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.