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August started the morning by watching Vivian and Thatcher walk on blocks then looked at rocks with Oma. We then all went outside to play in the driveway and water plants. Before Brenda showed up, Carly was vacuuming downstairs and the vacuum cleaner became his favorite toy of the day. We would use it several times throughout the day. 

Brenda and her three kids showed up about 10:30. The party started downstairs before moving up to the main floor and then outside. We ate lunch and after August’s nap went for a walk through the nature area about 1:30. We walked down to the pond where the kids loved throwing rocks. Luckily, no one fell in (although Vivian came closest). 

Back at the house, August and Adam interacted a bit more and we spent a lot more time playing with the vacuum cleaner. 

They left around 4, and then Carly, August, and I headed to Walmart to get supplies for the party on Saturday. August got to sit in a cart for the first time and enjoyed that. And he quickly caught on to the idea of putting things he wanted in the cart. 

We finally made it out of there with a lot of plastic stuff and came home to where Derek and Cherie had prepared tacos for dinner. 

After dinner there was another kid play session in the driveway involving water and watering. There were a buck and fawn walking past the house and the kids got to see the buck. August wanted ‘more’ but we couldn’t find the fawn. Eventually he was okay with going back to playing with the water. 

I took a bath with him around 8 and he went quickly to bed after that. 

 

Morning: 

Brenda’s visit: 

Evening: 

Trip to Walmart: 

Playing out in the driveway before bedtime: 

We (Cherie, Cassie, Derek, and I and the four kids) managed to leave the house right as planned at 10. We took two cars and met up at the children’s museum in Olympia. 

They played until about 12:30. It was busy, but not too bad. August first played in the boat/stream area, then went upstairs where he mainly played with the wooden train, put Lego pieces in the (fake) tree roots of the play structure, went down the slide (the slowest slide he’s been on – it was no Korean slide), and made a mess at the sensory table. 

We then went to another area on the second floor where vacuum tubes carry balls and scarves and spit them out above us. He was intrigued by this area – particularly the large fan above – but was afraid of the spots you place the balls/scarves and would cling to my shoulder if I got close. 

We then all went outside for lunch and ate at some benches across the street from the museum. From there everyone went back across the street to the fake stream play area adjacent the museum. But August and I went for a short walk. He quickly fell asleep. I dropped some cassette tapes off at Don’s Cameras to be converted to CDs, then walked along the waterfront and through downtown. 

By the time I got back to the stream the others had left and Carly was reading her book. I sat and read until August woke up. He then had a blast playing in the stream. I had a plastic yellow ball in the backpack and we played with it at the end of the stream where it flows into a bunch of grates. We would drop/throw it upstream and watch it float down. August really liked doing that. 

From there we walked through downtown once more (with Carly this time) and then back to the car. 

We drove home and had spaghetti that Carly made for dinner. August didn’t eat a ton, but he had eaten a huge lunch. 

After dinner the three kids were playing outside in the driveway for a long time. August started by using the big brooms to sweep the garage and August finished up by wanting to water. So we filled the watering can for him several times.

He took a bath with Carly. As he was starting to nurse to fall asleep and I was leaving the room he would pop up and sign and say ‘more’. Why I said ‘More what?’ he would point to me. This happened a couple times. So I hung out in the room for several minutes before leaving him to fall asleep. 

 

Frizzy hair: 

Puddle time: 

Olympia Children’s Museum: 

Playing in the stream: 

Walking around Olympia: 

Back home: 

A very long day, but a good one. It started out hectic as pretty much everyone in the house was up at my usual time (by 7) when it is nice and quiet. So I went for a two mile walk. When I came back, August was just getting up. But his first attempt playing with the two older cousins and Eddy was a bit rough: Eddy gave him a little lick, which August thought was a betrayal and he gave her a long shocked look, Vivian then grabbed his hand (innocently, but August didn’t think so), then Thatcher accidentally whacked him in the head with a large car toy as they were passing on the steps. 

But the rest of the day went more smoothly. A bit later I got a couple of metal bowls, water, and rocks for him to stir with a spatula (Carly was making spaghetti and he really wanted to help stir the sauce) and he played contentedly by himself. And three times during the day we went out to fill the small watering can and water plants around the yard. 

In between, he had a lot of interacting with other kids. At 10:45 we met Monique and her friend and a combined 5 kids to walk along the Discovery Trail. August started to get sleepy so we came home. I was doing my best to keep him awake in the car, but he didn’t quite make it home. Luckily, he transferred easily to bed. 

In the evening we went to the usual Tuesday dinner at Steve and Claremay’s. A huge turnout and preview of what’s to come this Saturday. August did a pretty good job of just plunging into the crowd, then lounged in my arms for a relaxing meal (mainly eating the spanakopita that Cherie made and some potato) before heading out into the yard to play in the water with Hattie (about the same age as him). 

I missed the two of them playing together as I was eating dessert, but came down as August was soaking himself with the hose. We played down in the yard for awhile longer before heading home around 8. 

Here, I took him outside for his last watering session of the day. We ended up watering the mint in the front yard, then he wanted to shoot baskets. The hoop had been lowered for Vivian and Thatcher, so I could lift August up and he could make a slam dunk. Carly came out and played as well. 

Finally, Carly took him up for a very long bath. Near the end she snuck out of the bath, but he soon realized he was alone and told her to ‘sit’ back down. He soon went to sleep after that. 

Discovery Trail walk: 

Back home, mixing rocks: 

Dinner at Steve and Claremay’s: 

Evening: 

Watering the mint: 

Bath time. Cup on foot: 

Walk while Carly was off in the morning to get an eye exam, Augist and I went for a walk. We walked from the house down the road, through the natural area, then back along the road. 

During the day, two sets of visitors showed up. The first was Monique, with her two boys, Rowan and Ellis. The four kids mainly played in the water and sand down below. 

Later, Cassie’s friend, Diane (I believe), came by with her three kids and they hung out downstairs in the family room. 

In the afternoon, I decided to introduce August to watering the plants and he loved it. We used the hose to fill the dishes for bird baths and to fill the watering can. I held him up and we watered all the plants on the back porch. He particularly liked the flowers hanging to the right of the back door. 

We then took the watering can to the side yard where he could stand and water plants. Vivian helped a little as well. 

We then skyped with my parents, making plans for their visit this weekend. August was very excited to see them and played the up/down game for the first time in awhile. He also started saying ‘gramma, gramma, gramma’ a lot more after the call. 

Before dinner, Carly and I took August to downtown. We got a frappe at the Station coffee house and walked up and around the college. As we were crossing the street, Carly’s cousin Levi surprised us from behind. Or, he sort of did, as August dropped his straw and I turned around to pick it up and kind of interrupted his surprise. 

We came back for dinner, which we ate on the back porch. In the evening, Carly played a nice game of chase around the kitchen island with August, and August played with Colin by giving him his shovel and admiring the monster on his onesie. Colin also played with August’s stuffed rabbit, Blueie. 

He took a bath with Carly and went to sleep around 9. 

Morning: 

Our morning walk: 

Play vacuuming: 

Monique’s visit: 

Learning to water plants:

Going to town: 

Dinner:

Evening: 

In the morning, after breakfasts and showers, Carly and I took Vivian and August downtown to Santa Lucia coffee. They played there and then we walked over to the park in front of the library. Vivian didn’t understand why it is called a park if there are no toys, so we walked back to the car and went to the playground at Borst Park. 

They had a ton of fun and worked together pretty well with putting rocks on the slides and sliding down into the rocks. We also went on the swings, and Vivian went on the climbing structure for awhile before getting a little scared. 

In the afternoon we piled into two cars to head over to Steve and Claremay’s house. Carly drove the other car with Cassie and Colin, so that meant I was alone with Vivian and August. It went smoothly though, and actually Vivian is really good to have in back with August because she entertains him. 

At their house we all visited on their new back porch. Vivian and August played with squirt guns and smacked on the fruits and veggies Claremay brought out. August ate a little cucumber, then a ton of cantaloupe and little tomatoes. 

We went back to the house for dinner, where he just kept eating and eating: tofu, chicken, broccoli, and noodles for dinner, then sharing a bowl of apple sauce and cinnamon with me a little later. 

In the evening the three of us went on a little walk around the house, seeing a mama and baby dear lying down below the house, and around 9 we could all see a huge rainbow over Centralia. 

Santa Lucia: 

Borst Park: 

Steve and Claremay’s: 

Eating cantaloupe. Blurry, sadly: 

Claremay and Colin: 

Back at the house: 

I made it back to slightly chaotic Centralia a little before 1. I had breakfast and a couple lattes at Peter’s house before leaving at 10:30. Traffic was fine through Seattle, but in the usual places south of that. 

Once I was here we all ate some lunch then, with Chuck, went down to Borst Park to visit the house. The house is pretty impressive, but it was dark as the volunteers couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights. August made it through the ‘tour’, then he and I went and played on the porch while Carly and Chuck looked around. 

We then all took a walk around the park and to the baseball fields, where they had watched some baseball the day before. Before we left, August had fun running and playing in the big grass field near the car. 

We came home and spent most of the afternoon inside due to the rain. However, at one point we went outside to the driveway where Vivian (home from a party with Cherie and Cassie) rode her scooter (without pants), Carly rode the skateboard while using an umbrella, and August played in puddles and watched Chuck shoot baskets. 

After dinner August was looking tired kind of early. Close to 8 I took him for a short (15 minutes) walk down the street to get some fresh air. 

Once he was asleep I helped Carly plan her first couple of units next year. We made some good progress in planning her units on innovation and its consequences. 

 

Reunited with Zinnie, in a very familiar shirt (I think I remember my brother wearing it as a kid): 

Borst House and Park: 

Back at the house: 

Playing in the rain: 

On a walk: 

The evening: 

From Thursday to Saturday I headed up to Edmonds to stay with my friend Peter and attend our book group meeting. So, not a lot of August here:

 

Thursday: 

I left a little 6:30 this morning and drove 4 hours north to Lake Roesinger to meet at Peter B.’s cabin for our book club meeting. I took all blue highways and only stopped once, at Cedar River, to hike along a trail for about an hour. 

I arrived at the cabin a little after 11:30. That all went well, and we left around 5. I had picked up Peter and his two kids and Chris. They had ridden up with Stacey but she had to leave earlier. 

We made it back to the house and relaxed for awhile, then drove up to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. 

From there we drove down to Edmonds and walked to the water, getting frozen yogurt along the way. Well, they all did. I was way too full. 

Back at the house I talked to Carly. Sadly, August was already asleep. But she told me that she and Cherie had taken August and Vivian to a couple parks to play, and that Cherie had bought a rocking cow (or pig or something – but not a horse) that was August’s size. He was a bit afraid of it at first, but after seeing Vivian and Carly on it, he warmed up and had fun getting on and off it. 

To end the day Peter and I watched the movie Whiplash, which was nominated for best film last year. 

August before I left: 

Cedar River: 

View from the cabin: 

Sunset at Edmonds thanks to the smoke from Canada: 

Friday: 

 

Peter and I walked to QFC for breakfast items before the kids were up. In the morning I skyped with Carly and August. We then decided to go on a bike ride with the kids along the Burke Gilman Trail. Thus ensued about two hours of preparing bikes, which included driving up to Harvy’s Bike Shop for a new tube and figuring out how to get four people and four bikes in/on his hatchback. 

But by 12:30 we were off. We drove to Matthews Beach on Lake Washington and started from there. We rode to Gasworks Park and hung out there for awhile. We then rode back and stopped at U Village and locked up the bikes. We looked for a place to eat and ended up at a teriyaki place right outside the village. 

We then rode back to Matthews Beach, finishing about 4:30. 

Peter and I put on some of his old jazz cassettes (mainly Red Rodney and Cannonball Adderley) as we’d been talking about jazz after the movie the night before. As we listened to that we started a game of Killer Bunnies with Micah. The game was paused for dinner and resumed afterwards. Took about two hours thanks to the four expansion decks Micah has. 

In the late evening Peter and I watched the Hal Hartley film Simple Men from 1992. I particularly liked the Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack. But also a very funny movie and holds up pretty well 20+ years later. 

August and Carly had gone to Borst Park during the day. He slept 12 hours the night before and then took a two hour nap during the day. Vivian must be wearing him out. But then he stayed up until at least midnight. 

Riding the Burke Gilman: 

Hanging out at Gas Works Park: 

A pretty smooth day. In the morning I took August for a walk while Carly packed. We walked north to 87th, playing ‘I Spy’ as we went. We crossed paths with a woman with a boy in a stroller heading the other direction who was also playing ‘I Spy’. 

We walked over by Top Ten Toys and then south, then did a lap from 78th down to 76th to smell more flowers. 

We got home, finished packing, and got on the road a few minutes past 10. We stopped for gas then went to REI. I tried on baby backpacks. Carly got some shorts and I found a nice hat for August for next spring/summer. 

Back on the road, we were going to stop at Hank and Judith’s shop. Carly was driving. But August fell right asleep so we kept going. He slept all the way to Centralia. 

He woke up when we stopped the car, the was pretty dazed for the first several minutes with Vivian. But he came around and they had a great time the rest of the day. Playing in the sandbox was a big thing, as was playing with water on the deck. 

I made a run to Safeway. Later, I made banana bread. August ate all of my cooked carrots and several bites of my mashed potatoes when I got back from the store and had dinner. Cherie sliced up watermelon for him and Vivian and they ate a bunch of it out on the deck. 

While Carly took a shower, August and I played with the black fan on the bed. He would ‘relax’ against the pillows with the fan blowing on him, work on figuring out the dial on the fan, and push it off the bed. 

It was fun to hold Colin and see how much August has changed. Perhaps the most amusing thing of the day was how many times August called Carly ‘Tia’ or Cassie ‘Mama’. 

 

Morning walk. Note the bee: 

Thatcher’s rocking horse: 

Napping on the way down: 

In Centralia: 

Holding Colin: 

Carly took him for a walk in the morning again. 

We then headed to Edmonds. We visited my friend Sarah and her husband and two kids, Lauren and Andrew. We ordered Thai food for lunch and Carly was nice enough to go pick it up. We visited for a couple hours. 

Next we drove to Marysville to visit my grandmother. August got confused because I was walking to Carly about “Grandma”. August heard this and thought we were taking about my mom. He got really excited, and then disappointed when she wasn’t actually there. So we ended up calling her ‘Grammy’, which seemed to work even though the word is quite close. 

The visit went really well, however. Grandma sat in her chair the whole time and wasn’t very communicative. But she did focus on August after awhile and once reached out to touch him. One of the women that work there brought out a doll that my grandma likes and gave it to her to hold. 

We then came home and I watched Thatcher while Derek made dinner. 

After dinner Carly, Andrea, and I took August and Thatcher to the pocket park.

 

Morning: 

With Peter and Kasiah in Edmonds: 

With Grammy: 

Beeping her nose: 

Back in Seattle: 

Pocket park: 

He woke up early, so Carly got coffee and took him on a walk to a pocket park on 76th where he had a lot of fun. 

We the had some time to play with Thatcher in the backyard and house. August pushed the lawn mower around and continues to love Thatcher’s fire truck. 

We then drove over to visit Stephanie and Ruby. We did tempera painting on the porch, played inside for a little while, walked their dog to the vet, and then walked to a nice coffee shop called Java Bean. August fell asleep on the walk and woke up during our stay at the Java Bean. 

August really got into the tempera painting. It was his first real focus on an art activity. He and Ruby were interacting a bit more (beeping her nose, for example) and it was good to see Ruby, who can be rather shy, really interacting with me and Carly. 

We went back to the house for awhile then drove down to Capitol Hill for dinner at Hank and Judith’s. 

We picked raspberries with Judith while Hank started dinner. August helped by dropping the berries in the basket. During dinner August ate salmon and lamb. Ethan showed up, and really entertained him by doing handstands and cartwheels in the grass. 

By the end, as he was getting tired, he was really excited by watching the bees and flies on the plastic the fish had been in, and looking in the barbecue. 

He made it home awake and took a bath before going to sleep. 

Morning:  

Stephanie and Ruby: 

Hank and Judith and Ethan: 

Back with Thatcher: