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He was up at 7:56 and was Carly’s shadow through the morning. I read a little Garfield to him, then he turned off the lights and tested his light-up shoes by hitting them on the floor. He wanted to wear them, but then agreed to wear his clean crocs, which Carly had washed for him. We headed out for a walk, the three of us, at 9:15.

We walked over to the Artisanal Bakery. We all shared a piece of quiche and a mixed berry scone. Well, August had most of the scone. Carly and I shared a large latte. Alas, no men’s shirts in stock. I’ve been meaning to buy one.

Carly downloaded a geocaching app (the tour guide had mentioned geocaching to us, and we’ve been meaning to try it with him). He liked the idea, and the first one was over at Centennial Park above the ranger station. The clue was 4+3, so August walked around until he found the 7 on an electrical box. The next part took us longer, but we found the fake pine cone under the edge of the concrete block. Carly signed the paper in it, then he put it back.

He wanted more. Next was one up by a pond next to what used to be the Whaley Mansion. Found that one on the bench and I signed it. He wanted a funny name, so we also included Smokey and Shmorgadeboop. Carly had a phone call with Glecy while we looked around. August found a Lego flag on the ground and we included that in the container for the cache. Next up was one down in Riverwalk Park. We walked over to the new bridge and under it, then found it attached to the bottom of a bench. Signed that the same way, then headed home. August wanted to keep finding, but there weren’t anymore closes.

We were home at 11:45. August picked some weeds and added them to the little bucket of dead flowers from yesterday and composted it all. Inside I heard him asking Paul for more cans he could crush. I took a shower. Afterwards, he was sad that there was sand in his squirt gun. He was also hungry but refusing food options. He loved corn when he first had it, but has decided he doesn’t like having it stuck in his teeth and refuses to eat it. Carly got him to eat some of her leftover noodles though and he was a happy boy. 

Grampa then took him to explore the garage. They tested batteries, he put another screw in the cardboard box, and they started to take the cedar trunk apart using the electric drill and a philips head bit. Dad measured him with the tape measure and taught him to answer “What are you up to?” with “Forty inches.” And with the batteries he was teaching him black was negative and went with the minus sign and red was positive and went with the plus sign.

My parents, Paul, and I then went to Walmart. We looked at tablet computers for them and got groceries for dinner and banana splits and I got some random things: a bicycle helmet for him (a Paw Patrol one that matches his shoes), a new snack bag (Carly is making me throw away the one from Korea), and a few others.

We were back at 4. Mom called him Z and said she was G, and I was D. I was going to take August geocaching, Mom decided to go with us, and August told her “Put your shoes on, G.”

We first went to one at the turnoff for the old Chelan Fall bridge. We had fun finding that one. It’s too bad though that they have blocked off even the viewpoint now, as August would have liked to have seen the river.

We then went down to Beebe Springs. The first one was supposed to be an easy one in the parking lot. We looked for a good amount of time with no luck. We then went to look for a second one a thousand feet to the north. Along the path there was a rock with animal tracks painted on it. August climbed on, pretending to be a raccoon. He held the phone on the way to the next one as we walked. We found the location, but as we looked around August scratched the inside of his knee on a stick and it was bleeding.

He was upset about that. He wanted to go find the one in town, but in the car he fell asleep at 5:35. We headed home and I woke him up down in the bedroom at 5:45. He was resisting being woken up. His eyes were closed but he was resisting me moving his leg so I could wipe it with a wet tissue. And he gave me a grunt. I was asking him questions and asking him for thumbs up or thumbs down. I said to grunt if he wanted me to leave him alone and he grunted. Eventually though I bribed him awake with one of the cookies I’d taken but we hadn’t eat on the trip.

As he ate his cookie he told Carly “Mama, white chocolate is good. You should start having it.” He had a timeout after he sort of hit her, then he came up and was grumpy and blaming me for his scratch: “You did hurt me…you had the idea…” He threw a wooden coaster on the floor and Carly took him back down.

We had burgers and chicken patties and hot dogs and corn on the cob and watermelon for dinner. I did the barbecuing, with my dad. We also did tofu for August, and he complimented me on how I cooked it. I usually do it too hard for him, but he complimented me for it being nice and squishy.

He had the idea of putting watermelon in his leftover milk, then some flowers. Then of blending it. Carly went inside with him and they did it. August said it was really good and everyone should try it. He walked by and threw Chester, the stuffed bear on the floor, and asked “Why do I throw Chester on the ground all the time?” Paul said that was one of the great philosophical questions.

I agreed to take him outside for a short garage exploration before his bath. We clamped a pipe and he worked on it, tested one battery, and when I said we couldn’t do something right now he said “Not until next year?” And I held him up to use the bird knocker that Roger Niman had made. On the way in the house he spotted the fishing float that Dad had found at Beebe Springs. August wanted to put it in the fishing box, which Dad had mentioned. I told him after a bath, but we forgot.

Had his bath at 7:30. I washed his hair and it went pretty well. I used the baby shampoo this time, but August objected to that: “I’m not a baby… I’m not a little kid!” Going back inside he got indignant when I called him ‘buddy’: “you called me a butt…buddy counts…mama got upset once when I called her buddy.” He was probably saying ‘butty’.

It was time for the final celebration: banana splits. Mom taught us how to properly make a banana split, using the Meadowmoor banana split bowls. I think it goes without saying that August loved it. The three of us shared one big split and he asked for refills on everything. While Carly got him some he said “I see ice cream surface tension. Ice cream surface tension is really cool. But I’m eating it.” And he asked “Gramma, next year in your house can we make banana splits again?” He had three cherries.

We went and played Magnus for awhile. In the bedroom I had the closet open and he said “Cindy is in the closet!’ It was my dad’s coon skin cap. He then wore it as we went upstairs to say goodnight. Dad talked about when he had gotten the hat. August saw someone on TV that looked like Paul, and he asked them why they didn’t have jobs on TV. They then talked about the times they were on TV.

He just hung out with them for awhile, kind of laying on Mom. He told her “You’re smaller than grampa. That’s why you can’t fix stuff.” Dad said he can’t make apple pie. To which August said “Why, cuz you haven’t learned it?…Maybe you’ll put a bunch of baking soda in it…make it puff up.”

Back downstairs he asked Paul to moisturize the soap while he is gone. Basically, he likes the bar soap to always be wet. Paul said he would. August said “If he can do it, I can give him love.” A few minutes later when he said good night to him he said “Good night, love heart…love.” I left August and Carly at 9:55.

I read, typed, updated the blog, and watched the entire Sweden versus Switzerland match while August still slept. Carly had tried to wake him up a couple times but he would go back to sleep. We finally woke him up at 9:30. About the first thing he said was “Can I have a cookie?” Then, after I said we were going to have breakfast first, he reasoned “Next year I’ll ask Gramma to make apple cookies…with chunks…So I can have a cookie whenever I want.”

Upstairs he and Carly played a little chess, then the pancakes and bacon my parents made were ready and we had breakfast. In the middle of breakfast, he remembered the beer can that he’d asked Paul to save for him to crush. He asked, and luckily Paul had a few soda cans downstairs that needed crushing. They crushed the cans together. August wanted more syrup, and was eating a baby carrot to earn it, but he decided he didn’t want more syrup, but ate most of the carrot anyway.

He took out the compost, then played a game of solitaire with my mom. He then watched Dad spray the bees nest, then I got his car seat moved and the car packed. We had realized we might not get our car back until Thursday morning, so Carly hurried the car up to Les Schwab. Luckily, they weren’t busy, and were very fast, and she was back quickly. Already had the X-Type packed though so we still took that.

While we waited, he had watched some soccer with Paul, then played with the ship models up on the shelf. He took. Smaller one and said “This is a submarine trying to sink that ship, alright?” He then acted it out. Dad had been watching a black and white movie last night or a couple days ago and August had asked what was happening and that’s what dad explained.

We got driving and stopped at Wells Dam at 12:30. We just looked at the displays there. August really liked a button that he would push and it would play rock music and show a video of construction in the dam. August would dance to it. He also had some story where he was explaining “Now the propellor is covering up the entire world.” As we started to leave, August called everyone by name to make us stop and explained that the music was on (“I just buttoned it!”) and he wanted to stay and didn’t know how much longer it was. I picked him up and we went and listened to a little more, then he was okay with leaving.

We got to Chief Joseph and went through their odd security setup and had about a half hour to wait. We ate some of our lunch and snacks. There were two other groups on the tour, a total of 12 of us. Theresa, our guide, showed up, and it turned out she was the one I had talked to on the phone earlier when I’d finally tracked down a phone number.

The tour was fun, and August loved it. She was a little quiet, and tired, so no Sydney from two years ago, but still good. And she took us around more than two years ago, going out to see the pin stocks and walking much farther down the row of generators. We got to touch a shaft between a turbine and generator, although August was a bit too nervous to touch it himself. He wore a blue helmet during the tour. And tried out the quiet telephone booths.

Finished the tour and had some time to look at the displays. He liked the electric truck she drove us in on and we talked about how it worked. He was very concerned about making sure he had a seatbelt on.

We left there and went across to the fish hatchery. Looked at the dam from there and tried the two numbers on the door for a tour but didn’t get an answer.

We then drove across to Berryman Park in town. It has an old metal play structure from the 80s or before. Two years ago, with a two-year old, it looked insanely dangerous. Now it just looks dangerous. He went on the swings with her, then when she said I had to go on the structure with him, he called “Ryan Niman, stop!” She had told him the sign said ‘Designed for ages 7 and up or accompanied by Ryan Niman’. Went on it a little, then he headed over to the war memorial full of random military equipment with almost no signs. August walked over there, carrying a stick and humming to himself. I mainly carried him as we walked around it.

We ended up at the swings. He asked “What’s the biggest star in the universe?” He ended up swinging and playing on the swings, singing about Rigel-5 and the multiverse. Mom came over and played with him on the swings, putting something on his back.

We then started to head out. He found a piece of metal and asked Grampa if he could do something with it in the garage. August managed to get it all the way home and we left it in the garage by the lathe with the other pieces of metal.

We got driving, and August spent the first 15 minutes serenading us with a song he made up that went “Sidewalk sealant, sidewalk sealant, don’t ever forget about the sidewalk sealant.”

We got to Howard’s at 5:30. When we went in there were containers of candies, and I told him he could have one when we were done with dinner. He was excited, and told the waitress all about it on our way to the table. He was excited about the coloring stuff again, and he ordered the halibut for us. After he ate he was playing iPad under the table. Grampa said something and he said “Grampa! Don’t make fun of me like that!” Carly took him outside as we finished eating, and I saw her laughing as they walked along the path.

In the car on the way home he was dramatic when he dripped some water on himself after drinking from Carly’s water bottle. Made it home though, a little after 7. In the garage he talked about the shock absorbers on the doors, and at some point he mentioned that the back door should be one too. I told him to tell Grampa that but I don’t know if he ever did.

The three of us went for a walk up the hill at 7:30, all the way to our lookout over the hill. As we walked he said he had a machine called the “3 to 2 2000” . It turned 3d objects into 2d objects. A nice walk, but up at the top he had a stick and he couldn’t help swinging it around and almost hitting Carly in the face. She eventually stowed it in the back of the stroller and gave it back to him at the house, at 8:20. He was then in my way and as I tried to maneuver the stroller around him I hit the end of the stick and it broke off a few inches. He decided he didn’t want it anymore and rather casually said “Dada, I’ll never have a stick like that again!”

Carly gave him a bath and quickly took away the next stick he had been playing with, the dowel from Grampa. I watched the end of the World Cup match, the penalty kicks. I came up to wash him, including his hair, but Carly was letting him out of the bath. He had gotten out of a hair washing. He said nice good nights to people, then we got him ready for bed and I left them, around 9:10, I think. I went in at 9:45 to sing to him, then we ended up talking about counting sheep. We changed it to counting fish in the fish ladder. He liked that and we were counting. Occasionally a fish would go backwards and we would subtract one, and sometimes there wouldn’t be any fish for while and we’d stop. Carly came back in, and he explained that to her. I left them at 10:10 and he fell asleep soon after.

They were up a little before 7 and I heard them in the bedroom for awhile. They came up and August stayed with me. We played chess, getting the last of the pawns.

Carly headed to Walmart to get the oil changed on the car and get a couple things. She found out the car needs two new tires and ordered them from Les Schwab. August went to the bathroom and was really silly, dancing around naked in front of the mirror and singing songs. Very random songs. He had some of his cereal mix and we went downstairs for the end of Mexico versus Brazil. August messed with remotes and made shapes out of Tri-Ominos and played with the magnifying glass from Grandpa Dahl’s stuff and the Lincoln Logs. He sang about how fun Lincoln Logs are.

We went upstairs for more food and gave my parents their gifts of the hamsa and AncestryDNA kits. Carly got home. August ate and drank milk and I went to take a shower. They read some Captain Underpants downstairs, finding their Poopypants names, and he watched a couple SciShow Kids videos about space. I got him dressed and they then left for a walk. Before they left he said “Oh boy, our feet smell bad.” Apparently from Captain Underpants. Wanted to play one more round of school with the baby rooster, which is apparently what he does with it on the wooden shelf. Used the Smurf car instead.

They came back from a walk then went to the post office, then got back at 12:20. He played with some empty boxes I’d brought up, then shucked corn with Carly. Had lunch, then we played the chess game together. He said “I’m pineapple squeeze-it.” Not sure where that came from.

We got ready to go to the playground with Mom but found the backpack full of water from the water system so had to clear that out first. We went up to the playground at the elementary school. Started off well. He went up and down the twisty slide, then played on a balance beam several times. He went over to some shaker things, but when he pushed them they spun over the bar they were on and hit him in the head. He wanted to go home, but I got him to eat one of his bars as a snack. He calmed down and we stayed awhile longer, but just at the bench where Mom was sitting. He wanted to head home, but agreed to walk down to the baseball fields.

We walked down there, between the fields, and went down to look for marmots. We spotted one sitting up on a stump on the hill above us, then two running in the treatment plant facilities. I spotted a golf ball for August but he wasn’t too excited about it and threw it down the hillside. He had been putting his head to the side in the stroller from when we left the playground. Clearly tired, and as we walked home he was humming “Always’ by Erasure to himself until he wasn’t and fell asleep a block from the house, at 2:50.

At the house I pushed him around back, then took him out and I lay on the lounge chair with him on me. I read on my phone and he slept on me. I tried to wake him a couple times and let him sleep until 3:25 when we woke him using kettle corn to entice him. I also brought him some water drink.

Carly told him about the book she is reading where it uses the pronoun ‘they’ for one of the characters. He said it was against the rules, of grammar that is. The two of them ended up arguing about galaxies and the universe and multiverse and outer space and which is bigger etc. Carly said he should just end arguments by saying “I’m four.” He replied “Why? Because 4-year olds know most of the stuff?”

I loaded the car with the old TV and electronics and was going to try to find out where to recycle them. August wanted to go with me and went to Carly and said “Hug me one more time.” He kissed her on shoulder. He saw my old phone case sitting on a table and took it with us. He said it was in case I changed my mind about my case.

Couldn’t find the recycle place listed on Google Maps, so we stopped in at Zippy Disposal. A guy told us where the old facility was and we drove out there but no bin outside the gate of the facility which had closed to the public in May.

We were back at 4:40 and August saw bees going in a hole bone the paper box. He walked around the house on his own and told Grampa and then turned on the sprinkler. He and Carly got out the Venus fly trap, then went outside and did some digging in the garden. I went out to find him sitting in the dirt, using water to make mud. But Carly put his hat on him and he decided he was done. He got up and talked about taking off his hat and underwear and shorts. He did that and Carly wiped his legs with a paper towel. He was then having Carly act out Poopypants.

We went down to read the book and he now said “I’m Butt Butt Pineapple Butt.” We read the book and had fun with the name chart. He was hungry and we went upstairs and he said “I want ten grind up crackers.” He tried to convince us that we should grind up crackers in the garage. I let him have two that he could break up himself in a bowl.

Back downstairs we played some more chess and watched the replay of the second half of the Belgium versus Japan match. I had managed to watch much of the match earlier, including the final goal, but had missed the first 4.

Then upstairs for dinner. Left over soy chicken and fajitas, etc. and Mom made chicken nuggets and tater tots. Mom mentioned a project with him after dinner and he wanted to eat a big carrot to earn the project. He had already eaten a big carrot before dinner. We had small carrots on the table and I told him four of those would equal a big carrot. He said “Oh, can I glue together four carrots?” I assured him they didn’t have to be glued.

After dinner, Mom and him made cookies together. He did a great job and they had a lot of fun. When it came to licking the spatula, Mom said they had to go and ask me. He said something like “Dada knows me better. We just come here once a year.” When the first batch was out he got the biggest cookie and ate it with milk. He wanted to deliver one to Uncle Paul so I went down with him. He gave it to Paul and said “Enjoy!”

I gave him a bath and he played by himself for awhile and I was able to read. He saw the caulking on the edge of the tub and we talked about tar versus caulk. Then he said “Those worms that make silicone…” We then talked about silicone versus silk. He asked what silk was like and Mom brought him a silk scarf to feel. He was also hitting me on the back and having me be a little kid complaining about it. Oh, and he stuck the ball in the little cup and knocked it out. Yesterday I taught him how to whack it on the tub to use the momentum of the ball to pop it out.

He went out and helped finish the last batch of cookies. We went down and I read him some Garfield. Carly brushed his teeth and they read some Captain Underpants. I left them at 9:30.

He was up at 8:10. I carried him upstairs. They went downstairs for awhile.

Upstairs we played the chess game and watched soccer. I was going to make scrambled eggs but mom volunteered to do that. I went to take a shower. He had scrambled eggs, and a second serving before I came up. He was worried I wouldn’t have enough.

Carly asked Mom about digging a hole, but spelled out the word. August sounded it out and figured it out and got really excited. We had him to ask Dad if they could dig a hole in the garden: “Grampa said sure! Come with me now!”

He led Carly to the gardening shovels and was telling her about all the different sizes before they got in the shed. He had seen them when he did some gardening with Mom and they put them away. They worked out on their hole for awhile. I went out as August was ready to bury things. He buried a flower, then Carly came back with a crushed can and we made another hole and buried that. He said they were for future archeologists to discover.

We ended up in the garage. The voltmeter was on the counter and we tested a battery with it. Dad came out and asked if he wanted to help put the front wheels on the 140. August helped with the jack and then got to use a mallet to pound on the wheel nut. We went upstairs and August found a philips head screwdriver and told us how Carly had used a screwdriver like that to open up the wet vac when there was gunk in it. He found two screws and screwed them into the flaps on the box holding our old food processor. He ended up doing a total of 8 screws, 2 on each flap.

He then helped us put together the two old wooden tables that go with the furniture we used when I was a kid. We got those together, but August got grumpy when I wouldn’t let him screw into the wood. I took him inside to Carly for a change of scene. Mom came out and the three of us spent a good amount of time discussing furniture and made progress on planning.

Inside, August and Carly were making a tape and cardboard sculpture creation. Carly was his Robo Assistant. When they were done he went down with me and we played Tiddly Winks. A lot of discussion on dinner plans and we decided to do fajitas. He found some play dough he had left out and wanted to put water on it. I said it wasn’t a good idea or something and he said “Yes it is. I’ll prove it.” But when he did it we found a problem we hadn’t anticipated: the color bled out of it on our hands. So we quickly threw it away. Carly wanted to go to the store and ended up taking August. They left at 2:45.

When they got back he stayed outside, first using his bike as a stationary bike. He was interested in riding it, but after mom came in and asked me about it he was out in the garage with dad and said “I’m distracted” so it was okay if I didn’t take him somewhere right now. The two of them drilled more holes out in the garage.

Mom, Paul, and I were then looking through grampa Dahl’s stuff. Got the 3 boxes down to one to store in the closet (and also held onto the binoculars and some other things that came out of them). August came down to play with me. We got out the checkers set, but before we did anything with it he decided to play the chess game. Progressing through it well, and he got the second knight.

Carly cooked the veggies on the grill, then I did the beef and chicken. Quite windy outside so we ate inside, at 6:15. August liked having all the cooked mushrooms for himself: “Not cooked mushrooms, not so good. Barbecued mushrooms yummy. Rotten mushrooms yuck!” Someone mentioned him being a human and he protested “I’m not a regular human. I’m a robot kid!” After he ate a good dinner, he wanted the “sugary popcorn”. Carly let him have some, in what was basically bribery to get him to quiet down for a bit.

They looked at the Venus fly trap that needs to be potted, then ended up watching watching Venus fly trap videos with Mom as he started his bath. I washed him. He said he was okay with water dripping on his knees today, but didn’t want them scrubbed. After his bath we played a little of the Green Planet game downstairs. He spotted Cindy watching us through the window.

We then got out the Tri-ominos out and made shapes. I was trying to get the DVD player working (we had moved out the trunk to the garage earlier and put the TV on the wooden stand, as dad is going to work on the trunk) and baseball ended up on TV. August liked the idea of watching it, but then enjoyed pushing random buttons on the remotes. We re-watched the start of the Formula 1 race when it was on.

Went upstairs and he had a snack of peanut butter crackers (with Ritz) and the last of the berry granola. We went for a family walk at 8:45. We walked up the hill for a view of the lake and river. We saw a deer walking through a yard. Looking at the view, August spotted crops but we didn’t understand him. He said “Crops…you know, like the Palestinians…multiple things grow.”

Back at home after 9 he said good night and we got him ready. He requested going to sleep with me for a couple minutes. I sang three songs, then he wanted Carly. He was asleep at 9:50. 

They slept until close to 8:30. The curtains were fully closed last night and they didn’t realize it was so late. Upstairs, August and I tried putting batteries in other Viewmaster but it wouldn’t work. Dad would later fix it. Carly went downstairs to get ready. When August saw Paul he asked “Will you take me to the rock crushing place?” That apparently came from Carly yesterday. August had been wanting to go back and do more fossil hunting, and wanted to find one that the museum would put on their shelves. She said we could go back next year and Uncle Paul would help him.

He was then the Robo Zinnie Vacuum 4000: “The bigger the thousands, the stronger the sucking.” He asked for peanut butter toast with syrup and honey so I got him that. We then played with the set of airport Legos for the first time, working on a couple of planes. He told me “I’m not interested” in the Hot Wheel cars. Left them out though and later he played with them with Carly. He asked to use markers and I think mentioned making shapes. We were going to go get them, but never made it.

He was undecided about going to return the vacuum with Carly, but eventually decided to go. He was unhappy about going in Paul’s car, but he eventually agreed to that as well. Didn’t know how the trip would go, but after they left at 10:20 he did a great job at the store.  He was singing “Better not wake the baby”. A woman in the produce section was particularly entertained. The other day when they were on a walk a guy had told Carly that she should join in.

They were back at 11. He came down and asked Paul how to check the tire pressure. The World Cup match had just started, but Paul went up and helped him. August came back and said all the tires were at 30 psi but one was a little high. Watching soccer, August remembered Chicsgo was a soccer team. I finished filing our FBAR.

Upstairs, August was saying his bad words and I gave him a warning. He was totally talking with his hands, waving one towards me, when he said “But I was saying half the word.” He’s trying out all sorts of ways to push the limits, and will then say “Oh, I didn’t know that.” We played with the imitation play dough, which turned out to not be very good at all as it was old and we discussed his big kid voice. Something in his voice has sounded different to me the last couple of days. He called it his confused voice, and was then exaggerating it.

For lunch he had spaghetti and green beans, then some tuna casserole when I had some. He wanted to play cribbage, and Carly was teaching him how to beg for it. He ended up playing cards with Gramma and was teaching her a cooperative matching game loosely based on go fish that he was making up on the spot: “This time when we play go fish we play with Zinnie Rules. And a Zinnie Rule is you get 12 cards.” “No! We don’t need to look at our numbers in Zinnie Rules.” He calls the clubs “Clover”. When they played yesterday he had called it a flower and Carly said it looked more like a clover. Even though she told him it was called ‘clubs’ and she used that more, ‘clover’ stuck in his mind.

I went down for the end of the Uruguay versus Portugal match. August came down for the last few minutes and we played with Lincoln Logs as we watched. He went outside with Carly a little as I got the snacks and moved the park pass and a few things to Paul’s car. He had noticed that a lid on one of the play dough containers wasn’t completely shut and wanted Carly to snap it down.

Carly was staying and Paul was heading to work soon. So it was me and August and my parents headed to Beebe Springs. We tried to sit August in the back with my mom next to him. He wasn’t having that. Too many changes with car arrangements. We agreed to rearrange, with my dad driving and me sitting next to him. He then said “Announcement!” and announced that he needed me or Carly next to him when we were driving. We left at 2:15.

A windy day down on the river so August and I wore our sweatshirts. But very comfortable. August wanted to chose the path and wanted to go up by the sculpture first. Turned out we had to take the grasslands trail anyway as the lower trail was closed, although we’d sneak along it on our way back. August did much of the walking, although not as much as the other day. On our walk out to the pond I was able to show him a dragonfly and we let milkweed seeds fly in the wind and Dad cut open the milkweed to show him the milk. At the pond we threw rocks in for a few minutes until some people came to fish on the other side. We headed down to an open area along the river and sat, watching for a beaver. August didn’t want to leave until we saw a beaver. We also discussed the direction of the river as it was deceptive due to the wind, which made it appear that the water was flowing north. August argued with me at first, and I think he thought I was joking, but eventually he believed me and was intrigued.

We went walking again and snuck along the shore route. It was closed last year as well. By the beaver pond Grampa showed him a stump that beavers had chewed on, and they talked about animals that eat bark. We headed buck to the car, and almost went down to the river again to throw rocks, but he was seeming a bit tired so we headed home.

Got home at 4:15. He went and checked out the bird and squirrel feeders. He then got a little sliver in his hand. Tiny, and I think it was more a scratch than an actual sliver and there wasn’t anything in it. He said it kept hurting though, and inside he went and got a wrench/clamp thing from the drawer and talked about cutting off the sliver/his finger. At first it seemed more funny, but as he repeated it it turned darker.

I went downstairs and was working on the closet. I showed Mom and August the space for August’s toys and we got down Tiddly Winks. First started plying in the bedroom on the carpet, then went out and played on the coffee table.

We went up for dinner. Carly had made soy chicken and noodles and broccoli. He and August then went down to practice ‘independent time’. First, he was worried about the idea and wanted to make sure that me or her would be there. They went in and he played with the big sticker sets. Played by himself with them for 4 minutes or so a couple times. A good start. We then played more Tiddly Winks. We were sitting on the floor playing, and he was banking his head off the couch cushion behind him: “it’s so much fun!” A few minutes later: “It’s satisfying!”

I took him upstairs and carried him. He wanted to be a sack of potatoes agin. I had done this at Beebe Springs, squeezing him, spinning him, eating him, tickling, etc. He kept requesting more things and would remind me of things. I licked him and he said he didn’t want my germs. We talked about how we share germs anyway.

I gave him a bath. He played for ten minutes or so, then he started to worry about his scrapes. We went ahead and washed him to get it out of the way. I told him I wouldn’t wash his knees, and I didn’t, but that some water might drip on them. Afterwards he told Carly “Dad’s promised he wouldn’t but he did.”

Carly was making tea and put the cover on the end to make it whistle for him. She took it off, and he grabbed it off the counter. It was still hot and hurt him a bit. Don’t think he was actually burned. Cuddling with Carly he said “Gramma said I can’t say ‘stupid’ when I’m hurt.” We agreed with her, although he claimed that Carly had once told him he could.

He got dry cereal and was playing the guessing game with my parents when I went for a walk after 8. I got back at 8:40 (close to half done with The Goor Earth). He was sitting on the couch with Mom reading a book. It was the Berenstain Bears B Book. They had read Horton Hears a Who before that.

He said goodnight and we went downstairs. We read a little Garfield and and a couple jokes from The Real Book of Jokes. I left him and Carly 9:45. He was a
sleep by 10. Carly had told him about volunteering at an orphanage. Which kind of backfired as he asked “Do I have to worry about that?” He also told her he was sorry for hitting me in the head earlier. Which I vaguely remember, but it hadn’t been a big deal.

He was up just before 7. Carly went down with him for awhile, then they came up and he had cereal for breakfast. All four kinds. She made a mix for him and he really liked that. We then worked on the Lego plane they’d made, adding a copilot spot, lights, and steering wheels. I then took a shower and they broke the geode open with a hammer. That was fun, but he immediately wanted another one. When I came out he wanted to throw things in the compost, so we went in and got the compost bowl and he carried it out and threw it in. He then helped Carly pick off the dead flowers.

Then it was time to prepare Paul’s car for us to use. I drove it to the back, and Carly started vacuuming it. Carly showed him dead bugs in the back of the car and he asked “Could you suck up those bugs, please?” While she vacuumed, we went upstairs in the garage. He looked t the green wooden chair that isn’t finished. He said “I want to tell grampa what material…metal or iron or steel.” He thought it would be comfortable because it could be smooth.

Carly then took the car around on the grass and August helped her wash it, and he had tuna casserole. Meanwhile, I was talking to my parents, looking at the garage and shed and discussing moving furniture and what we can get rid off. Paul had a bunch of stuff to take to Habitat for Humanity, and we managed to find a few more things. I had some stuffed animals, but kept the Garfield ones for August and Paul kept the jaguar stuffed animal for dad. Carly drove to Habitat at 11:30 and also went and rented a wet vac. August spent some time pretending to be Cindy hiding a cat ball (Mom had told him about Cindy doing just that), then he and Mom got a bunch of ingredients out and started doing “combinations” with food coloring, molasses, oils, vinegars, and all sorts of things.

I started working on stuff downstairs and brought up a cribbage board. August was first just playing around with it with my parents, pretending it ws actually chess. But then I got out the book of Hoyle and Carly helped teach my mom, and August, cribbage. They came downstairs and I showed August some toys. He didn’t like the styrofoam glider as it was too broken for him. He liked the Lincoln Logs though, but agreed to play with them later as they were going to go into town.

I had put the car seat in Paul’s now very clean car. August was very upset about the idea of a new car though, and wanted the black one back. He called it “Butt butt car. Idiot car.”

Once Carly had agreed to walk to town today though he calmed down, and when I suggested he just try the view from his seat he agreed, although he said just for a second and made me promise to take him out as soon as he said so.

On the way back from Canada, August had figured out how to open and close the window using his toe. Paul’s car has manual cranks that he isn’t too happy about since he can’t fully do it himself when he’s in his seat. Also, the window doesn’t go all the way down. But he agreed to give the car a try tomorrow.

They left at 3. I did a little more closet organizing downstairs, then did some Sabeel work. They walked to Bear Foods and got popcorn and a root beer. They ate out on the bench, as it actually rained for a short while. He didn’t like the carbonation of the root beer at all and didn’t understand why anyone would: “why‽”

They walked around, and Carly mentioned something about being back in Israel in 5 weeks (that’s how long he needs to wear his turquoise shoes for). August instantly did the math and said “Only 5 weeks. But I thought it was 2 months. Then I’ll have to start PKA…” He was very stressed about starting PKA and wanted me to volunteer at PKA. He was going to ask me about volunteering as soon as they got home, but at the house, about 4:40, he got distracted asking grampa about sprinklers and ended up in the garage.

Mom later told me the story: He wanted to find Grampa and mom told him that he was out in the garage. August said he needed her to go with him. They found him working on the blinds, and August asked if he could help. Dad said he was still trying to figure them out, and August asked “Can we figure them out together?” Don’t think they actually figured out the blinds (he just needs to put up the small blinds, and the set over the stairwell) as they got distracted by other things.

He also got a sliver in his foot and got really upset, especially when Dad mentioned the word “tweezers”. Mom came into the garage, and they put water on it. Eventually it didn’t hurt when he put his shoe on and he was. Carly and I didn’t learn about this until hours later, so cool that he let them handle it and didn’t immediately need us. And he also stepped on his concoction bowl, sending red liquid all over his leg. It looked like blood at first and he ended up with a red foot.

He came downstairs and started building with the Lincoln Logs. It was a jail for a GI Joe figure that had fired a catapult. Small windows for air and a little light. The person got one toy to play with and got to go outside once a day for exercise. And then the Viewmaster. He ended up loving this one. He started with the story of Smokey Bear, and would describe each picture that he saw. He looked at another one, Westward Expansion, I think, and kept saying “Whoa…So cool!” He went back upstairs and told Mom “I was downstairs playing with the stuff dada had as a kid.”

She had made spaghetti for dinner, along with meatballs. August refused the meatballs but had spaghetti and green beans. After dinner he was talking about “The laser beamix laser beams the laser beams.” He was then looking out the windows and asked Mom “Is that Cindy?” He sounded confused, and mentioned something about big eyes. He had actually spotted a raccoon in the yard. We watched until Dad went out and scared it up the tree. He then stayed for a few minutes to make sure the cats would leave the raccoon alone and August and I headed down to the park for the concert.

It was a blues duo. August wanted to be down close again. And he started running back and forth behind the stage, then was doing circles. Dad showed up and we sat in the grass and August kept running circles. He called me down and wanted to run across the wooden bridge with me and back. Up on the grass he then looked through the Viewmaster. He was still listening to music though, as he asked me “Why was he afraid about breaking a string?” Something the guitar player had mentioned a minute earlier.

He went down and did more running during the last couple songs. But then he fell right in front of the stage, scraping his knees. He was so upset. He lamented “I already got that sliver in my foot.” He didn’t want to see it and kept asking me if it was red. I took him off away from the stage. Had difficulty going back to get our stuff though as he’d keep yelling, and called people “Idiots” when we walked by. Eventually the last song ended and we got our stuff. He didn’t want to sit in the stroller though as he could see his knees too much. I gave him three options, including walking or me carrying him. He told me they were all bad options.

Eventually, he agreed to me carrying him, as long as I carried him with his knees not rubbing. As we got walking he asked me “When I go to PKA can you volunteer for a week?” Carried him that way a couple blocks, then put him in the stroller. He didn’t like that, as he kept his feet down so his knees wouldn’t bend.

When we got home, a little after 8:15, he jumped out of the stroller and said “Upstairs super-fast rockets for me.” Inside he drank from the backpack and asked me to refill it. When he said goodnight to my parents he said “Goodnight table and kaleidoscope.”

Downstairs we bought and read part of the fourth Captain Underpants book. August then acted out putting flour on a windshield and doing other pranks and I was Mr. Krupp. Carly’s to blame if he starts playing pranks on his teac
hers at school. Carly brushed his teeth and I left them at 9:10. He was asleep soon after.

He was up with us, about 6:50. Carly was already in the bathroom, and he wordlessly went out and sat on the floor. After a minute he scooted right to the door. Then he lay down and stretched out on the floor. He was sitting back up right in front of the door when Carly finally opened it and he loudly said “Watch out for me!” She accused me of putting him up to that, but I had no idea.

She took him into the bedroom for awhile. When they came back out he was cold so we put on his sweatshirt. He was still cold, so Carly got him his sweatpants. He wore them as a shawl as he sat and played with Legos on his own for about ten minutes. He got up and went to Carly and they decided to read. She gave him a challenge to go get the iPad. He brought it back and they read some Captain Underpants. She told him about the strategy of re-reading a little to remind you what is happening, then was reviewing alliteration with him. They finished that one (#3, I think), then they restarted #1. August said “I love your poop talk. I was being sarcastic.” That was part of us teaching him what sarcasm is yesterday.

He had some toast and oatmeal for breakfast, then did some more reading with Carly. He was doing some annoying chanting with her though, so I got him outside with me at 8:35. As we walked out he saw the fire pit and told me “At nighttime I was dreaming about checking if the fire is dead.” Perhaps the first time he’s clearly reported a dream to me. We went over to the sand toys and he played with them and wanted me to do the teasing game. We did a few rounds of that, and we walked around and out on the dock. On the way back he refused my hand and wanted to walk across it on his own. Back at the toys he ws selling me sand soup.

I was cold, and convinced him to go back in, a little after 9. He was worried about packing stuff – we brought his sand toys over by the door, and he wanted to make sure we got his flashlight, Smokey, and his shoes.

My parents were going for a walk, so he and I went with them. We walked to the south end of the property, close to the border. At the tree farm he kept pointing out good Christmas trees, and found a funny Y-shaped one (the top had been cut off) that we thought Carly would like. He dropped rocks down the mice/gopher holes, and walked with my mom while dad and I walked a bit ahead. He was a little concerned when he realized we were farther ahead and ran to catch up and had me carry him a bit. But he walked probably 80% of the entire walk.

We got back at 10:15. Carly was outside, reading. I went in and took a shower. As we packed up and got ready to go my mom was the last to go to the bathroom. He was ready to get on the road to the fossil hunting. He told her “Yeah but could you go to the bathroom?”

We got driving right at 11. August was looking sleepy right way and fell asleep from 11:15 to 12:40. He stirred a bit at the border but kept sleeping.

He was waking up as we parked in republic. We walked around and went to the Knotty Pine Restaurant and Lounge. When it was our turn to order, August ordered the tuna melt for us. We got the baked potato soup as our side, and Carly got a wrap, with curly fries to share with us.

Mom said that he was speculating about the border fence on the property and whether it was electric, but he concluded a tree leaned on it and wasnt electrocuted. I asked “When did you learn about electric fences?” He said “When we went beet picking. Fences around the animals!” It took me quite awhile to remember that where we had parked last time we had gone beet picking was next to a place with a fence with a warning sign that it was electric.

He played the chess game while he waited. He’s become a bit better with trying things in the battles and not worrying about it. He had some of everything when the food came. Near the end he wanted more ketchup and grabbed the ketchup container and squeezed some out on his own. I was just commenting on the progress he’s made when, as he set it down, he hit the spoon in the soup and it went flying, getting some soup mainly on my shirt: “Like a meteor. Or asteroid!”

We headed out of there at 1:45 and went and registered for the fossil hunt. Changed our shoes at the car and walked up to the site. Spent a good 90 minutes up there. Dad had brought all sorts of hammers and chisels. He started with showing August how it was done, then August explored, working with each of us at some point. It was a ton of fun and he had a lot of questions. Although at the end he was a little disappointed that he’d only found worm tracks and minerals.

We walked back to the office at 3:40. The two guys there were really nice and explained the rocks we’d found to August, and let him put a few of them under the microscope to look at. We looked around the museum a bit (he liked the diorama showing the mine locations) and used the bathroom, and left at 4.

It was a nice drive back. We listened to Ball of Wax 49 along the way Nd liked a few songs on that. August did some playing, then stared out the windows. He was looking tired again, so we thought about getting an iPad out of the trunk so he could watch something. But he just kept looking out the window for quite a bit longer. Finally, he was sleepy and also impatient for the iPad, so we turned off after Okanogan and got out the iPad. He watched new Sarah and Duck videos the rest of the way and made it home away, at 6:35.

He was a bit cranky at first, I think because of the changes. He had some corn, then was out watering the grass. I gave him a bath and we played with the toys quite awhile. I washed his hair, which went pretty well, and he played a bit more of the teasing game. Carly dried his hair, then he came up with a bag of Cheerios and Carly went to take a shower. He started a big guessing game, clearly inspired by a snippet of The Price is Right which he’d seen a few days ago: we had three guesses to guess a number, and if we got it correct we got to eat the Cheerio. If not, he ate it. This went on and on, with us all taking turns guessing, and taking turns having him do it. We did numbers and letters and countries he’s been to, etc.

I was really tired and took him down to Carly just after 9. She brushed his teeth and took him to the bathroom and he was asleep about 9:30.

He woke up about 7:20. Carly went in with him, then was reading Captain Underpants to him. I heard a lot of laughing. They came out and Carly went outside. He wanted his light up shoes on and I helped him get those on. He said he was going to wear them all day, but he was disappointed when he couldn’t see the lights, especially in the bright sun. He went outside with Carly for awhile.

Inside he played with the space shuttle parts and I told him about how they built the space station and how the shuttle had a robotic arm. He was then the space station himself, with a robotic arm, and he had me explain what each part of him was, then had me doing different experiments in the science ‘arm’ (literally). I grew a flower and cactus and we talked about what they need to grow. Also made space s’mores.

He went back outside with Carly after putting his light up shoes back on. they played with the big sand toys and I went for a walk towards the south end of the property. I came back as they were looking for our sand toys. I switched with Carly and went with him to play in the sand some more. He was singing the jingo joe song again and I got it on video. He also switched the words, saying “running out of tooshies…”

We went inside to actually change him into clothes, as he was playing in the sand with his pajamas. He was then out on the porch with Paul. The door opened and I heard “And when the seeds fall they go in the dirt and they grow…” Paul said that August had blown dandelion seeds and said “See you next year!” So we have to come back next year.

Couldn’t find his Crocs, and Carly found them for me. I’d (and August had) forgotten that he’d put them in the drawer last night before going to sleep. Grampa said that he wanted to show him a lava rock, so August got on his Crocs and said “Let’s go on a hunt for rocks that used to be lava!” We went and looked at it and August felt how heavy it was. He wanted more lava rocks, but none were to be found. He settle for studying a sprinkler head in depth. He was hungry so went inside and asked for a “Gramma bar”. Had one of those, then ate more of the berry granola. He decided to leave the rest of it for tomorrow morning. He brought up the “Robo Zinnie, defender of the multiverse!’ thing. He had me making a movie about him, but I think that was later in the car.

On the floor, he made a map of Washington out of the puzzle pieces with Gramma and Paul. She explained the parts of Washington that he’s been to and our trip, then they were adding on Canada. She then said “I need to change my clothes (before we leave).” He asked “Why, did you change in there?” I can’t quite remember why that made sense at the time. He then told her about Rebecca squeezing him in the s’mores shirt. I had put it on him today as we were going to do s’mores this evening.

We went out to the sand toys again. He played in the sand and had me play the teasing game. He had Emmitt, Leonard, and Juyeok teasing him. Back inside, he said “Oh no, dada leaved.” He then had a debate with Carly about ‘leaved’ versus ‘left’. He said “But still, enshmugedorflug.”

We got driving after 11. We went down to the Desert Cultural Center. He liked the little fake stream in the rocks. We paid and went in and then to the outside portion. August was a little grumpy at first, saying “No fun, no fun, no fun.” But then there were binocular things and he liked those, and then we got out on the trails. He got more and more into it. There was one pithouse though that was closed with a sign saying it was unstable. He then was not happy with me going into the other pithouse, pulling my hand to get me out. We smelled the sage and looked at the poison ivy. When we looped around and saw the poison ivy again we ended up talking about how animals like deer can eat plants that we can’t, with thistles, etc. So for the entire rest of the way he had “deer power” and was looking for plants for him to eat. When Carly pointed out a bug on a plant he had just ‘eaten’, he spit it out.

Back at the building we looked at the animals, seeing some snakes, including the rattlesnake. He told me “If you ever hear a rattlesnake could you please not get close so you don’t get bitten?” The three of us then went in and, after I took him to the bathroom, watched the 17 minute movie they were showing. He had some questions during it, and snacked on one of the new bars I’d gotten (but he didn’t like them) and Cheerios. We went back outside and looked at some of the exhibits about animals. Everyone was then ready to go and I bought a mug before we left.

We headed up the valley and went to Okanagan Falls Provincial Park but it is just a campground, so we went to nearby Kenyon Park on the south shore of the lake. We went to a picnic table for lunch. I realized we hadn’t really packed for August. And we needed s’mores stuff and batteries for mom’s camera anyway, so August and I went to the grocery store that was right next to us. He was helpful with the shopping, although temporarily distracted by the candy. He spotted the batteries on his own. Paul showed up as well. August picked out the marshmallows and graham crackers. We also found the coconut kind of the protein granola bars, with the frosting stuff on the bottom, that he liked in Israel.

We went back to the park. August had some carrot and banana, and took the carrot with him as he and Carly went over to see the water play area. They then went down to the diggers area of the playground. I stayed and ate lunch. Mom went for a walk out on the point and ended up talking to. Guy for awhile. On the way back she stopped and talked to Carly. August also played on the play structure and went down the slide.

Back at the table he was eating a bar, but kept saying words he wasn’t supposed to say. So Carly took the bar from him. When she did it broke in half. He was sore about it: “Never break my bar again.” When she would tell him he shouldn’t break the rules he would replay “Well just pull gently.”

We then drove over to Tickelberry’s for ice cream. I had told mom and dad that they could go ahead and drive ahead. August was very upset about this: both because he felt like they had left us and because he wanted to get there first. He was upset in the car, then at the shop he first screamed when we walked in the door. We took him outside to calm down, then went back in. When he saw them though he started running towards them, telling them to “Stop!” But then he was okay and we got down to choosing ice cream. He and Carly chose to share a scoop of bubble gum on a cone. I got a small two scoops of their special cinnamon and earl grey. We went and ate outside. August wanted to try everyone else’s and walked up to dad and looked up at him with big eyes and said “Share!” After he was done, he pretended to play chess with my parents.

We headed out, not very hungry for dinner, so we decided to get hot dogs at the store and take them back to the cabin. We stopped at the grocery store at Osoyoos again and got hot dogs and asparagus.

Drove back to the cabin, and pretty soon dad got the grill going and did the hot dogs and asparagus on it. August ate a couple pieces of asparagus, some carrot before it, a little broccoli, and some hot dog. There was something sticky he wanted to clean up, so he was something like the Robo Zinnie Vacuum 2000 and got a wet paper towel and wiped it, then went around the cabin for quite awhile cleaning things.

It was now time for the fire. Dad got it started and August went out and helped carry small pieces of wood. He and I sat watching the fire and he asked “How does the wood do that? Is it magic?” We talked about the chemical reaction of fire and what it needs.

Now time for s’mores. He roasted the first marshmallow (dad had gone and whittle a couple sticks), then had a s’more. He was pretty sticky, so Carly took him in and washed him. Back outside he roasted an
other marshmallow and ate it off his stick. Stressful for us, but he managed to do it and not get his hands sticky at all. After the third he said “I ate it all up!” Then immediately had a sad face and asked “When can I have another one?” I agreed to a fourth, and he said “Let’s put it on…If I say so, I men so.”

August then spent quite awhile burning a marshmallow stick and another stick dad had. He was having a little difficulty keeping the sticks in the fire pit, so I watched him closely. I went and got Smokey as we talked about fire safety. He held Smokey in his lap for awhile while he burned the stick. He was then Grampa’s assistant, helping put out the fire. That went on for quite awhile too, stirring water into the ashes and coals. I went inside when I was cold and he was out with my parents for a few more minutes, coming in at 9:05.

We got him ready for bed. He was singing the “Coposetic doo doo bomb” song. He said he learned it from Omriki and that they once had to sit separate during story time because they were saying it. May have been on Omri’s birthday. he went out and said good night to everyone, calling them Zinnie. I said good night and left them after 9:30. He was asleep by 9:45.

He was up after 7. He wanted to play the Green Earth game, and I told him he could do that when I went to take a shower. So Carly started him on the chess game. I then shortly went to take a shower and gave him my iPad (which had the Green Earth game) so they had two games going at once. After my shower I made him a English muffin with peanut butter. When Paul came up, August said “Good morning, uncle goofball.” Which I was hoping would stick, but didn’t.

I sent an email to Omar, then Omar wanted to give me a call. Peter arrived, and we were all out back when Omar called. We agreed to try and chat via Skype on Friday.

We walked up to the Apple Cup. Early enough that the back room was empty when we got there and we got the middle table. It filled up after that. The waitress gave August a kids’ menu, which had a picture of fish on the back, and some crayons. When the waitress walked by again he called “Thank you for giving me this stuff!” For the three of us we ordered the blueberry pancakes and the ham scramble with hash browns. We ate and were full. Carly had taken August outside while we waited for the food to come (I think she said they were doing challenges), and after we were done eating she took him home. At one point he asked “Why does dada talk to Peter so much?”

We paid and got walking, but quickly found Carly and august; they had stopped to watch the car wash. Back at the house we said goodbye to Peter and he left. We then finished our packing and loaded up the cars. August was singing all of Dear Eliza again.

With Paul with us in the X-Type, we drove up to Walmart. I ran in and got a charger/FM transmitter so we could charge/listen to my phone in the car. Mom and Dad met us there, then they led the way north, leaving about noon. Took the back road from Brewster on up through Okanogan and Omak, stopping at the American Legion Park for the restroom. August had played Green Earth for awhile, then was looking out the window and falling asleep. I offered him a nut treat, and we had a debate over whether he was falling asleep or just looking out the window.  He definitely fell asleep about 1. At 1:30 he woke up at a stop light and asked “Are we stopping?” He was then awake before we went over the border, sometime after 2. Border went smoothly enough, although the woman was rather intense. Once we went through, August asked something like “What WAS that?” I think Carly told him about how you can bring some things across the border, so later at the cabin he kept asking “Can you bring face soap over the border?” Etc.

Mom and Dad had to wait longer for background checks, as it has been a long time since they’ve been to Canada. We stopped at the bathrooms, then August was putting flowers on Paul’s hair. Canada is a new country for August, making it number 6, after South Korea, the United States, Thailand, Israel, and Jordan. We were also counting on our flights and he’s been on over a dozen.

We went on to the grocery store in Osoyoos, with me leading the way this time. August rode on the front of the cart that mom was pushing. At first he wanted me to stay close, but he got comfortable being around the corners. At one point he told them “I could use my loudspeaker” to let us know where he ws. He chose cherry jam, and helped pick out salami and put things n the cart and basket. As we checked out, and first mom’s credit card then two of time didn’t work at the terminal, they had him doing challenges near the entrance, touching carts and things. They took me over to the customer service counter and my card worked on the first try.

Paul and Mom switched and we continued on to the cabin, me still leading. August sang a “Out of jimbo jive” song: a tune he’s sung before and I’m hoping he’l remember so I can record it sometime. He was also counting using his counting tune and got up to 400 and said he’d remember where he was so he could keep counting higher later.

We were to the cabin after 4. The woman, Carolyne, met us on her four wheeler and showed us the cabin. She was quite nice, and went and brought back some sand toys for August. August had just asked me “Are there any dogs I should watch out for?” Then she came back with two big chocolate lbs, luckily very nice dogs. He was also concerned about the doors, as he can’t open them on his own. After she left, he got to work exploring and wanted to play with things in the kitchen. We compromised on one of the wine bottle openers as long as he sat down. He was drilling grapes and giving each one of them to uncle Paul. We then made the Crystal Light water drink together, measuring out four cups from the water dispenser to put in the pitcher. Carly then showed us a big bird up in a tree. August called it a “giraffe bird” when I showed him. Pretty sure it is an osprey instead.

It was kind of cool in the cabin, and Carly changed him into pants. He didn’t like the feel of the first pair, with the zipper. Luckily, she had also packed a second pair of plain grey sweatpants. He said “Good for overpacking!” I definitely lost on this one. He also had his sweatshirt on, so looked rather funny as we went outside where it was warmer and got in the cars to go to the Mexican restaurant. He immediately asked for air conditioner.

Sadly, the restaurant is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily, it is a nice drive over there and back. We went back to the cabin. On the way they kept sing counting, and got up to 900. He said he’d leave counting to a 1000 to tomorrow. Carly got out of the car and headed to the house. He was all dramatic about her leaving him in the car.

Inside he drilled another grape: ‘Uncle Paul, will you eat this squishy grape?” And he told us all “I demand you eat the corn.” He and I went outside and shucked the corn. He was excited that it was yellow and white corn.

We ate dinner outside. He ate two full ears of corn after having some carrot and broccoli. We all had sandwiches. Hurray for overbuying at the grocery store. He was asking everyone “Who wants some tushies?” Which was funny for while. I went for a walk to the end of the lake. I saw the osprey closer, and garter snake and a I think a big frog hopping under the bridge. I came back and he was eating the second ear of corn. He said “This corn had a good life; now it’s eaten.”

Carly was then giving him challenges outside, touching people and things. He was talking the whole time he was running, and Carly joked he’d be running a marathon and talking the whole time. Before they came in he had his hands wrapped up in his shirt because they were cold, but his tummy was all exposed. Dad had mentioned his own feet being cold, so a few minutes later August said “We need to go inside because your feet are cold.”

Inside he ate some of the yummy berry granola stuff. And more and more. He read Captain Underpants with Carly. She took a shower and I read a few chapters. He helped us move the bed against the wall, and he put his sweatshirt and shoes in a drawer. Carly brushed his teeth and reviewed the expectations. He added “No talking”.

I left them, but I got ready for bed and went in with them, about 9:40 or so. He was having difficulty getting to sleep: “I don’t like it cuz it’s new.” We had talked a little about jail, and he now asked Carly “Mama, have you ever been sent to prison, not visiting prison?”

I tried singing to him a bit, but was falling asleep myself. Last I saw it was about 10:10. Not sure if it was before or a little after that, but I accidentally hit August. I had fallen asleep, and he touched my face or head. In my sleep I swung my arm up, knocking his arm away. I apologized, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it.

He was up at 7. He had an English muffin with peanut butter and syrup, then we got ready to go and meet Peter at Riverfront Park. There had been a big thunderstorm last night. All I heard were the wind and the rain. I’d left the stroller out and it was wet, but Carly dried it off and he did fine sitting on a towel. We left before 8. On the walk there he started counting, and counted all the way to 200. He was excited about that. We waited about 10 minutes for Peter, so walked around the park. “Let’s do more exploring.” We asked him about his hair and what he wanted it to look like, since he wasn’t letting me brush it, and he said “I want Robo Zinnie hair.”

He started calling Peter “Peter Mcnaurny”, after the producer on Story Pirates. We walked over to the Artisinal Bakery and got coffee drinks and quiche and a cinnamon roll. Ate there. August played the chess game with Carly for awhile.

We then all walked over to Don Morse park. August and Carly jumped on the bouncy thing, and Peter and I went and sat on a bench by the playground. Carly and August came over. August cuddled on my lap for a few minutes while Carly went on a swing. They then headed off up the hill, then went down to the beach. Awhile later, Carly texted me saying the beach was nice. Peter and I walked down and found them, on the uplake side this time.

We walked back to Peter’s car. On the way, August told me how he doesn’t like the crosswalk lights that time you. He was then happy when we turned right at Campbell’s and didn’t end up crossing at one. We said bye to Peter and walked the rest of the way home. Carly had had the idea of going fossil hunting on our trip to Canada, but she and August needed shoes. So we went straight to the car (August didn’t want to go in the house) and they headed to Walmart. They swung back around a minute later though to get socks.

When they got back from Walmart, August was excited to show me his shoes: pink Velcro shoes with dogs on them and they light up. He had corn on the cob for lunch, then we played the chess game, getting introduced to the bishop now. He and Carly were then reading the two dogs book. I combined the two titles, and said “My dog wore my underpants.” Carly joked that that was the book we would write, and August found it funny.

I went down and took a rest and did more cleaning out of the closet, taking out the models and a few things. He came down at 1:40. “Can we play the green planet game? I’m really interested in it.” So we went up and were playing that. We were talking about what to do if we sold our car, and Carly went out to look at Paul’s car. I came back in the house and August was playing the Green Planet game: “Go outside where mama is…cuz I was having fun playing by myself…But come back if I call you.”

David and his brother (Efron) and dad (Santos) came and took the car for a test drive. They came back and offered $5800. I went in and asked Carly. August got really upset again. I wish I had paid more attention to what he said, or had a video, because even though he was upset it clearly said and very cute. I know he at least was asking if we could have the car back next summer. Anyway, Carly pointed out we should take a few hours at least to make sure we have transportation figured out for the rest of the trip. So they agreed to that.

Peter had been out at the Chelan Brewery in Manson. Thought the full family might come by after, so we had the deck set up and drinks ready. They had awful fish and chips there though, and the rest of the family was cranky. So Peter walked down on his own from town. We all sat and had a drink. August got a VitaminZero water and drank most of it, pouring it in his cup on his own. Quite a treat for him. He told Peter about extend-o-arms. Peter was here for quite awhile, and before he left August was telling me about “The Laserbeamic 2000…destroy all of outer space.” I told him that it was easier to destroy things than put them back together, and asked if he could do that. He was then in the process of explaining his machine that was putting space back together when we answered the door and Kasiah and Christine were there. He did high fives with them and Peter, then Kasiah taught him a fist bump and they did several of those. They left 6:40ish.

Dad had started the grill and made hamburgers, while Carly had boiled corn. We sat inside and ate dinner. We played more of the chess game, and when the king was just sitting there, it sort of rocks back and forth on its legs. August said “Thats a needs-to-go-to-the-bathroom king.” He and Paul also played with pipe cleaners, putting them on each other’s head.

I took him to his bath at 7:50. He was talking about “Dr. Diaper” and having me pretend to be Dr. Diaper. Believe it is from Captain Underpants, but not one I’ve read with him.

Carly took him, and I started getting the car ready to sell – taking the stuff out of the trunk, filling out the title, etc. August fell asleep around 9, then Carly came up to sign the title. They arrived a little after 9:30 and we signed the paperwork outside, then came inside to count the cash. $5800 in 100s. The most cash I’ve ever seen. Forgot to take a photo of it before dad took it to the bank to deposit it for us.