He was up right at 9:00 and called me up. We sat on the couch and read Sideways Stories from Wayside School. A word of the day was pupil. We then went downstairs and played Minecraft in the challenges flat world, mainly exploding beds and TNT in the nether. We had oatmeal for breakfast, and he wanted take it upstairs to eat as he wanted to do a Brother and Sister game. We went upstairs, and he asked, “What’s in vein mean?” Another new phrase. On the bed he remembered the Brother games where he is fighting the tide, then for the shark game I taught him about lemmings, even though they don’t actually jump in the sea. Then there was a game where Bar found Brother annoying, so she turned him into a squirrel. And another where Brother met an archer in the park, and Bar turned him into a squirrel again.
Eventually we went downstairs and watched the new Pearl Jam video for “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and he was figuring out how to play dominoes on the games app. Carly headed out on an errand, swinging by the pharmacy and then Max to get more face masks. We had pita and hummus and watched GoodTimeswithScar. We then chose about 10 of the papers with things to do on them and put them in the basket, but first played chess together and made schnitzel for lunch.We ate outside and soaked two games of Snakes and Ladders after he drew the paper for board games. He was laughing a lot as I kept sliding back down the snakes. He won the first game, but I won the second.
We went back inside for more lunch and he drew ‘Prehistoric Roadtrip’. He listened to some Supersonic Piano, then we watched Prehistoric Roadtrip, basically finishing the first episode. He then drew ‘Sign Language’. He fooled Carly into thinking he had drawn ‘Read a book’ before showing it to her. We all watched ASL Rochelle, the second video, and learned “Please sign slowly” and “I’m learning ASL”.
He next drew ‘Khan Academy’. He worked on rounding with her, using the same 4th grade course. They then did yoga, at his request. After that he wanted alone time. He listened to “The Very Sick Goblins”, and played War against himself.
Before Minecraft though he agreed to a bike ride. Actually, he went back and forth a few times between that and a walk before we ended on bike ride. He first had me shuffling the cards, and was interested in sleight of hand when I called it “Magic”. Something for us to watch/learn about later. As we left he remembered the “Sidewalk Sealant” song.
As we rode he sang a version of “London Bridge”, making up lines like “build it up with sidewalk sealant…sidewalk sealant is for sidewalks, for sidewalks…” He had agreed to ride over to the horses and sang the whole way. I had stopped the bike for one second though by the horse field before he insisted we get going again. We rode back and stopped at our park, where he got on the exercise equipment and talked about his favorite ones. He held his chocolate bar to melt it, and looked up at the big trees along the streets. They are the ones that they really cut back this last year, and they now have green puffs on them. August said, “Those look like Dr. Seuss trees.” He was very much correct.
He wanted to walk back to the house and read in the swing. We did that, and he liked all the chocolate off the bar, and finished Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Filch was another word of the day. Back inside he counted how many devices we have, then asked, “What’s the word for someone that doesn’t use technology?” He meant luddite. “We’re not luddites.” He then remembered his thirty minutes of iPad time, so we played Minecraft.
He was with Carly for a while as I worked. They played some chess, and he drew ‘treat’, so had one of his Halloween treats. He drew ‘earn a star’ but then chose to just play with Desmos, although I think they moved on to something else. Carly got up and made turkey patties and fresh green beans, and he listened to “The Bunny’s Bug Leap” and maybe another.
It was then time for Minecraft with Vivian and Colin. I went for a run, and they were in the Nether when I got back and he showed me the sort of home that they’d made. I took a shower, and he started playing chess with Cherie, and discussed salt intake with her. Carly went for a walk. August had the air conditioner on cold, just as he likes it, and Carly brought him food a couple times. Apparently, August just had Cherie play the computer the entire time and he watched, laughing a lot. But I also heard him coaching her a lot, so it was good. I think they’re playing again on Saturday.
It was time for a bath, but August asked me about noble. We discussed the many meanings of it, even using a dictionary. He then said, “I was tricking you by asking about a word.” He had delated a bath. He was then trying to ask me what a salamander is. Carly gave him a bath, and then we were discussing books she could read to August while he started listening to “The Mighty Shadow”. We then went in his room and he finished his crackers and listened to “The Giant’s Daughter”. We brushed our teeth, and I read a little of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. New words were hold my own and ominous. He really liked it and wanted me to keep reading.
He tried to hide under the pillow, then told me he was hiding from brushing his teeth; he forgot we’d already done it. For a music request he asked for music about hiding. We listened to songs about hiding by Elvis Costello, the Boomtown Rats, and Okkervil River, then I put on Jherek Bischoff’s Cistern Improvisations. He was asleep right away at 11:20, resting his head on his hand.
Snakes and ladders:
Yoga time:
Piano time:
Seuss trees
