He was up a little before 8, He waited in the hall and played with his bracelet until Thatcher and Kayla came out of Derek and Andrea’s room. They played on the railing of the stairs and then all took turns feeding Eddy, scooping up food and carrying it in the scoop out to her bowl. August helped Kayla carry hers without spilling it. Andrea headed to work.
I took a shower and they played outside. August tried Thatcher’s balance bike then they played in the dirt. We all got ready to go and drove to the top of the trail a couple blocks away. We walked down to the playground at Carkeek Park. Along the way August followed Thatcher, wanting to look at and touch everything he did. We paused to play on a big rock for a few minutes before continuing on.
Down at the playground they went on the teeter totter thing for a few minutes, then over to the swings. August had to wait for a few minutes, then wanted to swing and swing. Thatcher wanted to go to the beach so I asked “Do you want to go to the beach?” “No. I want to swing. The swings are nice. Not as nice as the other swings.” He practiced pumping, as Thatcher was, then was twisting on the swing when he saw Thatcher doing it. Thatcher left, and eventually August wanted to find him and Kayla. They were up at the salmon playground area. We went up there, and Thatcher showed August a secret path and hole in the ground area. Thatcher went to the bathroom, then we were needing to head back as Kayla was ready for a nap. August was really liking the hole though and was reluctant to leave. We left a little before 11.
It was a slow walk back, as they looked at everything. We got back to the house at 11:20. We played outside for a bit; he would use the sidewalk chalk to make a mark on the ground, then use the hose to wash it off the ground.
We finished packing up and were ready to leave about 12:30. August and Thatcher were playing together really well though by the vent by the back door. We let them play for a few minutes more until August got a bit distracted.
We left at 12:40. He and Carly were reading the illustrated Little House book that Stephanie and Ruby had given us. He said he wanted to do that. That is, build a house out of wood. “First you have to cut it.” As we left the gas station, he started repeatedly asking “Are we there?” Carly and I switched in Gold Bar and I read Richard Scarry’s Best Counting Book Ever. He got a little cranky again when he got tired and said he wanted us to switch. But he fell asleep at 3:10. We got to Leavenworth at 3:15 and Carly went in to get us some food at McDonald’s. Ate at the car and kept going, me driving again.
August woke up around 4:15, I think and we got to Chelan by 4:40. Went in and said hi to everyone and saw the cats and started exploring. Dad had found YouTube videos showing how to get to the cabin air filter, so we opened the glove box and found the mouse nest. August watched on, and dad went and got the shop vac and August plugged his ears and watched him vacuum it out. August got in the driver’s seat at one point and mom asked if he was driving. He said “No. But I’m learning to drive.”
We went to Walmart and went back to automotive and got a filter. A guy named Thomas helped us find it, and he was making funny faces and acting like a chicken for August, which made him laugh. Went back and put in the filter. I found the Legos downstairs and brought them up and we played with those a bit. Carly wondered how old some of the partially built structures were.
He was really excited about dinner, and ate a good amount of spaghetti and meatballs. He had milk in the Peter Rabbit cup, and really liked the Parmesan cheese. He thought it looked like flour, so he also wanted to try flour on his spaghetti. Carly went and put some on (he had wondered what was in the larger canisters earlier) and he said he liked it. He got an after dinner chocolate as well.
He’s curious about what people are doing. At one point he asked Paul: What you doing? And to Grampa: Where you going? We wandered the backyard, and he remembered the wire flowers and asked Grampa made those?
Out in the front porch he watched the cats from the porch and had fun spitting off of it. We went and saw his tree, and mom pointed out the shells on the log and he deduced it was squirrels eating them. He was playing a bit in the sand and I left him with gramma and grampa. He said it was okay. He sang a song about grampa sweeping the deck. A few minutes later he was nervous when he couldn’t find me and came inside. He told mom he could go downstairs on his own.
We decided to go for an evening walk. Before we left Jeopardy was on the TV. He asked “Why we watching that? What we doing?” I realized Carly was sitting out back, waiting for us. He looked at the front door and asked “What if we go out that door?” We walked down to Riverwalk Park. He didn’t realize that Paul and gramma were coming with us and was a bit rude to them, making it clear that he wanted just Mama and Dada and Zinnie time. They walked behind, then peeled off and went to check the mail. The three of us stopped at the bathrooms and drinking fountains. He pushed the buttons for the drinking fountains and then Paul and mom found us close to there. Walked back along the shore path. By the library August got the idea of staying in the stroller, buckled in, and trying to walk himself forward. We gave him a few minutes with that, then got going home.
At home mom lit the crackling candle for him, then we all had some cake. When asked what he wanted for his piece he just kept insisting on all of it. I then gave him a bath. He was stomping to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Got his hair washed, which was full of sand, probably from throwing it in the sand area earlier, but maybe also from the dirt with Thatcher.
Downstairs, he went into Paul’s room and asked what he was doing. He found a bundle in the hall and asked what it was. It was Paul’s laundry basket, so we decided to put it together. He helped with that, and we decided to use it while we are here. Carly asked if he was ready to nurse, and he said he didn’t like nursing anymore – he’s caught on that that means going to bed. She tried getting him to bed about ten. He wanted warm milk, so I got him some. He finished it and wanted more: “I want more because I’m not falling asleep. More milk will make me fall asleep.” We wouldn’t get him more, but he nursed and fell asleep about 10:20.
Vacuuming out the mouse nest:
Legos:
Sitting by his tree:
Evening walk:
