turned let on Chewuck. Turned around and we went back to camp. Opened the windows and Carly sat in the shade next to the car. I went and read a little and napped, and then we woke him up at 4:40.

Carly took him and nursed, and he came over to the table a little before five. Got a big grin when he saw that Paul was there. We got going about 5:30. Drove into town and got gas, then we went to the playground by the barn. My parents and Paul were already there. August went up on the play structure and played with some turning things with grampa, then I went down the slide with him. There was a boy just a month younger than him, and August went on the swing next to him. He loved this swing: “I go higher than the sky.” “This one I can never get out.” I pushed him at first, then gramma took over.

While on the swing he said: “I’m going to use a powerful vacuum cleaner to suck up those trees and leaves…rocks that couldn’t be carried by people” The last was a reference to my explanation of the glacial rocks that we saw along the Columbia.

We headed to the Old Schoolhouse Brewery for dinner. I got a mushroom burger to share with August. Before the food came I asked “How’d your face get dirty?” His reply: “I’m not going to tell you.” Carly tried to clean his face and he said “No more water! You’re wasting it.” When he got his juice: “Apple juice is WAY BETTER…better than the mango.” We enjoyed the restaurant. We sat right by the river and August asked if it was the one we saw at the dam. So we talked about tributaries, etc. I wandered into the restaurant with him once and he ended up using the bathroom. I had a couple of good allergy attacks but made it through.

We left at 8:10. Carly drove and I read Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones. My allergies were hitting me really badly. Back at the campsite, dad made a fire and we started marshmallows just before 9. He got to roast his own a couple times. Carly got to him first, so his preference for marshmallows is more roasted than mine.

He talked to Paul about how he requested milk, and referred to himself in the third person: “She gave me half a cup. He wanted it that way.” He blew bubbles in his milk and he talked about how no bubbles was Uncle DD’s rule. We saw the moon and was excited about it.

He then helped Carly wash out cups. We were then going to get him ready for bed, but Paul reminded us August could pour water on the fire. Paul said August had only mentioned it a dozen times. So he did that with dad’s help.

As we headed to bed he got a kiss from gramma and mentioned again how gramma could do real kisses, not just Skype kisses.

We read the Smokey story. He went back out with Carly for a minute. He saw a few stars this evening. Back in the tent they nursed, then read What Game Shall We Play? a couple times. He was finally asleep by 11:30.

Read ‘strawberry jam’ on a jar earlier in the day.

Carly was starting the wire transfer to pay for shipping to Israel when August got up at 9:10. So we switched and I finished the transfer.

Had some breakfast and I packed for camping, then Carly left on some errands: dropping off a lamp as a donation, t answering the title on our car, and taking our art to the Mail Boxes place to get it boxed up. August and I got going a bit later. I’d been calling Carly’s the Boeing errands and ours the fun ones. As we left at 10:35 he said “Yeah, but this is the fun errands.”

We walked to the visitor center and asked about a lost and found. They recommended the sheriff’s office. We went to the post office for customs forms and to check the mail, which was empty (dad had gone in to town already). We had a little adventure trying to find the wheelchair accessible entrance to the sheriff’s department but no luck. August walked in. And no luck with the sunglasses.

We walked back, and by Riverwak Park he asked “That’s where we saw uncle Paul?” Started to walk home, along the trail, but he wanted to see where mama rolled down the hill. So we ended up walking all the way to the end, past BC MacDonald’s, and taking the ramp and coming back along the lake. As we crossed the highway, someone in an old pickup truck said “Hi, Ryan!” I didn’t catch who it was.

As we got close to the house, I was running to get us out of the sun. August started singing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik quickly and said “The machine is working cuz we’re making a lot of power.” We we’re back at 11:25.

Back home, he put the handles on his bike with grampa. And he and Carly Skyped with Vivian and Cherie, etc. – Vivian took his photo and he did funny faces. Cherie said he learned that from Carly, who won’t take a photo with a straight face. But I take credit, as when I would do the morning photos for Carly, if I wanted him to look at the camera I would tell him to stick out his tongue. And the guy at the science center is when he started using his hands to make a funny face.

Anyway, Carly then headed back to Mail Boxes but didn’t really have luck in getting them to package our art. Downstairs August played with the vacuum cleaner. Kept asking “This is gramma’s old vacuum cleaner? But it still works?” Paul showed August all the attachments, and made it so it was “taller than uncle Paul” when August held it up.

We had a bit of a pillow fight in our room, then he and Carly nursed. We were all, but  specially my parents, getting ready for the camping trip all day. We finished up, grabbed a little to eat, and got going. August first walked under the back porch and petted Cynde in the bushes.

We left at 2:15, Carly driving. Carly got out the geese and crackers and when I put cheese on his cracker he said “So you can have some protein?” Before we got to Twisp, August got upset about not having a straw for my drink. Thought he might nap but never did. Got to the grocer store at 3:15. Did our shopping, then August spotted all the dead animals they had above the aisles, and the lion and warthog at the front.

Left there at 4, me driving. Played a Ken Stringfellow album, and August repeated one of the last lines to a song. He was then getting frustrated because he wanted us to be there “Are we there?”

We got to our campsite at the far end of the lake. We first set up our tent, and Carly got him riding his bike on his own. He did a little more with me, and had his first tumble on it going down a slight hill. I caught him. He helped with the other tent, then Carly took him to the bathroom. We saw a couple of fighter jets, and one flew by really low. He threw rocks over the stream with mom, then said “I’m going to get out of that.” Meaning the stuff along the edge of the stream. He was then excited by idea of food, repeating “Is it food time?” Mom gave him some of his drink. He got his Peter Rabbit cup and remembered he was upset by having a breakable cup earlier when this cup was already packed.

I noticed smoke coming from an empty fire pit, so before we ate we went and got water and August used a cup to pour water all over the embers. We then went and had hot dogs and berries and Sun Chips for dinner.

He played in the small piles of dirt several times, getting pretty dirty. The three of us walked down to the lake and threw rocks in. He saw a paddle board  and floaty with a woman and boy by them. He plugged his ears and said “Can I do that?” The boy’s name was Parker. He kept trying to step on things, so Carly tried to pick him up, which led to a fun chase across the grass. Once we got him he wanted a “Family hug”. He would ask for several more through the evening.

Got back to the site and he got in the dirt again. I took him to the bathroom. He’s used to the sensor toilets here. Washed his face and hands, but right outside he grabbed some dirt and wanted his hand washed again. Back at the site he played in the dirt some more and told Carly “Look how dirty I got.”

We set up the beds. The pump for my air bed wasn’t charged, so I was blowing it myself. The woman at the site next to us offered me the pump attached to her car.

August sat next to grampa in the chairs. Earlier today he gramma a big hug at some point.

8:45 Carly took him to ththe bathroom and washed him a bit

Zinnie machine shutting down noises

Tried for bed about 9. I had time to make tea and drink a cup before they came out. Carly made tea and I went to the bathroom. When I came back August was all excited and said “Bread, dada!” Carly had given in and given him a snickerdoodle.

They went back in at 9:30 and were reading the Spanish Spot book. It got really windy, so we had to put everything away. It calmed down a little at 9:40 and I let August come out. “It’s not blowing so hard.” He sat on the bench and talked with gramma about how liked the wind. “I like gramma. And I like grampa and uncle Paul and the kitties.”

I took him to the bathroom. Came back and found mama standing by the stream. He told her that his pupils were big. Did a family hug, then August was walking by the stream and conducting Eine Klein Nachtmusik. Gramma came back and he took her flashlight to look at the stream and found a pink flower in the grass with it. “It’s soft leaves, dada” when he found a mullin (sp?) with the flashlight.

Carly took him in and I went and got ready for bed. I came back and they were nursing. A few minutes later she thought he was asleep, but a few seconds later he popped up, asking to go find gramma and grampa. Carly went to the bathroom and he and I hung out, using a flashlight, for a few minutes: “Can I use it for a second?” She came back, he played with the flashlights for awhile longer, and she got out some Cheez-its. He was then saying “I can’t do anything” a lot, which was cute and funny, but he just kept staying awake. At about eleven he just started crawling all over me and the air mattress for several minutes. He did go to Carly, but a minute later said “Well, but I have a lot of energy.” We r ad the Smokey Bear book, which was nice as I had mentioned it earlier when we poured water on that campfire. He listened to the whole thing, and just as I was finishing he said he wanted to nurse. He went to Carly, but then played more with a flashlight. We left it on and set it next to me and we left it on for more light. He was finally asleep about 11:50.

Showing Paul his scrapes collection: 

He was up a little before 9. He and Carly went up and were playing with Legos. He was then sitting in the comfy chair and being indifferent to the breakfast choices I was giving him. Ended up agreeing to Cheerios and strawberries, although he didn’t eat a lot. He sat in the rolly chairs again today, saying “I like the rolls chair cuz this time it didn’t roll. Just a little.” My parents were going to breakfast at the Apple Couple with a couple that was in town. We met them, and she gave us a bag of popcorn that was grown by her cousin in town. They left at 10:30 and we got ready to go. August went in to explore their bedroom again, and jumped on it a bit more. He and Carly then ended up being lazy on the couch, flipping channels and sort of looking at the newspaper. Called that their ‘American experience’. Carly was trying to tease me about something, so I got August to say “I want to float and nurse.”

I clipped and filed August’s nails, he got a salt and vinegar chip from Paul, and we got to the park by noon. The parking lot was in the middle of filling up. Fifteen minutes later and we probably wouldn’t have gotten a spot. As such, there was a long line for the one pay machine. Carly and August headed down to the park and I stood. Took close to a half hour.

When I went down, they had just been playing in the shallows. He was standing on the beach, shirt off, with his sunglasses pushed around his stomach. August wanted Carly to carry him out to the dock. August stayed with me while Carly went for a float on donut floaty (which we had blown up earlier). After a few minute, he wanted to go too, so she came back in and got him just before 12:45. They floated for a good 20 minutes. He came back in just as I had a couple pages left in the first story of Eleven Prague Corpses, which I borrowed from Paul. We each ate a Larabar, and Carly got out ten minutes later. We hung around on the beach for awhile, and left at 1:25. August wanted Carly to float out to the dock with him, and she wouldn’t go that deep as he didn’t have a life vest. So while on shore I had pointed out another boy that was wearing one, and August agreed that he liked it. As we started walking up, that same boy walked by, and August reached out and touched it. August then helped Carly carry the float thing up the hill and they went to the bathroom. He then helped me carry it tot he car.

We headed to Walmart, where I bought a pair of clip-on sunglasses, and we got a lot of fruit and some hummus and crackers for camping. We were home at 2:10. He was relaxed in his car seat and I asked if he was sleepy. He said “I’m not sleepy, just tired.” He took his swimsuit off as soon as we were in the door. Awhile later I took him down and got his shorts on. Carly asked if he wanted a garden burger “Yeah. But I want the SAME cheese…what if everyone else wants CHEDDAR cheese?” In the kitchen he opened the utility drawer and repeated what I had said the other day: “Straight to the sharp things.”

Carly asked if he wanted mango, and he said “Mango time!” While at the table he said “I’m back to liking the rolly chairs. I don’t like the up and down chairs.” He then politely asked Carly “Can I have some of your water, please?” Out in the living room, he watched Paul pouring his soda, and was excited when it would fizz up. Then, he got to help mom give herself the vitamin shot that she takes. That was pretty exciting.

Mom got things set up for making snickerdoodles cookies, and I took him out to play in the Jag for a few minutes. When we came back in, he got up on the tall stool and helped her with the ingredients. They then formed the cookies. At first, he was just squishing them into the cinnamon sugar mix. But by the second or third round he was doing a good job of rolling them. Carly joked that the extra ingredient in the cookies was August spit, as he kept licking his hands and arms due to the cinnamon and sugar.

He had one small cookie when they were done, then managed to grab another cookie and take a bite of it. He was quite hyper, and said “I want to eat more bites so I’m more hyper.” We went outside to try to look for the cats. I had said he was too hyper and it would scare the cats, so he was suddenly very serious and quiet, and whispered to me as we went out. But before finding them my mom said we needed tortillas. I volunteered to go to the store and take August with me. First, he went to the bathroom. I said “It’s hot.” Him: “Yeah. Maybe we shouldn’t go camping.”

At Safeway, our list was the 3 Ts: tortilla, tomato, and tea (for Carly). Also, I told him we could get more of those fruit bars he had grabbed the first time. On the way he speculated about what other fruits they would have. He was right about raspberry and mango. The mango says it is spicy, but we got it to try. At checkout, he dropped his water bottle once. I then wondered if we needed a Discover Pass. We went out and put the groceries in the car and called my dad and Carly. Couldn’t find our pass from last year, and Carly said we needed milk. We went back in, him singing a “We need a Discover Pass” song, and he dropped his water bottle again while we waited at the customer service desk. That was being slow, so we went and got milk. He then dropped his glasses while we were paying, and the lady there joked about him dropping things – she had noticed the water bottle as well. We waited in line for a Discover Pass, but still stuck on one customer. Gave me time to look at the prices and website and realize we probably didn’t need one, so we headed home.

We were home at 5:50. He took the tea downstairs to Carly. He then was on the toilet and told her “Sometimes kitties pee in garbage cans.” Upstairs, she gave him warm milk, and he asked for a couple refills. They then ate more mango, but this one wasn’t as good. My parents got things ready for dinner, and when it was ready he told Carly it was dinner time. He didn’t eat much – said he wanted his garden burger from lunch, but didn’t eat much of it either time.

He watched bubbles in Paul’s cola again, then we gave him a bath after 8 – Carly started, and I finished wit his hair. Carly had just gotten a small towel for him, and he wore his small towel as a shawl and wanted to show mama. Down in the bedroom he put on his letter bracelet. I told Carly about him saying it was too hot to camp. He explained “I thought it had to be cold in order to do that.” He was hyper before bed, and tried to chase the cats upstairs. I took him outside and he helped deflate the floaty before needing to go to the bathroom “because I drank those liquids.” Took him in and he was asleep earlier, at 9:20.

Sunglasses: 

Helping carry: 

Licking his fingers: 

Waiting: 

Red crab: 

Blocking the TV: 

He slept all the way until 10. Carly then put on a green and yellow sweatshirt that he hadn’t worn yet and he liked it and wore it the rest of the morning. He had some English muffin and jam, then Paul was outside with him following the cats. August wanted his shoes on though so he came back in and gramma put on his shoes. I went back outside with him. We managed to pet both the cats, at least a little, and August had fun following them. Out back, we found really clear raccoon prints through the sand area.

He needed to use the bathroom so we went back in. I then got breakfast for him – toast and jam and yogurt and fruit. He had wandered outside with Carly now and she had seen the raccoon prints. When I told him food was ready he got really excited.

I showered and switched with Carly. Lots of playing with what became the “lake” in the sand/mud area. I couldn’t find my sunglasses, so spent a lot of time looking for those. No idea where they went. So we didn’t leave until 1:10. His seat was in the sun, so he was reluctant to get in it. When I did he wanted his water bottle and said “Maybe my water bottle will help me cool down.” Carly drove, and he and I read What Game Shall We Play? We were then just listening to music, and he asked what the line “what they managed to do” meant in the Oberst song “Uncanny”. He then wanted his heart sunglasses. Luckily, Carly had brought them.

In Pateros we parked and walked and found my parents and Paul. When he spotted them he started loudly chanting “Gramma and grampa and uncle Paul!” First order of business was the salmon lunch. Made our donations, then ate. August ate a lot: of the salmon, corn salad, bread, and of course cookies. He had chocolate chip from us, then my mom gave him some oatmeal raisin. He also really wanted some of my dad’s cookie. I made a joke about eating Paul’s cookie, saying “If I can reach it, I can eat it.” August totally picked up on the line, then started walking around the table, repeating it. He didn’t get any more cookie though. As we left lunch, there were two women in AmeriCorps shirts, and I heard one say to the other “Did you see his princess sunglasses? So cute.”

Next was watching a woman and man demonstrate the musical instruments: rainstick, elk feet, flutes, etc. Announcements came on, and August didn’t like that, so we kept going. Ended up looking at some beadwork, then going to the table where kids could make things out of beads. August and I made a bracelet and Carly went and sat under a tree and read. August wanted random letter beads, but then the first three we put on just happened to be CFA – Carly’s initials. So we did all of our initials, then the letter Q. Turned out quite nice. August was also really interested in what the boy next to him was doing, but also decided he really wanted the boy’s chair, and kept trying to climb in it with him. Carly went and got the other woman to help tie the bracelet, and as we left August asked the boy “Can I have your chair now?”

We got him in the stroller and all walked along the river. Not far, as he spotted the playground. Went over and stood by the structure for a minute, wearing his bracelet. A smaller girl came by, and August put his arm out in front of her. She hit him. Her aunt (I think it was) got her in trouble, and I talked to August and asked why he blocked her. He said “I don’t like that girl”. When I threatened a timeout he said “I like that girl! I like that girl!” He said a little ‘sorry’ then I let him play. He climbed to the top of the round thing once, but that was it. I took him to the bathroom, then he seemed ready to go. We said goodbye to the other three and started to walk back.

But then the couple that was at the musical instruments was playing music – him on guitar and her singing. Songs like “Blue suede shoes” and “sea cruise”. The three of us sat down and watched about five songs. We would clap after every song, and if other people weren’t August would say “They’re not clapping…everyone else is not clapping.”

We went to the bakery, and got a brownie and chocolate chip cookie for later and a venti iced latte for the ride back. I waited for the food, then Carly and August came back to fill their waters. When we were done with that, he saw Carly putting sugar in the latte and wanted to do it. When we wouldn’t let him and left he got upset: “I want to do all the things. I want to do MORE THINGS! I only got to do ONE THING!” We were headed home at 3:50.

There, he wanted to play in the car so Carly stayed with him. They had Josh Ritter on and he was having fun turning the music up and down. Mainly up. Mom and I blew up the pool. When we had it filling we tried to get August to walk over to us, but he didn’t want to walk through the sun: “I don’t want to go in the sun. It feels better in the shade.”

Downstairs, he was jumping on the bed on the ground. Carly left at 5:20 to go to the store to get some garden burgers and a few other things. He and I wandered into gramma and grampa’s bedroom and looked around, and he really wanted to climb on the bed. He got creative and stacked the cat beds as a stool. Not tall enough. He then started clearing the nightstand of books and stuff to try and use that. I gave in and helped him up. He jumped on the bed and looked at the pine cone pull on the fan and I taught him how that work. He slid off, then curled in a cat bed and asked  “Does this fit me?”

We were outside with the cats for a bit, petting them, and I mentioned Celeste. He said “She was hit by a car?” I was surprised, but figured someone had told him. I asked later and he and Carly had discussed it. Back inside I suggested we go get out the banjo and guitars. He was very excited: “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” He reacted once that way earlier, I think for the lunch. We went down and looked at those, tuning the banjo and hooking up the electric guitar to his iPad. A bit later dad came in and asked if it was time for burgers. He reacted excitedly again: “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” and kept telling people “It’s burger time!”

We got dinner ready. He watched the grill a bit. During dinner, dad rubbed something off his face, and August said “Thank you”. August ate a whole garden burger with a bun and pickles and cheese. He dipped it in the beans and ate a fair amount of those as well. Carly had given him some of one of the drinks, and when he wanted a refill she had me add milk, and she told him it was an Italian soda. That was a hit, and he kept offering it to other people, saying  “Do you want some of this drink?” He had a refill. As we ate, he asked “We goed outside cuz you know I don’t like the rolly chairs? Not at all.” When he was done eating, he was crawling on Carly, and made a bridge between her and mom: “Your connected to mama and gramma?” He also announced “Good dinner!”

After, he asked “Can I play with the flowers anymore?” Carly said no, and he explained that he liked the dirt better: “But that ones so much cooler.” He then had the claw hand thing and was getting frustrated he couldn’t pull it tight enough. I sat with him and held it and told him to use two hands and he did it several times. I commented on how loud the neighbors were being, with weed eaters, etc. He said “I don’t want to hear ANYTHING.” Then copied me several times: “I want to go to the city where it’s not so loud.” He then played with the claw hand with Paul. Paul was trying to get August’s toe, and August told him “I don’t want my toe owie again.” He then made imaginary coffee and cake for Carly, adding all sorts of interesting flavors.

The three of us went for our evening walk at 8:30. We sat in the park at a picnic table and ate our brownie and cookie. He made constant yum noises. We then went to use the bathroom, only to find they were locked. So we hurried over to Safeway. He took a long time in the bathroom, then we headed home, walking along the lake. We were
home after 9:30.

He pulled out all the bath/bed delay tactics: “But I’m hungry.” He climbed on the chair and got the sparkly bear for Carly, which is her favorite: “I got the sparkly one for you.” He also tried getting on the back of the couch, which he isn’t supposed to do because of the window, and which he did earlier. When I wouldn’t let him, he said “I can’t climb on anything.” He drank from the straw in the pink water bottle that I’d used earlier and told me “Yeah, but I want fresh water.” I gave him a bath, then he went down and watched Paul play Age of Empires. He kept going back in there, and Paul joked about him trying to avoid bedtime. Finally, he was asleep about 10:40.

Finished bracelet: 

Playground:

Clapping to the music: 

Jumping: 

Being a cat: 

Petting Cynde:

Brownie and cookie: 

Washing my legs: