He woke me up at 6:35 then my alarm went off. Actually, he said he woke up at 6:34, as the first thing he did was check his watch to see if it was 7 yet. We got to packing, and he had oatmeal that Cassie made for breakfast. I had cereal, then found out that Andrea had made a berry pie so had to have a slice of that. While weighing luggage August weighed himself and he is 38.2 pounds according to that scale.
We left at 7:40. With us being driven by Chuck and Cherie taking Cassie and her kids. In the car he told us “This is the part I’ve been waiting for.” And “Did you know I like landing because it’s satisfying…because I can feel it.” We drove through the new tunnel. When we’d discussed routes this morning I realized we’d missed our chance to see the waterfront without the viaduct. Probably my biggest regret of things we didn’t get to do this summer.
At the airport we said goodbye at the curb. We checked our bags, then headed through security. We were full of stuff, so it took a lot of bins. The kids handled it all well. At the gate (A9) I watched the stuff and Carly took the kids to keep riding on the moving walkways for a few minutes. Cassie and Carly took them to the Coffee Bean and Tree Leaf to get coffees and snacks. Cassie took some convincing to go there as opposed to Starbucks, but I think it was farther away/busier. August had chocolate milk, and they also had donuts. Carly and I shared a large latte. August and Vivian then started playing Minecraft.
We boarded the plane and got in our row (36, I think). August at the left window, then Vivian, then me. Cassie across the aisle, then Carly, then Colin. August and Colin would both end up switching to middle seats during the flight.
And then the delay. Not because of weather, but becuase someone had tried to flush paper towels down the front toilet and clogged it. It took about an hour before we got going. August and Vivian played a lot of Minecraft, and we saw Lake Chelan again as flew over. August switched to watching new episodes of Inspector Gadget for awhile, then spent some time just sitting. We had some sandwich, and the maple cookies they brought, and Vivian and August both had apple juice. Then back to Minecraft. I meanwhile was able to finish an audiobook.
I took August to the bathroom twice during the flight, then Carly took him before we landed. One time he asked me “What’s exotic mean?” We landed at 7:30. He told me “Dada, did you know ultraviolet is a color compound?” We finally made it to the gate at 8, but then the captain said we were waiting on a jetway driver.
Finally off the plane, we went to the bathrooms again. He was hydrating well, as Carly said he peed a bunch. We met Jeff at baggage claim, then said goodbye to them as we left the building. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a Lift driver, Feyesel to show up.
It was a nice Honda Civic. August happily told him “The fastest route, please!” I sat in front. August didn’t want to use his iPad as the battery was down to 18 percent. Instead, he watched the shows on Carly’s iPad that she had downloaded for Colin. We got to the house at 10:20.
We had vegan Chinese food they had picked up on the way home. Jeff told us his story about getting a fortune cookie that said “Take the first one from the right.” He took the parachute on the right, then the guy that had ended up with the one on the left was slightly injured in his jump.
August and Vivian had their fortune cookies and I helped them understand them. August’s was about how doubt is the first step to wisdom. He ran over to Carly and told her “To become wise you have to question things.”
He and Vivian played with a remote control helicopter, then were jumping off the bed. He played with the electric piano a few times. Colin was a doggy fetching the sticks (bones) that August threw, then August built an antenna-looking thing out of them: “This collects data…this is my data picker upper.” When it picked up a signal he said “A MAD agent is outside our house.” An Inspector Gadget reference.
They got to see the clocks turn to midnight—the first time I think August has seen that—and we finally got their teeth brushed. We left it all a bit too late, as at about 12:15 Vivian told August he couldn’t play with the piano, so he pushed her, then shoved her hard in the stomach. We took him in to bed and he fell asleep about 12:40.
Taking off with Vivian:
Singing during the flight:
Landing in Newark:
Remote helicopter:
Story time with Ata/Mama:
11:59:
