He was up at 7:45. He was about to open the door and go out but then saw me and gave an excited “Oh!” He jumped on the bed with me and curled up next to me for a couple minutes, then headed out to join the craziness. I had been up since a little after 6. Lot of Arabic and listening to audiobook and having tea, but went back in the bedroom for some quiet and to rest a bit. August came back in and got the Xbox controller. He said “It’s a search drone remote control.”
Kayla discovered nail polish somewhere and got some on the floor. I took a shower. There was lots of foosball and video games. He needed to go to the bathroom and we went to the back bathroom. I commented on the sink and how it has a picture of flowers in the actual sink. He said he has a sink with chemicals and wires in it.
Thatcher was playing Minecraft on the Xbox downstairs and August wanted me to go down and see it. We went down, and Thatcher had stopped playing. We turned on Minecraft and started figuring it out. Thatcher came back and started playing too. It first was in survival mode, but then I got them into adventure mode, and then just builder mode. Thatcher kept talking about killing everything they saw, and I was trying to convince them that that wasn’t the point of the game, and that you couldn’t get hurt in builder mode. August didn’t believe me though, saying “Thatcher said…I believe everything he says.” Also, it is really hard to teach a 5 and 7 year old how to do something when a.) they have an attention span of 3 seconds and b.) they think they know everything already. I did figure out how to create new blocks, but when I handed the controller back to them they couldn’t do it. They explored for a while longer, but that is as far as we got.
I got them to turn it off after a 6 minute timer, then I got him soup and dried mango, But I don’t think he ate much. They were then in the living room, throwing stuffed animals around and doing somersaults and the like and repeating “I dare you to do this.” A generally new phrase for August, at least to say, although we’ve read that Double Dare book dozens of times.
Eventually, everyone went to the beach. Carly and August drove. I worked a bit longer, then walked down. The adults were sitting up above, and the three kids were walking down along the water, exploring. I didn’t really feel like sitting anyway and was listening to my audiobook, so I walked back for August’s new sun hat. When I got back to the beach though they were coming back up.
We were all back about 1:45. He played with Thatcher. They went downstairs, and when I went down Derek and Thatcher were playing foosball. August sat with an Xbox controller, watching them, and said he was playing a video game.
He and I went up in the room and did a Brother game. He wanted to show me something from Craig of the Creek, so we watched that and it is the one where they worship a dog and find a toy in the mud. We played that, but the creature was real. It turned out that everyone thought August was upset, but we had just been playing.
Carly came and got us when Chuck arrived with Cassie, Vivian, and Colin. Cousin camp was now in full swing. When August stopped to go to the bathroom he asked me “Can you wipe for me? I’m kind of in a hurry here?”
We all headed to the beach at 3:40. I caught up after making tea, and Cassie caught up with Colin after she convinced him to come; he was busy playing with the cars. They were in the tidal stream area at first and August was wading with Vivian and Thatcher. They then headed around to the rope swing, wading through the muddy area along the way.
Cherie found sand dollars for him. He said “I talked to the government.” Sand dollars are worth a dollar for real now. He almost handed them to Cassie, then said “Oh.” He said he could tell them apart based on their shorts and watches. They took turns on the swing, and Carly got him on for his first turn on it. Eventually, we headed back, getting here at 5:15. Carly had headed back before to get tea. As we walked back she was walking the other way, to the beach, and kept going to enjoy her tea and do some reading. Cassie pointed out that August wouldn’t have let her go off like that last year.
We went into the room, and he wanted to play with his iPad. We discussed the wi-fi password, and he asked what a ‘cottage’ is. That was the word of the day. He wanted Minecraft on his iPad, but it is 7 dollars, or $6.99, as he kept reminding me (not 7 dollars). I bought him a blocks building app that was 2 dollars instead, but he didn’t really like it. We re-downloaded We Aaargh Pirates though and he played a little of that. He told me a joke he said he made up: “Which side of a cow makes the milk? The udder side.”
Out in the living room he called Cassie “mama”. Not clear if he’s actually mixing them up, or if he’s joking about it so he can do his tests. He ate a good amount of pisole and avocado and chips and milk for dinner, then Carly got home. A lot of craziness after that, with all the kids running around and pretending the house was filling up with something. Think they all went for a walk too, and Carly went with. I was in the room, working.
Carly gave him a bath and washed his hair. He had his lollipop in the bedroom so the other kids couldn’t see. We started a Brother game, but then Vivian etc. asked to play. He was in their room for awhile with Cherie, and I think he watched Colin’s bath. Vivian then read to him from her iPad. That was very cool. Cassie said she basically puts Colin to sleep sometimes. While she was reading August kept disappearing in the crack between the mattresses, but he kept listening. I then brushed his teeth, and left him and Carly at 9:10.
Minecraft 1:
Minecraft 2:
On the beach:
Cousin camp on the beach 1:
Walking on the rocks:
Cousin camp 2:
Cousin camp on the beach 3:
August on the rope swing:
Cousin camp craziness craziness:
Vivian reading to August:
