He was up at 8:30. I made him and Colin and Vivian French toast for breakfast. They were then outside, spraying windows and things with spray bottles. I was inside and saw them through the window. August sprayed Vivian and she screamed in his face. I went out and intervened. They ended up making dirt soup. He tried to sell it to me by saying “I put yummy dirt in it.” He started drinking from the spray bottle at one point then stopped, asking “Wait, where it filled from?” He knows we don’t want him drinking the water from the pool or water table. Luckily, this was filled from the hose.
They also spent some time playing on the play structure, which is coming together. The floor is on the elevated part of main structure, so they could climb up the curved ladder or climbing wall, play at the top, and go down the slide. August mainly wanted to be set up at the top as, due to the rain and then the mud on Vivian’s shoes, the ladder and climbing wall were to dirty for him.
It took awhile but we got going and headed to Klein Farms about 10:30, getting there by 11. Vivian rode with us, Colin rode with Chuck and Cherie, and Jeff stayed to work on the play structure. Cassie slept as she had worked the night. At the farm Vivian and Colin headed straight to the animals, while August started at the playground. We all then looked at animals together. August showed his clear city boy signs, very aware of the muck and mud and smell. While looking at the chickens he asked “They’re not wearing their shoes?” Meanwhile, Colin, a farmer in another life, was trying to drag August farther into a barn, repeating “Cow! Cow!” He also was fascinated by the tractor and trailer. Later, when Colin was going to bed, he and I reviewed all of the things he had seen at the farm, him nodding and saying “Uh-huh” to each thing. When August did go closer to the animals it was with us carrying him.
On the playground August was really working to pump on the swings like Vivian. He’s pretty much there, having the rhythm down and throwing himself forwards and backwards forcibly. They played a lot, and the other two main things he played with were some rings that you could swing on on the deck of the ship (the shape of the play structure) and a fire pole in the center. Vivian could go down it just fine and was working on trying to climb back up it. August went down it close to a dozen times, with me holding him. By the end I was supporting him less and less. He would also have me place him halfway up and then let go so he could do part of it on his own.
We sat at a picnic table and ate lunch (we had packed sandwiches) around noon, then after more playing went up about 12:30 and got ice cream and ice treats. August wanted the same thing that Vivian got, lemon ice, but he has a love/hate relationship with lemon so Cherie worked out an arrangement where she also got a mango one. The adults got ice creams – I got a sweet cream cheese ice cream that basically tasted like cream cheese frosting. August declared mine the best and had a few bites and finished the last of the cone. He finished the last few bits of the lemon and mango ices outside, drinking down the “juicy bites” as Carly talked to Glecy on the phone.
Cherie and Chuck left with Colin to stop at the store and then put Colin to sleep with a drive. Carly realized it was easy to change the height of the swings and was doing it for Vivian and August. She started to regret it as they kept requesting them up and down. August used an odd construction to ask if Vivian’s was as low as his: “Is it as low as he’s?”
August and I went up to use the bathroom when he needed to go. We had to wait in a line and someone wasn’t happy when she couldn’t go in first, nor happy when we then headed home. We got home at 2:15 to find the playground almost completely done. Vivian and August started playing on it, going on the swings. Cassie came out, then Chuck and Cherie back with Colin. He had fallen asleep in the car, but when Cassie picked him up he instantly started saying “Cow! Cow!” So no real nap for Colin. August played at the play structure a bit longer, then came in. He and I played with water and dirt and then he nursed. He was roughhousing with me and Carly on the beds, then went to the bathroom. He wanted to go upstairs so we went up and looked around but didn’t read any books.
He was hungry so we went down to the kitchen and he had some ramen and seitan soup while Carly cooked the mushrooms and spinach for the pizza. We put some mushrooms in August’s soup: “That one was super good but the last one wasn’t.” What made that one not as good? “It was just how it growed.”
When Vivian came in he started to have some problems. He wanted to watch a video with her, but as I moved his chair he reached out and pulled his hair. First time he’s done it, so seemed like he just did it to find out what happened.
He ended up nursing a bit later and was falling asleep. But got him back up and he and the other kids made it through dinner while watching some Sarah and Duck, taking turns choosing episodes and smearing pizza sauce on my iPad. The pizza turned out really well though, with goat cheese and spinach and olives and fake pepperoni and artichokes.
Carly gave him a bath. Today it was his left foot that he didn’t want in the water, so Carly drained it and washed him that way. After his bath he was playing with the drain, but a few seconds later said “If you put your finger in your ear it hurts.” He burst out crying and then went in to nurse. I told him that Oma was going to read Bread and Jam for Francis: “When they’re done I want them to read it again.”
Vivian had been looking at her reading and math flash cards, then started pushing them under the door to August. Eventually he was outside with her, pushing them under the door to Carly, who pushed them back. Hyper time ensued after that and Colin joined in. I kicked them out of the bedroom and they cleaned up at one point, then Vivian dumped them out again and they ended up putting them down their shirts and then “peeing” them onto Carly.
Got them cleaned up again, then Chuck and Cherie headed out to the RV. I finally got the kids corralled and in on the low bed. They each got a pillow and each got their water bottles. We read about half of Bread and Jam for Francis, then Cassie and Jeff were outside and invited them to help bail out the pool. So we went out and did that, and Jeff got Vivian with a bucket of water. August wanted me to pick him up and take him over to the grapes where Vivian and Colin were getting raspberries. I took him over and he chewed and spit out several sour grapes. I took him inside to check on Carly although he said he wanted to stay out. He was getting tired. He hummed the entire time he was falling asleep, gradually getting tired, and was asleep by 8:30.