Carly headed to the Acropolis at 7:30. She got to the east entrance in plenty of time before it opened at 8 and had already purchased her ticket. So she was one of the first people in, and actually the first one up to the Acropolis. She saw the changing of the guard ceremony that happens.
August was up by 8:10. He cuddled on my lap for quite awhile and played the game where he eats my snacks but finds out they had something in them. ‘Carrion’ was a word of the day. He then wanted a brother and sister imagining game. They found an owl, and ended up naming it Swoops. When he had breakfast he wanted to add points for eating a bunch of strawberries. Brought him up to 50432.
We then watched more of NextGen. He stopped to go to the bathroom, and told me how he makes things out of all sorts of broken machines: refrigerators etc. He built me one of the robots. It cost me 4000 euros. He stood on the toilet and looked out the window for a long time and used infrared to track a thief. Like in the movie. He asked why our hotel was the “fanciest thing” then sang a “fanciest thing” song.
He was playing with something and I was about to take a shower when Carly called. We went down and let her in. It was 9:40. I took a shower. He played Infinite Arcade and Khan Academy Jr., and we watched the Marble Machine X video, #77. He ate the rest of my cheese and chicken sandwich from the grocery store, and we discussed our plans. He was saying “Next stop, Syntagma.” after I was trying to remember how to pronounce it. He really has it down. And he told me “I’ll climb the Acropolis with you, dada.” Later in the evening he told me he had just been joking.
We started to change him, but he put his pajama pants on like a cape, then put on his underwear and was being Captain Underpants. He was pretty hyper for awhile. He was jumping on Carly, who was on the bed. I reminded him of our family guidelines: “Oh, yeah.” On the bed he started chanting “The bunny scout guideline is useful, is useful.” The bunny scouts part is from Max and Ruby but he said he made up the line. It turned into a full performance art piece, as he put up the curtains into the door and turned off the lights, and got Carly to chant with him.
We finally got going after he made a chain of all the circuit parts. At the subway station he collected a few more receipts from the ground. Every time we get subway tickets or receipts when we pay for meals he folds the receipts into different origami shapes of his own making. We transferred and got off at Evangelismos. We walked north, up the hill and found a quiet restaurant called Filippou for lunch. We got an artichoke salad, tzatziki, and chicken souvlaki with veggies. Carly and I shared a Greek coffee. August and I played more Polytopia.
We then walked up all the steps to the funicular up to Mount Lycabettus. August had me carry him up the first two major sets, but then did the entire last set on his own. We had a few minutes to wait for the funicular, so we looked in the gift shop. August was picking up and looking at a lot of little things and did well.
He loved the funicular, which goes up through a tunnel. He stood at the glass and looked out the back. Up at the top we looked around and admired the view. It was really bright up there so we all put on our sunglasses. We went to the bathroom, then headed down on the next train. It wasn’t as crowded as the one up, and he asked why. I said, “I think most people walk.” He replied with, “Huh? Are you crazy?” We all sat on the front row, which made Carly nervous, so then August started singing a “We’re all gonna fall down” song all the way down and even as we got off.
We walked down the stairs and to the site of Aristotle’s Lyceum and the Ancient Gymnasia. Carly stayed out and read Captain Underpants while I went in. Not an incredibly exciting archeological site, but interesting to see. We then walked over to Yoleni’s, where we had eaten lunch a few days ago. August and I chose a jar of honey, Carly chose something for Mandy for watering the plants, and August chose an orange chocolate muffin for a snack which he ate as we walked.
We went to the subway and walked home. He sang an “Everybody breaks bonds with me” song. As we got close he recognized the street and we discussed ‘landmarks’. We have a couple on the way to our place: a Beetle under a cover, which hasn’t moved, and August pointed out the building that has circles in its concrete walls. We were back at 4:55.
We played with Infinite Arcade, actually changing it up and discussing how arcade games work, and Carly walked to the store for a few things. She also got him another roll of tape and AA batteries, as the ones in the circuit set are going dead.
She got home and we had carrots in the tzatziki and hummus. He liked this tzatziki. He played with circuits and made music. He had some carrots and drank strawberry juice. Carly made spaghetti for dinner and we ate.
August and I then went on a geocache walk, this one to a site a couple blocks south of the last one. He ran much of the way, stopping at each street. We found it pretty easily, and he had us sign it “Pee, Poop, and Boop.” On the way back we walked through a little park, then he found a tiny little worm. He talked about taking it back to show Carly, but when I asked what we’d do with it in the apartment he decided to just take a video of it, then leave it by some plants. He created a unit of measure called the “micrometer” to measure small insects, and told Carly all about it. It was pretty dark in the streets when we got back at 8:30.
He showed her the photos, then she gave him a bath. He asked if there were families with one dada, two mamas, and two sets of twins. He seemed mainly shocked by the idea of a family with seven people in it.
He wanted me to put him to sleep, saying “I would love that!” We read some of Nick and Tesla, I sang a little, and he asked for a story. He’d been asking about the radiators in the apartment, so I told him about the old ones we had in elementary and middle school, and how they would make noise, and how you’d be hot if you sat close to them but cold if you were on the other side. Lights off and quiet for several minutes, then, as usual, he had one last question: “Dada, do you think the strongest person in the world could bend a big block of steel?” He fell asleep at 9:52.
I forgot to mention that yesterday, on our walk back in the evening, the garage where we’ve spotted old Mini Coopers had its doors fully open. There was a car in back that looked like an XK140 at first glance. The guy was standing there and said it was from 1937 and used in WWII as an ambulance, then converted into a family car. Didn’t catch exactly what it was.
Looking out the bathroom window:
Tracking the burglar with infrared:
Captain Underpants:
Some music while he plays:
The bunny scout guideline is useful:
Silly faces at lunch:
Finishing the stairs:
Funicular 1:
Singing on the way down:
We’re going to fall down song:
Everybody breaks bonds song:
Running to the geocache:
Tiny worm: