He was up at 6:45 or so. I was already up. I heard him come out, walk around the living room, then go back in with Carly. They came out a few minutes later, then went out to the motor home and visited Oma and got some butter. Came back in and had toast and butter and apple and some lemonade. He sat in the car seat on the floor. He got a little concerned when he couldn’t find mama. She was in the bathroom. I picked him up and he told me I had coffee breath (actually tea). When he finished his apple we both had a mint.
Carly tried to make some coffee, and August told her “Mama, it’s time to nurse.” When they were in nursing, August was being funny by calling me “other dada.” Cherie mentioned wanting to see August’s apps on his iPad. I got it out, but also the piano keyboard. I got Vivian and August playing with that, and showed Vivian how to use the sampler. They dueted for awhile, but eventually I got August over to Vivian’s piano. We figured out how to change the sounds, and he liked the 222 one. But then Vivian came right over and wanted to play it and quickly got upset.
I switched with Carly and went to take a shower. Came out to August vacuuming. Vivian and August then played hide and seek with Smokey. Vivian lost Smokey for awhile, then found him in the mud room. She had thought she’d left him in the refrigerator, but she’d forgotten she’d put him in the mud room. As they were playing and searching for Smokey, Colin started to say “Smokey, where are you?” And August again joked “Is this my mama?”
Cherie took Vivian and Colin out to the motor home, and Carly, Chuck, and I got ready and headed out in his car with August to do some car shopping. We drove to the Chevy dealership in Wind Gap. August was looking sleepy on the way over. We arrived to find out they are closed on Sundays. We walked around the lot and were at least able to determine that we didn’t want bigger than the Sonic, but they didn’t have a hatchback Sonic, so still couldn’t determine much.
We headed back to the house, and I tried to get him lunch. He kept wanting to play. We went downstairs with Jeff and Vivian and August wandered around the basement, looking at the water pump, the diesel tank, etc. and Jeff showed me his plumbing work on the toilet (combining hot and cold water to keep the toilet from bleeding). Back upstairs August got upset about the whiteboard/chalkboard and cookies and I took him into the bedroom. I tried to tell him my plan for what to do next, but he told me he wasn’t ready to listen to it yet. When he was ready we discussed having lunch, etc. But when we went out the pink car from downstairs was already out, so they were playing with that. They did okay taking turns.
They went outside with Carly for a bit, then were back in. August ate some lunch. He and Vivian had a debate about who could go upstairs. At first Vivian wasn’t going to let him go. But then she decided they could have private time together in her room. We went up, and one of them said “We want to be by ourselves.” But then August wanted me in there as well. They played together the whole time, despite talking a lot about alone time.
Colin came back with Cherie, who had taken him in the car to put him to sleep. We went downstairs to use the bathroom, then we had pie with everyone else. Vivian told him he couldn’t have more. He said “When in done I want more pie. I want lots and lots and lots and lots.”
Carly and I got ready to take the two of them to Weona Park in Pen Argyll. We left right after 3. August was getting sleepy on the way there, and almost fell asleep on the way back. We parked by the carousel and went on it at 3:30. All four of us the first time. I stood next to Vivian, Carly next to August. Carly talked about it making her sick, so as we got off August told her “You smell like throw up.”
We went over to the playground and played there for a good hour. Vivian made a friend with Sophia, who was also 5, and there with her grandparents. I pushed all three of the kids on the tire swing (an actual tire this time), then helped the three of them with the monkey bars, and Sophia down the fire pole. She was scared by it, but by the end doing it herself. She also did well with the sideways monkey bar. She left, and I was pushing Vivian and August on the swings again. I went to switch to Vivian and gave August one last push – right as he let go with one had. He tumbled off the swing, luckily at the front of his swing, at the top of the wood chips. He took a nursing break, then we all went over to the carousel again. I just went on this time and stood between the two of them.
From there we went to the drinking fountains, then the bathrooms. I went and checked out the entrance to the baseball field while they were in there, then we headed over as a group. First, Vivian and August put on a little show on the stage. Vivian and Carly ran ahead and started playing pretend baseball, while August kept intentionally getting rocks in his shoe: “There’s rocks in my shoe.” When he and I got to the baseball diamond he said “I want sand in my shoe.” He thought the backstop looked like a goal and kept talking about getting a goal. I started to try to explain baseball, but realized it was pretty abstract without any equipment.
August wanted a snack, and Vivian started climbing up the remains of the old bleachers. Up at the top there were concrete pieces of old benches. Vivian said they looked like Green Monster. They pretended their apples were pieces of slime. August got a stick, and Carly broke off a branch to make it safer and he said “Now it’s an axe.” I had fun breaking apart slate, and we walked back along the top of the bleachers, then walked down a hill and headed back. But first we stopped at the benches and took another Smokey photo with the two kids, as Vivian remembered Smokey. Basically, it was a lovely outing and the kids were much easier to handle than back at home.
We were home right after 5:30 as people were scooping up Cherie’s nutty noodles for dinner. Ate dinner, August did okay, then they ended up outside. Vivian and Colin were over at the pull-up bars with Jeff and Cassie and August played on his own with the water table for several minutes. Then Cassie got out the big bubbles stuff and they all had wands and were making big bubbles. Colin was trying to be the cutest by looking through the wand and putting soap all over his face. That turned into them all wiping soap on Carly’s leg.
August was still hungry, and he scarfed down a couple small servings of nutty noodles. Just as we finished Cassie was getting out ice cream for dessert. They got a little of each, and he and Vivian ate out on the porch again. I gave August his bath with Vivian today. They played in there for a good amount. Off to bed after that, although Vivian was reluctant to leave him alone. A few minutes after we closed the door she gave me a small picture she had drawn for him, and a marker and paper for him to write back. She was shocked when I said he was already falling asleep. He was asleep about 8:20.