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He had a bad dream, waking up talking about how he didn’t have the right amount of hamburger. He woke up at 7:55. Cassie made delicious raspberry scones. August was loud and having to warn him about words a lot with Colin. He liked the scones, but not the berry parts so much. He and I played the Creature Garden app. I went and took a shower, and he and Vivian played together on the iPad. We were getting ready to go, and he told me “When I see the toy machine at the jumping place, I’m going to walk right by it.” He said he remembered it from last year, and he and Vivian had already talked about it.

We left at 10. We had planned on a day in Easton, but because of the rain we landed on the trampoline place instead. Sadly, the industrial museum in Bethlehem isn’t open until Thursday – I really think August would like that one, and the Canal Museum in Easton isn’t open until Wednesday. Me alone in the Toyota. Trip down went pretty smoothly. We got in and were jumping from 11 to 12. Lots of jumping to be done, and only one incident of a child (Colin) knocking over blocks (August’s). Carly and I spent a lot of throwing balls back in forth in the dodgeball area while August ran from one end of them to the other. She went in the climbing house thing with him and I sat and read.

As we left at noon the plan was to separate at some point, as Carly wanted to go get some shopping done. I think Vivian melted down with the idea of being separated, but then I had suggested going to a county park to eat our sandwich lunches. We were going with that plan as we got in the cars, but then Vivian said maybe we shouldn’t go because it might rain. August took this as her making decisions and flipped out and started swinging at her.

So we took him and his seat out and cancelled the park plans. They headed home, and the three of us headed to Dick’s Sporting Goods. August had calmed down, but he and I stayed in the car listening to music while Carly went and shopped. He climbed into the front seat and played with the vents and controls. Had a good downpour while we waited. Carly came back out and we headed to our next stop, Wal-Mart. We did a repeat, with Carly going in and him climbing up in front. We listened to a Story Pirates on the way back home.

We got home at 2:30. We could see dark clouds coming. Carly went in first, and August and I were out in the driveway when some strong winds suddenly came up. I said the rain might be coming, and he sprinted into the house.

He said sorry to Vivian, and they were soon cuddling on the bed. I had some work time, then August and I read 5 chapters of Hilde Cracks the Case: Hero Dog! He went out and Carly helped him and Vivian, and Colin joined in, to make a concoction. I went back to work. Then some wildness as they played out on the porch. He banged the rocking chair against the wall and left a mark. Then got timeout when threw something at Colin.

They all left to go to Vivian’s violin lesson. August and I finished reading the Hilde. I was happy to see all the rest of them are just $2.99 on iBooks. Cassie had made a delicious soup. August had some and said “This soup is good.” And he asked Carly “Hey mama, how’s your cute little baby paper doing?” Which is a line from the Hilde book. He had some more soup, and we discussed who was vegetarians and omnivores and herbivores. He said “I definitely like that soymilk.” This was after Carly had said he’d “definitely” drink it.

We played Magnus Kingdom, then they got home. Jeff had gotten them some little candies, so they got to eat that. Colin did some painting at the counter. August was chewing on a plastic turtle, and earlier he’d been chewing on the medicine dispenser and on his shirt. I asked him about his teeth and he explained that one of his top front teeth is itchy.

The kids had known there was ice cream for dessert, and hadn’t gotten the message that the candy from Jeff took its place. So there were now small bowls of ice cream that they ate outside. August had me carry him across the grass to see the pumpkin plants, but a few minutes later I saw him walking across the gravel to go in the garage with Jeff and Vivian.

They came back with fireworks. A couple aerials this time, then the bee ones and sparklers. I set up the Chess Kids app on him, then Colin saw the photo of August in the Max (from the Where the Wild Things Are cutout in Korea) on my phone and really liked it. He kept asking to see it, and showed other people. Then he was calling August Max. He also seemed to think that it looked like Jeff.

Vivian and August did a crazy yelling game at Carly as she lay on the couch. I did their bath. Colin did the tea game too. They’ve lost their creativity with the tea game, as they just do “chemicals that make you explode”. We got him ready for bed, then he said good nights. He went upstairs on his own to find Cassie and say good night to her.

Vivian then fell down three stairs. He ran out, we thought to show concern, but he said “Hey tooshie.” We told him to go say something nice instead, and he said “I love you.”

August said “Oh no! I’m doomed!” about something, being dramatic, and we made ‘doom’ the word of the day for tomorrow. We looked at Khan Academy for a few minutes, and he said “Drawing is my favorite.” I left them at 10 and he was soon asleep.

He was up after 7:30. Carly was in the bathroom but then went in the bedroom with him. August came out and requested his iPad and played Creature Garden.Vivian came out and ended up with control. Life and soy milk for breakfast. I was researching KiwiCo and Little Passports. Sadly, KiwiCo doesn’t ship to Israel. I took a shower. Back out, I got out the watermelon for them.

Cassie headed to the grocery store. Carly read to them and then they did art – collaborative this time and it was successful. Carly did a great job of setting it up, and then they either shared or had different things they were in charge of. They called it a castle, but then also it seemed to be a mailbox. I did car Duplos with Colin. We used the Duplos to build a home for Lightning McQueen and another car. He was having them sleep: “Tired…The sun’s up!”

Moved to the living room and trucks for a construction site. August was helpful, wanting to get Colin more trucks and tools. He found a tractor with a trailer in Colin’s room: “You could use it to haul materials.” Carly was on a productivity spree, cleaning up everything behind us. Cassie was home by 11.

We got the kids ready and left for Klein Farm, our annual ice cream and cow outing. I drove separate, listening to The English Patient.

We did ice cream first. Vivian had gotten one of the mango ice things, but August went for ice cream. The woman working there told August it was National Vanilla Ice Cream Day. She then said she had a vanilla with fudge in it, and he went with that. Carly asked about the sizes, and hinted she wanted the same size as the mango one. The woman totally got it, and said she’d put it in the same size cup. Carly got a coffee toffee flavor and shared it with me and Cassie.

We sat by the playground and ate. The kids and Cassie took shelter in the play structure when it rained, and Carly and I sheltered under the umbrella. Carly said they should serve a little scoop of multiple flavors, and we cme up with the idea for a place called ‘Frozen Flights’.

We all headed down to see the animals. As we got to the pigs, August said “Do you think that pigs pregnant?” Think he was correct. Vivian said she saw a pig’s butt. August said “I’m looking at TWO pigs’ butts!”

We spent a lot of time with the cows. We saw one peeing, and August observed “It’s eating while it’s peeing.” Vivian and August saw a cow pooping, then kept watching to see another cow poop. We also looked at the names on the cows, and Vivian and Colin were petting the cows.

We decided to head back to see the goats. We stopped to watch a duck taking a bath in a puddle. Vivian found a feather, and August said “I want goat feathers too!” The found feathers, then we moved on to the goats. Vivian then discarded the feathers, and August decided to put them through the fence. As he did so, a goat came over, thinking he had food. August told it “Just feathers, goat.”

August had talked about getting food to feed the goat, but having Carly actually feed it. The vending machine wasn’t working well. Vivian got some with a quarter, but then another woman and us tried with multiple quarters and none came out. We shook it and the woman tried again and got some, so I used one more quarter. No luck. A couple minutes later, another woman got some, and offered some to August. He took it, and Vivian walked up and immediately asked him for it. He handed it over.

I went up and sat and read until they were ready to go. I took August to the bathroom, then we left. We got back at 3:15. They both had timeouts for spitting in the car. He decided to stay in the room for a bit on his own nd wanted to play with the World Clock. He told me, “I’m going to do it by myself…but leave the door open.”

Colin acted sick. I took care of him, then Vivian and August were giving him medicine. August popped one of the eyeball splat toys. Colin closed August in the bathroom and popped another one. They then took care of me – August started squirting water in my mouth and then Colin offered me Cheez-Its. The three of them were squirrels and Vivian was the mama. That lasted for several minutes, then Colin spotted an interesting insect outside – a fishfly, I think: https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/fishflies. We watched it for several minutes until Colin tried to hit it and I had to make him stay inside. Vivian and August then took it over and released it under a bush.

We had vegan chili for dinner. August really liked it. Cassie then got all sorts of art supplies out, and August did these scratch paper things. He said, “Those are all the noodles that I made.” Instead of doodle. August got upset about Colin taking things from him. Then he and Vivian played Wizard School. I took a short walk, but it started raining as I left. Went to the other side of the lake and back.

Carly had given them a bath, then August and I played with the whiteboard. I wrote our recent words of the day: melancholy, century, and symmetry. August then copied ‘melancholy’ and then he and Vivian did that and the other words. We got him ready for bed and he was asleep at 9:50.

Carly was reading the Hilde book with Vivian when Jeff said “Guess who’s home?” As Colin ran towards the front of the house yelling “Mama! Mama!” August suddenly came around the corner the other way, and also shouted “Mama! Mama!” Luckily, they didn’t run into each other. It was 8:05.

I took a shower, then Carly had Vivian and August making art out of things from recycling while I played with Colin. Things went downhill though with the art, and August started needing the same things that Vivian had. When he got really upset over a spoon Carly had cut out of cardboard, I scooped him up and took him to the bedroom.

I talked about going on an adventure of our own. At first I included Carly, but when I mentioned a dada/Zinnie adventure he was excited about that, then when he was out of the bedroom with Carly he seemed excited about going without her.

So I got us ready to go and we were driving away by 11. I asked about a word of the day, and he thought about it for a minute and said “Melancholy”. I think he mis-pronounced the first syllable the first time, but he had simply remembered it from the one or two times Carly had said it a few days ago as a possible word of the day. So I defined it for him later, and used it several times during the day.

He decided he wanted to go to a coffee shop, then a park. We got to Stroudsburg and the first problem was parking. I didn’t have any coins, and beyond the coin parking it was all permit parking only. Eventually parked in the KFC parking lot. Walked across only to find that the first possibility, The Cure Cafe, was crazy busy due to brunch. Just to the east then was Sweet Creams Cafe. But they had a sign on the door saying they were taking a break from today through Thursday.

We got back in the car and I headed east, figuring to try Brodhead Brew near Dansbury Park, the park we were planning on. But it was simply closed. Didn’t get close enough to see if there was a sign. August was now set on Starbucks. I did see a coffee and bagel place, but he wanted Starbucks.

So we went and parked behind Starbucks. I said we were going to go in and get change. I knew he was going to not be happy about leaving the car as it was, but then I reached into the pocket on the door and found a single dime. 15 minutes. We went in and ordered: August got a chocolate milk, I got a vanilla iced coffee, and we got a vanilla yogurt and a fruit bar. We waited for my drink and claimed a table, then went back out and put a quarter in for an hour. Perfect timing, as it was on the last minute.

He asked what yogurt was from and we discussed it, and he then called it milk. When I called it yogurt he said “From the cow’s perspective it’s actually milk, right?” I don’t know how a cow would actually feel about it, but it was a good use of ‘perspective’.

We sat and ate and drink. The bar was too tart for him. He wasn’t impressed by the yogurt either, as it wasn’t very sweet either, but he ate about half of it. He had drunk the chocolate milk while on the other side of the table, then came and sat in my lap while he ate the yogurt. We then got out his iPad and played the Intro to US Montessorium app. The first set of states included Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, then he played part of the second set.

We went and got the bathroom code and he got to type it in at the door. He went to the bathroom, then saw the Braille on the baby changing table. He said he made a camera that could read Braille (like how my phone reads QR codes, I think). We talked a little about Vivian, although he didn’t want to talk bout it much. He said something about not liking how she is better at everything.

We got our stuff, threw way our garbage, and headed out the front. Walked out the front door at 1:15 and around the block. He asked about what coins the parking meters accept, and said “Maybe I should invent a parking machine that accepts every coin in the world.” As we got to the car he said “So that dime was useful.”

We looked at the geocaching maps and he now wanted to do that first. We chose the first one, which was at Bryant Park, actually in the little free library.  August wanted to hold the phone, and watched the map as we got close to the green circle. He excitedly started telling me to stop here as I got to the park.

We parked and went in, and I found the cache in a hollowed-out space in a book called Inside the House of Cash. He set it on a rock on the ground and explored all the little things in it. There was a bus card in there with barcodes, etc on it and he pretended to scan the different parts, and each would have a message. A couple he made up were: “Thank you for finding this geocache. Come back again…” “Thank you. We hope you like all the flowers in this town.” There were also different things painted on rocks around the flower garden, and he had me read them to him. Some said things like ‘Mum’, while others were the names of plants. One was a “In memory of…” so I mentioned the one next to it might be a name as well: Aralia Cordata. But he realized that a painting of a leaf on it looked like the plant that was next to it and said it was the name of the plant. He was correct.

Finally, he went across to the park and looked at the big globe. He went around it, and sang a couple songs about airplanes flying around the world.

We then got going again, and headed back towards the house and looked for three geocaches all along the east fork of Martins Creek. We started at the south, and stopped along the road by the bridge. We crossed the road to where the cache was supposed to be, and spotted a big snake curled up under some branches a couple feet from me. Didn’t try to figure out what it was, and kept our distance. We looked for 10 minutes or so. Also saw a bunch of bones that I am guessing were a deer, and a lovely view of the stream.

We gave up on that one, and went to one on the next bridge north. More success here, as we found the magnetic case attached to the back side of the railing in a post. Signed our names (and Smokey), then headed north once more for the last one. This one was also supposed to be magnetic and had been recently found. But we couldn’t find it. He was disappointed about that, and now wanted to go a park, or at least do more geocaching. But there weren’t any close to us. He settled for a Zinnie drive, although I did most of the direction choosing. He sat, snacking on the cereal mix. We drove in a circle, south, then to the west and back around to the house.

We got back at 3:40. He had me programming him again to go all the way to the house and inside. Carly asked if he was ungrateful and he said “I’m full of snacks.” Carly took over programming him. He ate snap peas and watched Vivian play Magnus Kingdom. Earlier, as we looked for a coffee shop, he had asked “Why does Vivian and Colin’s house have so many trucks?” I said because Colin loves trucks. He said “But Vivian doesn’t.” Then, he had, on his own, the idea that they should give away some of the cars and trucks. He now told Cassie his plan: “Every time he gets a new one they should give a broken truck away.”

Carly and I decided to take the kids on a walk to the other side of the ‘lake’. But it was a downhill spiral. It started well enough, with August and Vivian pulling Colin in the wagon. But once we got on the trail, August started running. He was really happy about running in front. But Vivian saw him and took off after him. Once she caught up, she wouldn’t let him get ahead anymore. I was pulling Colin in the wagon, then mostly with Colin as we stopped and ran around in the grass, then went down into part of the drained lake. I knew August was trying to find the same number of shells and flowers, etc. as Vivian, but didn’t realize it was such a problem until he said he could never have as many as Vivian, and I then heard her say she had 11 things.

We started heading back, Vivian and Colin in
the wagon. Vivian got a little upset when she dropped one of her flowers on the ground. August was happy for the moment, running in front. But then she got out and grabbed the flower, then started running in front. She passed him, and he started yelling to her. She wouldn’t let him catch up, so I yelled at them both to stop. I made him get in the wagon and Vivian had to walk with Carly.

Back at the house, Colin got the drum and was hitting it loudly, much to Vivian’s chagrin. So I took it outside with him, along with a xylophone and harmonica. Vivian came out a minute later as I was drumming and asked if she could drum. I handed her the sticks, then turned to the xylophone. A few seconds later, Vivian disappeared with the drum, taking it back inside.

When Colin and I came in at 5:25, August was in the bedroom, seemingly grumpy. I went in with him for a minute, but then Vivian ran in and they started playing together. Cassie had made spaghetti for dinner, so we ate that. Vivian saw the artwork from earlier, and one of August’s pieces was stuck to one of her pieces. She got upset with him, but I pointed out that August wasn’t even in the room when the artwork was put away. He was upset that she now wasn’t going to play with him, and she was having difficulty saying sorry. And a bit later she was playing Magnus Kingdom on her iPad and he was watching. When she was stuck she asked Cassie for help. August got really excited and said that he could help her. When she refused his help he completely melted down and we grabbed him and took him to the bedroom.

He played Magnus Kingdom with Carly, then Green Planet. I played some Green Planet with him, then Vivian came in and wanted to play it with him. I wouldn’t let them, because a.) there’s no educational value and b.) I didn’t see it ending well.

It started raining hard, and they went out and watched rain from gutter together. Back in the kitchen, Cassie said something about the supply of food running out. August heard this and was concerned, asking a couple times: “Why are the food supplies running out?”

I went to do some work, on an entry about the environmental effects of the occupation, and they ended up playing on the iPad together. When I came out Vivian was doing all the playing, but August assured me they had been playing together and he was still having fun and learning.

Carly gave them a bath and played the tea game. When he came out he requested to be a superhero in his towel. Carly and Cassie had put in the window screen and we tried out the window fan but it wouldn’t work. While Carly went to ask Cassie, August and Vivian examined it together and cuddled on the bed, then snuck out on the porch, where the other adults seemed to have been hiding. When Cassie came in to look at it he said “Here’s my evidence…I pushed every single button and nothing happened.”

Carly brushed his teeth. He wore his s’mores shirt as it was warm tonight.

She read Two Dogs In a Trenchcoat to August and Vivian. They were laughing a lot. She stopped when August was too silly. He was in a good mood though.

I went in with him about 9:30. We did the world clock and timer and I sang some songs. I left at 10 when he requested mama. He was asleep a few minutes later.

He was up at 8, shortly after Colin (who had slept a full 12 hours). Colin was excited about seeing August, who was still waking up. Carly made him oatmeal for breakfast. He ws then curled up in one of the butter chairs, and Colin crawled up next to him. They then played with the big container of trucks and vehicles. There had been annoying houseflies around until Jeff got up and killed them all with his salt gun.

August wanted to play the Nancy Drew app, so I bought the rest of it. Colin and Vivian came and played with him until Cassie and Jeff and Colin went to the YMCA. August and Vivian kept playing. Perhaps the start of the day’s troubles, as Vivian was controlling the iPad and taking over the game, although August wasn’t complaining. I took a shower, then had them stop. August said “Let’s play the bouncy ball game where we close the door and mama freaks out, okay?” He had Life cereal and soy milk. More playing around, and he spilled the crumbs of cereal and we got out the vacuum cleaner.

We decided to head to a park, and chose Pennico Park in Bangor. Talked to Jeff and Cassie, who he left the YMCA and were on their way to the store, and the plan was to meet us at the park.

Things started to go downhill once we got in the car. August picked up the tape measure, but Vivian took it from him, saying it was hers. Carly said 5 minute turns, but when we got to Pennico Park at 11:40 Vivian walked around carrying it so he couldn’t have it.

August had me program him to walk the black edging of the playground. Vivian called him over and they played around, although she still wouldn’t share the tape measure. August went and cuddled with Carly and Vivian played with a toddler (Scarlet) and her parents. Carly had him do some running challenges and then when they went and asked Vivian for the tape measure she gave it to him. August said “Let’s measure something together.” He found a rubbery bit on the ground and said “At the Shmorgadeboop playground, the surface was that material.” We went on the swings and he said “I know what the word of the day can be: individual.” A balloon artist came by, he was friends with the couple, and made something for Vivian. He asked if August wanted one and August bluntly said “No”. He was afraid of it popping or blowing away outside.

We left at 12:20. I was thinking we have 9 more hours of this. Cassie and Jeff had gone home instead of to the park since they were hungry. August went downstairs with Cassie and the kids and Cassie gave him a good tour. He had a slice of pizza for lunch. Cassie had been on the phone talking to Claremay for her birthday. August wanted to use the phone to talk to someone, so I asked to use it, and we called my parents. My mom answered, and August said “Hi Gramma, it’s August”. He asked her a few questions, mainly bout whether she was doing a good job feeding the birds and squirrels. So cute. He asked about Grampa, and mom put him own. He asked him if he was working on fixing the car that was making that noise.

After a couple minutes he just hung up. He then agreed to skype with them, but when we did Vivian was wanting to get in on the action and August started saying his bad words and didn’t want to talk. Vivian also started cranking cars on the track, so I hung up.

Vivian and August had a good moment together and decided to do another plat together. Carly and I watched the matinee performance, as Cassie was trying to put Colin asleep. Colin didn’t go to sleep, and instead came down and August watched Sarah and Duck with him. Then, August and Vivian did a second performance for us all. I heard August talking to Colin about why Sarah and Duck wasn’t loading. He then wanted me to answer Colin’s questions about why the next Sarah and Duck wasn’t loading, but I was rather confused, as Sarah and Duck was now playing, and I don’t think Colin was actually asking any questions.

Vivian has a science cook book and she and August looked at it. We were then going to go to Columcille. Carly told August he was going to the bathroom first. Vivian raced in to use the bathroom first, and August got upset. I took him in the bedroom and we talked about it. He had wanted to go and say more mean things to her, but he eventually calmed down and apologized to her.

So we went to Columcille. Problems started right away when August didn’t like that Cassie’s car got there before us. Then, the actual walking. Or really more like sprinting, as Vivian led us from one place to another. The longest we stayed at one spot was the bell, which he had fun hitting. But then ran us to the pond, then to the castle, then along the path. “No running” then turned into a fast skip, etc. And August wasn’t handling it gracefully. We ended up back by the bell, and August found what looked like a “poop flower”. That was a good moment, as he got to teach her about those flowers we have in Israel, related to celery, that have a dark spot in the middle, which he says looks like poop. Then something else happened and I decided it was time to take him back.

Good timing, as it started raining, and everyone followed me. We were back to the house at 4:50. He had some ‘separate time’ with Carly and they read a book. Carly had made coconut curry for dinner, and we ate that. A new favorite.

He then got up on the stool to get down the solar-powered flower thing from the windowsill, which he’s done several times. He then went to take it outside and Vivian got upset and forbade him from taking it down in the future. We worked that out, then Vivian welcomed him and shared the task of hiding the strawberries in the hide and seek muffins.

He then  helped me out away the rest of the dishes from the dishwasher. He found a butter knife, but said “I’m developed enough to carry a single butter knife.” Jeff had come back with a load of rocks, so he went out with Vivian and Colin to see the rocks. They came back and ate a muffin, then he played with the cash register with Colin. Carly read Hilde to August and Vivian, and I played hide and seek with Colin (he actually hid inside, in the living room closet) and went up and read to him in his room. Three or four books.

We heard August upset. Colin immediately got up, grabbed a book, and wanted to take it to August.

I switched with Carly. After a couple minutes he explained that Vivian had said he couldn’t be in a newspaper, or make one. The Hilde book is about a girl who has a newspaper, and Vivian said she had been in a newspaper before. August, of course, hasn’t been, and wanted to be. Not clear why she said he couldn’t. When he was calm enough again he had me program him like the Nancy Drew dog (again). I directed him around the living room, then into the bedroom, where Vivian was, and commanded him to play with her.

Jeff had made lemon cookies, and he got to taste Carly’s. He was then upstairs with Vivian. He next was walking down the stairs, calling me and Carly things: “Mama’s an iPad, Dada’s a book group…” But it turned into mean words. Vivian was playing Khan Academy Kids, which I had told Cassie bout, so August played a little Magnus Kingdom. Vivian wouldn’t let him watch her wash her hair so we played Mobster Learn until she was done and he could get in the bath.

Carly did the poop tea game and washed him. He wanted a lemon cookie, so ate carrot to earn it. I marked the carrot with a knife and he ate more than that. He and Vivian then each had a lemon cookie, then Carly came in and cut up the watermelon. Sadly, who was getting more watermelon turned into another competition. Mainly August’s fault, but Vivian wasn’t helping by immediately asking for more whenever August asked for more.

I took him in the bedroom and we talked again. He requested Carly for tooth brushing. She did that, and we switched again, with me coming in t 9:15. We set up the world clock again and talked about that and I sang some songs. Carly cme back in when he was ready a
nd he fell right to sleep, about 9:40.

He was up at 8:30, before the other two. I let him watch something on Netflix, and he saw Captain Underpants. I let him watch it, but Carly didn’t like the idea of that. He agreed to watch Magic Treehouse instead. When Colin and Vivian were up we played with the garbage truck with Colin. They went outside to the swings and I took a shower.

When I got out, they had come back with Jeff toget sunglasses. He had. Big piece of slate that he was gong to hammer apart for them. Did that, then Jeff got an musing wrong number call from someone who thought he was Larry and had seen his he’d going into a store. They then did smoke fireworks and snakes. Vivian and Colin had fun running and dancing around in the smoke, but August kept a respectable distance. I then pushed Colin and August around in the pink Jeep. Vivian and Augist did Pop-Its and Carly prepared hot dogs.

We ate, then they were jumping off the bed. we got ready to go, and Carly and I (Cassie had worked last night) took the three kids to Weona Park in Pen Argyl. We got there at 12:20. I mainly pushed Colin in a swing, and he spotted all sorts of trucks on the roadway. Vivian went and met the puppy named Haze. August played around with Vivian, then had apple for snack. And then went in a little swing next to Colin.

We were brave and took the three kids to Weis to do some grocery shopping. Went pretty well, although Carly had to take August out near the end. I’m not sure what he was upset about. She had taken Vivian and August to the bathroom, and I had pushed Colin around in a cart and got several of the groceries. We found the toy cars at the end and Colin chose orange. I took Vivian and August to the little machines with their quarters. August chose the sour fruit candy one and Vivian helped him turn it. She then asked if she could have some. I said yes, but before I could explain she could have some of August’s, she put her quarter in the same machine. So, a lot of candy.

Colin didn’t fall asleep on the way back to the house. Carly, Vivian, and August went and made fruit and veggie juice in the juicer, Jeff took Colin, and I did some editing. Cassie came down. We were filling the blow-up pool, and August and Vivian disappeared upstairs. They came down with pictures for Carly and Cassie. Vivian had just learned that it was their birthday. August gave Cassie a hug as a present.

Colin got in the water and August stood in it a bit. Vivian brought out a son art kit and she and August did art together. Colin got out and wanted to do art, so I got the other machine and he and I did several pictures. Inside, Colin was acting sick. He kept saying “Colin sick”. I would pretend to take care of him. August brought in a cucumber and Cassie cut it up and he and Vivian ate it. He helped take care of Colin, giving him medicine.

I went and did some work. They made pizzas, and the kids got to put toppings on their own little pizzas. I came out and had dinner. Vivian and August then played out in the sand box. Colin fell asleep nice and early. Vivian wanted to show August the little pears, but he didn’t have shoes on. So she started carrying him across the grass. They got to a stone less than halfway. He decided he wanted shoes. Got shoes and they played out there a bit.

They ended up inside, playing on our beds. They closed the door on me. I went out and, carrying my tea, did a little walking down by the lake. It turned out they had been working on a play. They called us in and we watched. They acted out Humpty Dumpty. August was Humpty Dumpty.

They took a bath together. I did the tea game with them today and washed him. The four of us went outside to catch fireflies. August had found a big beetle earlier. Anyway, we watched bats coming out of the house, and I pointed out Jupiter and Venus. The two kids played around with the astronomy app on my phone, and seemed to be understanding it a bit more, both of them.

I went in because of mosquitoes. Carly looked at photos on my phone, so then August and Vivian did the same. I brushed his teeth. He said the word of the day was ‘intro’. August, Vivian, and I looked out the windows at the insects flying in the lights of the park and the bats eating them. Vivian had said earlier that she’d never seen that.

I left August and Carly at 10:35 and he fell asleep soon after.

He was up at 9:20. Greeted by the kids. He came out to nurse, but went straight to the car track instead. He had Life cereal and soy milk for breakfast. I took a shower. They played with the cars on the track, and Cassie got out another long track that they made start at the sliding door. She was then dealing with the lack of internet, as it wasn’t working at all. They would reset something over the phone, then it went out again. Later, a guy came by and did something and it was working better for the rest of the day.

August remembered the wireless headphones, so he listened to those a bit from my phone. They had gotten out the pink plastic Jeep. Colin soon had trouble sharing that. August had an English muffin, then went back to playing with the cars.

Cassie left to go to the store. Vivian found August’s hand-cranked fan and asked, “Where did you get this fan, August?’ He replied, “In Korea. I choose-ed it in a shop.”

Carly and I took the kids out to the garage. August tried out the three-wheeled scooter, but declared it “should be for 5-year olds.” I pushed August around in the pink Jeep. Vivian fell on her scooter and scraped her chin (adding to the scratches she got from falling in the blackberry bushes while riding a bike at the island). She had been wearing  helmet and knee and elbow pads. August said “She should have a neck protector.”

Someone mentioned popsicles, so we went in and they each had one. August was happy because “I got the only pink one.” The mail came, so they went across with Carly to get it. There were a couple packages in there.

Back inside, they ate together and Vivian explained decomposition to them and told Colin he would die too. August told them about the time he got the mail: “Once at Ruby and Cedar’s house, there was tons and tons of mail and I threw it on the porch.”

Cassie was back at 12:50.I helped bring in groceries and Carly put them away while Cassie took Colin upstairs. Vivian and August played in the toy area. The guy from Frontier came about the internet. I then went in to work. I heard an exchange between Colin and August that went:

Colin: “Hi, Ryan!”

August: “I’m not Ryan!”

And repeated until August was yelling it. Also, there was a music box. Colin had it, and Vivian wanted it. August added “And I love music boxes!”

We then all went to Target. Had also thought of the park out west of there, but we were running late. Colin fell asleep, so Cassie stayed in the car. Vivian had a 20 dollar gift card, and 10 dollars cash, and she volunteered to share it all with Colin and August. Very nice of her, although I didn’t see it ending too well.

Inside, I went to find the luggage and Carly looked with them. Vivian found a Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser, and August wanted the exact same thing and got upset when we couldn’t find one. I took them to the candy aisle, then across the store after we talked to a sales associate. No luck. Back in the toy area, Carly remembered that Vivian wasn’t supposed to get candy. Vivian agreed to return it. They then looked at toys. About the first thing Vivian found was some Nom Noms thing that looked like a snow cone. But apparently wasn’t edible at all. August insisted on the same thing. I found a Star Wars Lego droid for 7 dollars, but August wasn’t swayed.

We then drove a bit to the north, to Big Pines Park, which wasn’t much more than a baseball field. They sat on the grass and had a snack and I looked around, finding a not-too-exciting path to the south. We left without them playing, although they might have spent sometime in the dry creek bed.

At the house Vivian and August did their Nom Nom things. Kind of an archeological thing, which was kind of fun, but hardly worth the 9 dollars. Carly made them grilled cheese and artichoke, and we cut the sandwiches in triangles. They watched a show while they ate.

I took Colin and August out to the swings. August took the cash register, and Colin took a big blue car. Vivian and Carly came out as well. Carly and I kicked a blue ball around. Colin was stealing the ball and throwing it on the parking area. He called Carly ‘Ata’, which I don’t think he’s done. Vivian had me take down a swing and put up her trapeze instead. August called it “poopy” and she got upset. She came back out and we kicked the ball around, sort of playing games. August picked it up once, said “Zap you!” and put it back down.

We went in at 8:30 for ice cream, which they ate on the back porch. Then it was bath time. Carly did the tea game with them. Colin stole the tea infuser when it was his turn and ran out and wouldn’t return it. August was most upset, then Colin was upset when we took it back. I washed August’s hair, which went really well, as he was still talking and playing with Vivian most of the time.

But then Colin and Vivian came running in with their vitamins. I thought we were prepared for this one, as I got his gumi vitamins. But theirs ppeared to have sugar on the outside, so he didn’t like his. He got really upset, and wouldn’t fall asleep with Carly. I went in with him and she took a break. He finally calmed down enough to talk about it, and we talked about getting a substitute, like when Ms. Marion got him honey when he got hurt. We went out but couldn’t find anything, but then Jeff came down and said he could have their vitamins. He was happy with just one. He then went to sleep at 10:20.

Carly was up first, then I got up at 5:35. She woke him up a few minutes later. Took awhile. He didn’t say much, but when she went to brush his hair he said “You can brush my hair on the airplane, if you want.” As we waited for the Lyft to arrive he put on his car vest. He then talked about “Those tiny microscopic hooks”. The velcro.

The Lyft drivers always go to 10th, so it took a little work to get him to find us on 9th, but then we were off. A nice smooth trip after that, especially once I took some Tylenol and my headache went away. Did realize that I forgot my tea stuff (infuser and tea) and the rest of the bag of Canadian coffee at the house.

August sat calmly between us in the taxi. Got dropped off,  tagged our checked bags and released them into the wild, and had a quick trip through security. I was excited to have time at the SubPop store, although not enough. Spent five minutes when I could happily waste a couple hours. I bought me a rainbow SubPop shirt, and August chose pink. Had fun remembering the old SubPop store by the Moore and listening to the Dinosaur Jr. they had on. Only now did I rememberi wanted to visit the KEXP studios. But we never really had time to hang out in Seattle anyway. So next summer. It’s already on the list.

August started to get antsy while waiting at the bagel place. We headed to the N gates, so didn’t see the butt sculptures, as Jeff called them, as they are to the South. But have seen them before. Got to our gate and had our sandwiches. I went and got us drinks at Starbucks. We then went to our gate. August and I went and saw our plane, a 737.

We had a delay waiting to takeoff, but didn’t make us late. He enjoyed takeoff, played a little iPad, then fell asleep. Slept about two hours and awoke at 11:40. Carly sat in the middle and I had caught up on typing, then watched The Last Jedi. I hadn’t realized how long it was and thought I was going to miss the end. I finished a couple minutes before landing though, which felt like a real accomplishment. Of mixed minds on it overall, but enjoyed it and it was better than the prequels. That’s my bar for the franchise. I know it is a low bar, but as long as they stay above it I won’t be uspet. Still need to see the two standalones.

He was sitting on her sweatshirt and she pulled it out from under him. It stretched, and August exclaimed, “Its a geoduck!” On the iPad he played a couple of his new games – one about insects, and a reading one.

We landed at 4:10. He asked, “What country are we in?” A couple minutes later he said, “We’re still taxi-ing.” Deplaned, got the stroller, got the luggage, and then I took him to the bathroom. The slowest part, as the nearest was closed. While Carly went to the bathroom, he spotted two circles on the floor. He said that when you stood on them you could see through things, namely walls. We did that, and he had Carly stand on it before we left.

Jeff picked us up and August was excited to recognize him. In the car he ate from the veggie and hummus thing Carly had bought as we walked through the airport. He said, “Mama, I loved the hummus you buyer!” Looking out the window he said, “I invented a car that drives itself…” We talked about his cars for several minutes. He built it and released it into the wild, then would point it out on the road. He then said that his cars went around, killing animals for people to eat. He also sang a song that went “Bunch of little musicians, screaming into a microphone…” And he played more of the Teach Monster reading app and read some sentences. Then, we played the first chapter of the Nancy Drew mystery/coding app. He really liked it and we’ll need to buy the full thing.

We got to the house and were greeted by the kids and Cassie. We went upstairs and Vivian showed me her Little Passports map and package and I helped her find Japan on the map. We saw Colin’s room, and took a set of tools downstairs. They played in the living room with the tools and the big box of Duplo-sort of things.

Played around the house, shared a hoopla hoop, then headed out to the swings. Vivian and August danced together on the picnic table (Vivian told me how she had helped paint it). It was now dusk, and they had fun finding fireflies. Carly and I took them all for a walk across the parking lot and out on the spit.

Back at the house, Jeff got out the sparklers. August liked them, but wouldn’t hold them. He wanted Carly to do it, but even then just wanted her to drop them so he could watch them lying on the rocks.

Back inside he and Colin played with the car track. August would crank them up for Colin to release around the track. Vivian showed August the superhero towel he could use while he was here. Then they played around on the beds. August wrapped himself up in his coat and Carly’s sweaters. And Vivian wore one of her sweatshirts.

They went up around 11 (also affected from the time change, having just flown from Seattle themselves). Carly and I cleared the room of bugs, mainly mosquitoes. Carly got a firefly though and August wasn’t happy bout that one: “Why’s we kill that nice firefly?”

Carly tried to put him to sleep, but no luck. I went in with him at 11:30. I set up the world clock on his ipad for the night light. He sat and looked at it for several minutes: “Could I watch the clock for eight hours please? Maybe I could sleep here. And when I wanted to watch the clocks I could.” He watched it and I sang “Beautiful”, “Drifting”, and “It was Never the Same”. He asked questions about the map on the world clock and our flight. Carly came in and he was asleep about midnight.

He came down about 7:30. Cuddled with Carly, then sat up and started singing “And a one and a two and a three and a four and a five…” Carly told him about our schedule for tomorrow. Carly was packing and he seemed a bit stressed about packing and upset. I got him playing with the big marble track and we built the first big track out of it while she kept packing. Carly thought she had everything fit in, then realized there was a bunch more downstairs and we’d need to check a second bag.

He had a veggie burger for breakfast. Ate some but spit out a bite at the hint of green pepper. I went and took a shower. I was about to step in when he came up and was loudly asking for his iPad. I helped him find it, then took my shower. When I came down he was finding fossils in the TinyBop Earth app. He was then upstairs building on his own in the playroom for several minutes. Called me in, and had me build a house while he delivered the blocks.

Downstairs we cooked some mushrooms for him and he ate a few. He went back to playing on the iPad. He asked me “What’s circumstances mean?” Never figured out where he had heard the word, as he wouldn’t give me a straight answer: “It was with poopy and butt…Poopy and butt is my famous art teachers.” We declared it the word of the day and I ws able to use it several times.

We put the big marble kit away (and Carly had done a ton of cleaning so that the house would be clean when Derek and family got home) and we left at 11:40.

We walked north and around to an entrance to Carkeek Park. A nice walk down, although without the cousins around he seemed to do less walking on his own. When we got down to the main part of the park we chose to go to the beach first. There we walked over towards the stream and sat on a log facing the Sound and had a snack. We walked over to the stream and he wanted a granola bar. Carly wanted him in the stream with her so she said he could have some after he got in the stream. He was chanting “Stream then bar, stream then bar.”

We had seen a big freight train as we walked down, carrying something that looked like coal or asphalt heading north. He was amazed how long it was, and I joked how we were going to stand there watching until it was done, and acted out us still being there as it got dark and Carly calling us crazy and telling us we had to go. Then, down on the log we saw an Amtrak train go by. As we walked back he stopped on the bridge overlooking the tracks and asked when another train would go by. I think he really wanted to see one from that angle. Waited a couple minutes, but none were coming so we walked on up.

We went up to the concrete salmon playground. He asked “Can I just watch the other kids?” I lay down in the shade, facing the water. Carly sat on a bench and read. He sat on my stomach and watched the kids playing behind me. He did that for quite awhile, and would lean down and whisper in my ear “I’ll tell you a secret…everyone is poopy.” It lasted until he was then saying stuff loud and wouldn’t stop, so we got going. We left at 1:30.

They went to the bathroom, then we started on the trails up to where we had entered with Derek last year, at 117th. He fell. Luckily no red (he screams “Is there any red?”) but still upset. We stopped and they sat on a log. Then when I was carrying him I tickled one of his palms. He said “You haven’t done that in awhile.” But I learned from him that the ticklish feeling on his palms doesn’t go away right when I stop tickling him. He said it still tickled after a few seconds, and told me “Ticklish palms last awhile.”

We got back to the house at 2:20. They were home. August went up to Thatcher’s room with him, then they all ended up in the playroom. They built a big huge pile of stuff. Andrea was with them, but I went up for a minute and saw them hide in the big pile when a monster was coming. Very cute to then see Kayla stand up and make laser noises at it and say the monster was gone.

Then they were out front, finding first rocks that they wanted to break to look for crystals, then rocks that they said were gold. August asked Carly if they were the sort of gold you could trade for money. Carly told him that they were the kind of gold that you could keep and admire. He liked this answer, then repeated it to Thatcher. Kayla was naked and playing in the sandbox cum pool.

Andrea convinced them to go play in the backyard. The shovel went with them. August came inside, hungry, and Derek was about done with veggies and heated Glecy’s pasta. He ate some at the table, with mushrooms added, then we all went outside for dinner. He and Thatcher were having problems saying potty words, so I took August in for a timeout.

I watched them out front as they dug for more gold, then created a stream running next to the driveway. He explained ‘decade’ to Thatcher. Earlier, when they were talking about breaking rocks, August said “There are different ways that things can be strong, you know.” A truck backed down the driveway. The backing sound did its job as August really noticed it and wanted to get out of the way. It was a package delivery for Andrea. I started to take it in to her, but then gave it to Thatcher and August and they took it up to her. Very excited.

They played in the playroom a bit more. August ended up having problems and called me an ‘idiot’. Clearly getting tired, and I switched with Carly. They helped clean up, then August had the option of a bath with the other two kids. He looked at the amount of space available in the tub and chose a bath on his own. Carly bathed him in the other bathtub. We said our goodbyes as we wouldn’t see them in the morning, and he was asleep at 9:10.

He was up right at 8, so I was able to see him before I left at 8:20.

He requested eggs and bacon, but then didn’t eat it when she made it. They got their first taxi at 10 and went to Stephanie’s house. They played inside and he tried sour cherries and a muffin. Cedar, who is two, was being very cuddly and bringing things to Carly. August and Carly had talked about going for a walk, and he asked “Are we going to go for that walk now?” so Stephanie, Ruby, and Cedar went with them for a rock.

They walked to the grocery store/cafe close to them, where we’ve been before. They got tomato carrot bisque and he ate a lot of that, then a fancy banana peanut butter popsicle covered with chocolate and thai iced tea ice cream.

Stephanie said that something was ‘hyperbole’ and August recognized the word but said he didn’t remember what it meant. He then declared “The word of the day should be hyperbole.”

They walked to the little park near her house and played there, then walked back to the house.

August and Carly left and walked to Salmon Bay Park. They sat on a bench and he was happy people watching. There was a day camp group and he noticed that there was one kid that wasn’t paying attention to the counselors. And when the group started to leave he was concerned that that one boy would get left behind. A counselor noticed and got the boy. He then played in sandbox for a long time. He played with another boy, who was about the same age. They pretended the sand was an ice cream shop and that the red bucket was the stomach. They’d eat the ice cream and then dump it in the stomach.

They next went to Grumpy D’s coffee shop. He played with some sort of connector toy things at the table. He had a sparkling water juice. Tried it and said he liked it, but didn’t drink much.

They took a second taxi back, then Glecy came and brought dinner: a pasta dish with goat cheese, basil, sun dried tomatoes, and garbanzo beans. He ate that, and some of her ramen and broccoli.

He played with Glecy for a long time, building things with the blocks upstairs. He had Scrabble out with Carly and had her guessing which letters were turned over. And they played with a marble track set, but he wanted her to put it together. They watered plants together and he ate blueberries. He’d also eaten a carrot during the day.

Earlier in the day Stephanie had sent a photo showing her two kids napping. So about 8:30 August asked “What’s Ruby doing?” And expected to be able to know.

Meanwhile, I drove up to Dee and Grant’s, getting there right at 9. Visited with them and my parents and Paul. When it was clear that Peter was going to be awhile I had some coffee. I gave them the hamsa as a gift. And they gave me the chips from yesterday to take with me.

Peter showed up, with his two kids and Stephanie in the car.. We arrived at the cabin and ate chips and made popcorn with za’atar. We started talking out back, then Stacey showed up a bit later. We did a good job discussing the book. 

Micah and Kasiah were already out in the water. I went swimming and Micah and Peter were in the kayaks. Stephanie jumped off the dock, then she and Kasiah were on the floaties. Peter went up to see about the food and I went on the kayak.

We went up and ate burgers, then Breysse had fudgesicles for us. We sang “Happy Birthday” for him as it was his birthday. Discussed peoples’ summer travels. 

Kasiah needed to get to work at the childcare at the church by 6:30, so we got going about 5, dropping her off about 6. Peter and I talked and ended up downstairs, looking at books. Christine got home, and we all headed over to Taqueria Guaymas. It had been replaced with another Mexican restaurant, Bandidos. Suspicious at first, as there weren’t any cars in the parking lot. We went in and found it was under new owners, etc. Kind of sad for Peter and family as they’ve been going here 15 years and knew the staff.

We ordered (I got a shrimp dish) and Micah researched what happened to the old restaurant. He had some good research skills and talked about evaluating his sources. Turns out the owner had been charged with using tax-evasion software: https://www.heraldnet.com/news/owner-of-tacos-guaymas-restaurants-charged-with-felony-theft/ and https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-files-56m-criminal-tax-theft-case-against-owner-tacos-guaymas

The food was really good, probably better than before. We got an order of churros for dessert. We got an order of tacos for Kasiah and dropped them off to her at the church, then went back to the house. 

He drove me home and I got there right at 9. We did our summer selfie together, then I went in the house and upstairs right as Carly was starting to put August to sleep. He told me “We taked-ed two taxis. Because we don’t have a car for two days. One was cool and the other was super cold.” I said goodnight and he was ready to go to sleep and fell asleep quickly.

I watched Wimbledon and then the World Cup. I stayed in the room so Glecy could sleep until Carly got up. Glecy was already getting up when we came out. August was up at 8:15, and we had some of the jack fruit and coconut dessert that Glecy made. August played Gro Recycling and GroForest with Thatcher. And Glecy did Vivian’s hair. August walked over to Cherie at one point and asked her for a hug. I took a shower. When I came out, all the kids got honey treats from Glecy.

Derek and Andrea and the older kids had left for a walk. We got ready to go and were ready about 10:30. August had started working on a Lego helicopter set with Jeff and was having a lot of fun, so we waited until it was close to finished. August then agreed to leave. As we picked up the last of the stuff, he said “What about my little backamapack?…that was in the closet?” And ran in to check for it. Cherie picked him up outside, and asked if he’d be nice to Vivian and Thatcher at their houses. He took some time, then said  “No”.

We left right at 11. I gave him the peach-flavored Pororo drink that Glecy had given to me for him. He rememebered Pororo, then a minute later said, “I remember Korea!” We tried Piano Maestro, which he’s been requesting i play for a couple days, but you need internet to make the background music work. We realized there was a toll on the Tacoma Narrows going eastbound, so we took the route through Olympia.

He played the TinyBop Nature app. We stopped at a Shell station for gas. I took him in to find the bathroom and he suddenly threw up as I held him. All over the floor and my feet. I took him out and Carly went in to try to clean up, but the woman was already mopping. Waited for the bathroom fro a few minutes as there was only one. A woman was also waiting, and asked if my wife wanted to by any jewelry. Gave up after five minutes and drove across the street to Albertsons. Used and cleaned up in their bathrooms, then we got salsa and wine for the party.

We talked about snacks in the car, and he said of Cheerios “Well that’s for when I count to a million.” He had some apple and the rest of those rabbit cookie things (which had been the quiet cookies). He said “Cookies is always eaten in a line.” I didn’t know what that meant, but Carly said it was from that tablet game he plays with Cherie. He was then singing the Twilight Sad song from his playlist for the first time “We danced to save them all, we tried to save them all…”

We arrived at 2:40. Before my parents. Dee showed him the gel candle he had liked last summer. He got some on his fingers and it was hard to wash off. He said “Let’s watch some baseball.” He went around playfully hitting Darrin, Grant, and Cailen with drink coasters. Dee or Mom asked him how long he will grow his hair. He responded, “Years and months.” Dee dropped some popcorn, and he was a vacuum cleaning it up.

My parents were there at 3:10. August told them, “Come watch baseball.” When he was lying on the floor and someone joked about stepping on him he said, “I’m not a rug, I’m a person.” Darrin and Grant went to get pizza, which was 50% off since Darrin works at Boeing. August played chess with Carly and dad and then Paul. Mom and Dad had brought a box of toys for him. He kissed Carly on the arm and said “I was giving you a slobbery kiss.” He wanted to teach Dee chess, and he played with the fan with Cailen, describing all the speeds to her. Also, he doesn’t like fans to oscillate, so always stopped it from doing that.

He played with the puzzle piece building blocks with Carly and she said it was a good stress relief activity. He replied, “But then you get more stressed when it falls apart…”

Pizza arrived and we dished up and went and ate out in the yard. He was using his potty words and I told him to stop, and he said, “Okay, but that rhymed.” As we sat outside eating, a leaf fell on grant and he said “that stupid leaf”. August said, “Uh-oh, someone said stupid.” And thought Grant should have a timeout. Everyone thought that was pretty funny.

He played some Gro Recycling, then Dee brought out the anniversary cake for my parents’ 50th. He was really excited by that. He had some cake, then shared some with Carly, then was touching the frosting. Eventually he was entranced, using the extr frosting to coat his hands. He called it his “creation”, then when I asked him what it was on video he said, “art…frosting art.”

Carly got the squirt guns and they watered the bushes. August made sure to spray towards the roots of the bushes. When I was in the house once he just came walking past me and continued on to the bathroom without saying anything to me. I did go with him, and he liked the decorations in the bathroom. We were looking at the stars and hearts. He said, “You know when stars line up in a picture? I think the horse is a constellation.”

Dee brought the cake in, and a minute later my dad caught him walking in and finding it and getting some more frosting: “I spotted it!” He did some  Legos on the floor with Carly, then Cailen and Darrin left. We left at 7. He said, “Bye bye everyone. Bye uncle Paul.” And gave high fives. We did family photos and Carly said she’d pick him up. He said, “That makes me cuter. The higher I am, the cuter I am.”

While we were driving he sang more of his “Open the mailbox, open the mailbox, throw the ball” song. He was getting sleepy and watched some Sarah and Duck. We stopped at QFC to get some food for the next couple days and for my book group meeting (popcorn for the za’ater, hard cider from Chelan).

We got to the house and he first went in Thatcher’s room. In the playroom we played with the cash register and worked on counting change. He had the stuffed rattlesnake and asked “What happens if you tease a rattlesnake?”

Downstairs he had some Cheerios and milk. I then got him ready for bed. We looked at the hand-me-down Thatcher clothes a bit and decided they should do all of it tomorrow. We put the sheets on the bed (we were staying in the guest room/office this time, not Kayla’s room), then I sang him 4 songs. He wanted Carly for going to sleep. On the way down he was talking to all the photos hanging in the stairwell, saying, “Hey Kayla. Hey Aunt Andrea, hey Thatcher on a truck…”

They went back up at 10:20 and he was soon asleep.

Hauling the floaty: