He woke up a couple times and fell back to sleep. The first was around 5 when he woke up and panicked because he didn’t see Carly. He was then awake a little before 9 and I said good morning before I headed to town.
I went to Union Coffee to work. The other coffee shop in town, Baby Harry’s, has closed. I got a couple of breakfast sandwiches and a latte and worked until a little before noon. There were a couple of ‘free’ boxes in front of the secondhand store next door. I found a Paw Patrol book/playmat thing and took it for Colin. It was missing its play figures, but Colin has his own he can put in it.
When I got back they were out back running through purple and green smoke fireworks. They then came in and we got ready to go down south and play in a stream. I got to drive in a car by myself. I followed them down to Penn Pump Park near Easton. The park was closed for a graduation party, so we turned around. We stopped at a park area on the other side of the stream, but there wasn’t good access to the stream. So we drove up to Braden Park a couple miles north.
Success. We went in the shade and had some lunch. I took August to the outhouse. Cassie took Colin to the swings and August climbed on stuff for a minute, then we moved over by the stream. We started playing in the stream about 2 and were in for just over an hour. A larger family group came and we moved our stuff to the side. The kids did a lot of wading, and played with the squirt guns and buckets. Colin was squirting muddy water and I said it looked like chocolate milk, so then he was squirting chocolate milk on the rocks.
We got going after 3, but spent some time at the playground. August had asked “What’s ‘geographic’?” A word of the day. I pushed Vivian and Colin on the merry go round, then Carly helped. August tried to explain “Here’s the thing about life: one person’s right, one person’s wrong.” He was also joking something about “Acorns on the ground…things are about to get nuts.” He seemed to have several lines from Craig of the Creek today. He then told me all about traveling in four dimensions and “portal holes.” I got a series of photos of him demonstrating traveling through a portal. He and Vivian played on the teeter totters, then we got going.
I lost them at a light and got back a little before 4. I beat them, as they drove by a pool to see how busy it looked. Vivian and August went upstairs and were practicing a ribbon dance for Carly and Cassie. I had told them happy birthday earlier by sending all of the birthday-related emojis I could find. Colin showed me his room and we played in there. August and Vivian then did their dance performances downstairs, first for Cassie and Carly, then for me and Jeff. Vivian had flower crowns that they wore and August tied his ribbon to it.
There was a lot of playing with that air rocket launcher today, then he and I were figuring out the toy cash register. Cassie went to work. We were having corn and fake bacon sandwiches and leftover sushi for lunch. August was playing with the crank car with Colin and got upset when Colin tried to make him stop for dinner. There was a standoff with August holding the car over his head so Colin couldn’t get it. He tried throwing the car at Colin. I took August into the bedroom. He was pretty calm, and pretended to be a clam and a turtle. He went out and said sorry to Colin. I had also practiced explaining why he was upset, but he couldn’t get that sentence out to Colin.
He ate corn and sushi for dinner. Vivian was making pretend pea soup, so August joined in, using the little toy blender. He spilled on the floor and was frustrated. Carly took him for a few minutes. He finished his dinner, then he and Colin shared the crank car. I played with Duplos with Colin, making trucks, then they went out for fireworks. Jeff lit off several. August is much braver about them this year, standing on the porch and covering his ears with Vivian.
I went in and worked a little, then went back out and they were still doing fireworks. They finished by popping Pop-Its at my feet. They caught fireflies—August is a pro now—then Carly took Vivian and August in for their bath and they played the tea game.
I got him in pajamas, then we all had ice cream. August had his usual cone on top of rocky road. Vivian gave him some sort of pink sprinkles on it. Lot more of the rocket launcher. August took it apart and put it back together.
We got August in bed and I left them a little after 10. I showered, then went back in at 10:40. He was still awake and Carly was pretty much asleep. Carly had taught him a mantra “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” He wouldn’t chant it, but he sang a song about people climbing and climbing to the 4th dimension, then the 5th. I strted singing the big numbers song and he yawned. I sang all the way up through nonillions, ending with googol, and he was asleep by 11:05. A little earlier each day.
Bushkill Creek 1:
Bushkill Creek 2:
Bushkill Creek 3:
Explaining portals in space:
Practicing the ribbon dance:
Ribbon dance 1:
Ribbon dance 2:
Fireworks:
Pop-Its:
