Category: Uncategorized

Today we saw my friend Sarah and her family in Edmonds and then we had dinner with my family and relatives on the waterfront. 

Our first stop was in Edmonds at Sarah’s house. We ordered Thai food for lunch, which Carly went and picked up. August played a bit with Lauren and Andrew. I gave them small gifts from Korea, and the Tayo bus was a big hit with Andrew. 

From there we drove down to Marina Beach Park in Edmonds. August fell asleep as we got out of the car. We had about 40 minutes of sitting in the shade and reading before Paul showed up. My parents showed up a little later and August woke up. He was instantly thrilled because of seeing them but also because we could see the boat forklifts working in the marina. We walked over and watched the boat lifts for awhile, then went down to the beach where August worked on his rock throwing. My mom supplied him with rocks and I helped him work on his arm form, which he would then practice before throwing a rock. 

Dee, Grant, Cailen, Clover, and Darrin then showed up. We had a few minutes to visit, then headed over to Arnie’s for our 4pm reservation. 

We had a great dinner. Most of us got scotch in memory of Grandpa. And Cailen and I had the Copper River Sockeye, figuring that is what he would have wanted. 

August was full of energy, having just recently woken up from his nap. Carly spent the most time with him, but my mom and I both helped. He discovered door stops and played with those. 

When food came he did a pretty good job of eating. He said his made up word for ‘noodle’ dozens of times, and also loved the dessert sampler that Carly and I got. 

After dinner we walked north along the waterfront. When we came to the part where you have to go on the sand we stopped. August played in the seaweed with my dad and we hung around that area for awhile, but about half the group didn’t seem to want to walk in the sand so we turned around. 

We went back to the restaurant area and stood around talking, with August as the center of attention. Eventually we went our separate ways. August fell asleep at 8 as we got off the freeway. We got him to sleep in the bed, but he woke up at 8:30 and wouldn’t go back to sleep. Eventually, I took him for a walk down 76th, then back up to Greenwood where we walked back and forth. He liked the view looking up through the trees lit by street lights. Eventually, he went back to sleep about 10:30. 

 

Morning: 

At Sarah’s: 

Playing with Andrew: 

Lauren reading to Carly: 

Family meetup at Marina Beach and dinner at Arnie’s: 

Watching the boat lift: 

Enjoying the weather and view: 

Teaching him to put on his shoes: 

Looking up at the trees on our late evening walk: 

August had fun playing with Thatcher in the morning. They both thought it was funny to throw shoes and a tea wrapper into the recycling bin. Before we left the house he figured out how to scoot backwards while sitting on the floor, and he stood on the scooter and held the handles while we pushed him around. 

We then headed to downtown Seattle. We parked at Pacific Place where Carly needed to do some shopping. August and I walked over to Westlake where we admired the fountain and played at the playground (which turned into just him walking around the square). We then walked over to Pike Place Market where we admired the fish, heard a busker singing Dylan’s “Rock Me Mama”, and saw the gum wall. He also enjoyed the busker drummer and piano player we heard on the way. 

We walked back up and waited for Carly at another store. While we did we listened to another busker across the street. 

The three of us then walked all the way to the sculpture park. August played with the stacking toys in the building there (same as we had played with at the DDP in Seoul) and walked around a little in the sculpture park. But as we passed the Calder piece he suddenly wanted up and promptly fell asleep. 

We continued on and found our main goal: the new sculpture, called “Echo”, by Jaume Plensa (a sculpture we discovered at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England). A 40 foot tall elongated head of the nymph Echo from Greek mythology, it didn’t disappoint. 

We continued walked up through part of Myrtle Edwards Park and then walked south along the waterfront. We bought sandwiches at a deli and ate them on a bench outside the aquarium. He woke up. We walked back to our car at Pacific Place, cutting through the market to do so. 

From there we drove up to Capitol Hill and parked on 15th, where we got a coffee and started walking. We stopped at the park across from Group Health to feed August, then continued to the green building and park at 15th and Madison to meet Carly’s uncle Hank. We played for 45 minutes – August liked digging in the dirt and playing I Spy. Hank was running late so we started walking again, but he caught up to us and we all went to a green area at Seattle U. 

We visited and August walked around and practiced going up and down stairs. hank left and we continued a walk around the campus. We stopped at the fountain to let August do a little wading and at the student union building to use the restroom. There, he walked around and admired the art and tried to play in the lost and found. 

We walked back to the car. It felt farther this time. By the end of the day (the hottest 4th ever recorded in Seattle) we had walked about 11 miles. 

We drove back to Greenwood and went to Ken’s Market where we bought meatloaf and pasta salads. We went back to the house and ate them along with the leftover salad. August then took a nice long bath and then went to sleep quickly after I read him some of Thatcher’s books. 

 

Morning:

Scooting backwards is a new thing:  

As was riding the scooter: 

Downtown: 

Sculpture park: 

The main reason we went to the sculpture park was to see the new Jaeme Plensa sculpture: 

Capitol Hill to Seattle U: 

Feeling bark: 

Stair practice: 

Meeting uncle Hank: 

Seattle U fountain: 

Back at the house: 

Starting to enjoy the bathtub on his own, at least for a few minutes: 

I woke up a good hour before anyone else in the house. So I had some tea and leftover cobbler for breakfast and did some catch up on blogging and reading. 

When everyone was awake Derek made French toast for breakfast. After which Carly, August, and I hopped in the car and took a short drive over to Stephanie, Nate, and Ruby’s house. 

August loved the house and yard. He played a lot with the kitchen set and toy blender and spent a little time in the wading pool. After he treated us to homemade scones and aero press coffee, Nate took August and me to the backyard and let August do some watering with the hose. I had to help control the hose, but August caught on to the idea of watering plants pretty quickly. 

Ruby also had a toy lawn mower and August loved that. We took it to the front sidewalk so he could push it more easily. 

For most of the time there August played pretty separately from Ruby. But near the end we were all inside and they were working together on putting stacking rings on a post. It was the most intently he has actually played with another kid. 

It was close to one so we headed back to the house as Anneka, Anthony, and Becky were coming over. August fell asleep so I stayed here while Carly and the three of them went up to Martino’s and picked up sandwiches and brought them back to here. We ate lunch, then August woke up. 

We then went for a walk, stopping by Bluebird for ice cream, and ended up at the Phinney farmers market. While Carly visited with her friends, August and I went into the neighborhood center and looked at an art exhibit, played in the drinking fountains, walked around the farmers market, and played in the playground. I showed him how to hop on the hopscotch squares, which he thought was hilarious, and then he tried to hop (which looks more like a stomp). 

We walked back to the house and said goodbye. 

Derek made a pesto pasta dish for dinner, which August liked, and Andrea’s parents came by with their own dogs to drop off Eddy. It was an exciting time – August wasn’t phased by the dogs – slightly marred by a woman who obviously needs some help yelling over the fence. 

Inside, August, Thatcher, and I played with a fan. August liked how it blew his hair and Thatcher would hold it to blow in August’s face. He would laugh and pat at his own hair. Very funny. 

In the evening, Carly and I took August for a little walk. We walked up Greenwood to 85th, and on the way back stopped at the Couth Buzzard (a bookstore) where a jazz band was playing in back. August was enthralled and we stayed for about 10 minutes. At that point he turned to Carly and basically told us he was tired and ready to nurse, so we headed home. 

He didn’t go directly to sleep, however, and stayed up to a little past 10 – basically his latest night yet. 

With Ruby and family: 

Ruby with the satchel we gave her: 

Walk to the farmers market: 

Back at the house: 

Watching some jazz: 

 

We have made it to Seattle. It made for a long, tiring day, particularly for August who seems to be going through Granma and Granpa withdrawals. But it was a lot of fun. 

August slept late, giving us some time to pack and hang out with my parents in the morning. Once everyone was awake, my mom made scrambled eggs for breakfast and we kept packing. 

We left about 10:30 and made our first stop in Wenatchee where we dropped out car off at Jiffy Lube for an oil change. We walked over to Hastings and had shared a mocha and let August play with some of the toys while we waited. We went back to Jiffy Lube and the car was done and we were back on the road. 

Our next stop was McDonald’s in Leavenworth for a quick lunch. Despite the quick visit, August still ended up playing in the water from a faucet attached to the building, using a salad bowl lid as a toy. 

Somewhere around Monroe he fell asleep and slept until we parked at Ken’s Market. While Carly picked out some ice cream and snacks, August and I smelled the flowers and coffee and named the fruits. 

We then drove to Derek and Andrea’s. Thatcher and August got off to a good start. They played in the house for awhile and then we all ended up in the back yard, where Thatcher introduced him to playing in the mud. 

Derek made delicious shrimp and tofu tacos for dinner, after which we all went for a walk to a pea patch. Once there they played on the grass hill and in a rocky area for awhile before we headed back. August was obsessively pointing out the hoses and sprinklers that each house had. He is also, apparently, really into pointing out basketball hoops. 

Back at the house Carly gave him a bath upstairs. Despite looking and acting tired, however, he bounced back from a first attempt to put him to sleep. He finally went to sleep a little past 10. 

He is doing pretty well with their names (Andi, Dee Dee, and Atcher) and can point to them. He is also now picking up on ‘no’ and repeating it. He apparently had done this with Carly a couple of times, but I just heard it today. 

 

In Chelan: 

Seattle: 

Pea patch:

Sunk cost fallacy aside, we made good use of our Discovery Pass while in Chelan. Alta Lake was the fourth place we used it. 

We started our day by going to Walmart to try and get our oil changed. After dropping off our car and walking around for 30 minutes, we noticed our car hadn’t moved. We went to check only to find out the guy that would work on our car was coming in an hour late. So we left. 

We went home and my mom made waffles, fulfilling one of our eating goals for the summer. He then had more fun shoveling sand on his granma’s legs. 

We then packed and headed out to Alta Lake before it got really hot. We had a great time up there. It was mainly empty. Carly spent a ton of time floating in the water. And August played in the water a bit more than he has done at the city park. When he got tired my mom and I took him for a short walk and he fell asleep. We went back to our shaded spot in the grass and I read for the next 90 minutes as he slept in the carrier. 

After he woke up and played a little more, we headed home. But first we stopped at the Rest Awhile fruit stand in Pateros and for milkshakes. August got to try peach, raspberry, and blackberry shakes. And he ran around, most interested in a broom, a bucket with cherry pits, and the display of sunglasses. 

Back home Carly and I spent a lot of the evening packing up. But for dinner the whole lot of us walked up to the taco truck to pick up food. We came back to the house and ate out on the deck. August sat with us and ate a little of our food, but mainly went for the spaghetti from last night. He was looking quite orange by the end of it – not all of which had disappeared by to end of a long bath with Carly. 

 

Morning:  

Playing at Walmart: 

Laughing: 

Alta Lake: 

Milkshake on the way home: 

Home: 

Chuck and Cherie left today. This morning they came over around 7:30 and we (except for my parents) walked to the Artisan Bakery for coffee and a light breakfast. We got our food to go and took it to the same area Carly and I went the other morning. Along the way August kept requesting that Cherie sing the turtle song. 

August was having a blast playing with our cups at the park. Cherie would stick them and he would knock them over. So we were there until a little past 9. In fact, we spotted Paul as he walked to work. 

We came up and Chuck and Cherie went to their hotel to check out. They came back on their way out of town to say goodbye. 

He took a nap and then Carly put him in a swim diaper and took him in the pool. 

When he was going down the back porch stairs with me he made it all the way to the bottom but then stumbled of the last step and hit his nose on his shovel, causing his first nosebleed. Not too traumatic though. 

In the afternoon we drove in to the library and he played with the toys there for 45 minutes or so. We also ran into Vicki who lives down the street and her grandson. August really liked the magnets, magnetic letters, and this wooden mailbox with wooden envelopes that you fit in the slots. 

My mom and dad went to the post office and then my mom came to the library, so she was there most of the time. We then went to Safeway, where August very clearly remembered the ball racks and the drinking fountain. He has the store pretty memorized by now. 

We came home and I watched the second half of the World Cup match (US beat Germany 2-0). 

My dad made spaghetti, meatballs, and zucchini for dinner. All went well and August ate a lot of zucchini except for an unfortunate handful of spaghetti sauce that ended up on the carpet. 

Mom tried to give him some apple pie after dinner, but he rejected it pretty decisively after one bite. He did eat a lite crust off of mine. 

Unlike yesterday it took some work to get August to sleep tonight. I read the One Fish Two Fish and Harry Builds a House books with him and did more of his stickers. He then literally hopped on pop when I laid down on the floor. I also did ‘Tickle’ with him a few times and finally wore him out. Carly still had to wrangle him to sleep as he kept standing up and walking around the room – even trying to climb up on the bed. 

 

Morning walk: 

Home: 

You can see the remains of his bloody nose: 

August was awake at 6:30. Carly and I were going to take him for a walk, but then it started raining. After it stopped, I took him out to the garage and he stood in the sink and played. When I came back in Cherie had arrived (Chuck had gone on a walk). 

He spent the next few hours playing with the grandparents. And apparently his truck noises are louder today. Also, Cherie has been singing a song to him involving bubbles, and August can clearly say ‘bubble’ now. 

He took a nap and afterwards we all drove out to the state park. Carly, Cherie, and Chuck did some floating. August went and played on the shore a couple of times, but mainly my mom and I took him up to the low faucets with short hose attachments for washing your feet and he played in those. He particularly liked the water overflowing the drainage area and making a little stream down the sidewalk and steps. 

When they came out of the water, Carly took him for awhile and went up with him. But mainly he wanted to play with a different faucet – one that didn’t work. He has an eagle eye for spotting faucets now, and was disappointed that there were a few in the park he couldn’t play with. 

Before leaving we walked over to the stream and walked up it a little ways. Not far as it was blocked by fallen trees. On the way there I was holding him high above my head so he could see everyone walking behind us. He found that amusing. 

We drove back to town and Chuck and Cherie walked down to the house. We looked at menus and decided on trying the Fox and Quail. Dinner was good and August was fine, but our meals didn’t work out well for August, so he mainly ate a piece of whole wheat bread from Chuck’s sandwich. 

We all walked back to the house and Chuck and Cherie stayed until August went to bed. Cherie went in with Carly when she gave him his bath. 

Fox and Quail:

Back home: 

August woke up early again, so this time both Carly and I took him out for an early walk. We walked over to the Chelan Artisan Bakery where we each got an iced latte and a pastry. We then walked back to a bench by the flag pole in Riverwalk Park and ate them. August played there for awhile but eventually saw all the pipes outside the hardware store across the street and wanted to walk that way. So we went over and played in the drinking fountain by the bathrooms before heading down to the pipe/bridge area and letting him run around on the bridge. 

We walked around the park and briefly went to the water area at the ranger station to get in the water. August wasn’t interested though so we kept going. 

Back home he played in the water in the bath tub and started using the little green cup to drink water from the faucet. He also spent a lot of time playing outside with Carly and my parents. He is apparently making noises when pushing the truck around, but I haven’t heard it yet. 

After his nap we found out that Chuck and Cherie were still quite a ways away. So we decided to go over to the city park. But when we got there the lot was full. So we went to Safeway and bought a few things, then headed home. 

Chuck and Cherie showed up and brought mac and cheese and salad for dinner. We hung out until dinner and August did a good job with all the foods. 

After dinner we all drive over to Lakeview Drive-in and everyone else got ice cream. August got to taste most of them, but didn’t go crazy. A good first experience for ice cream. He liked walking around with me (I didn’t have ice cream) and in particular he loved the cooling fans on the other side of the building. One was huge. 

We drove home and mainly hung out on the deck. Carly is taking August for a bath every day now and he loves it. Before bed I was reading him One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss and we were calling the “little fish” a baby. He then started calling everything ‘baby’ in a funny voice. 

Morning walk:

Back home: 

Lakeview Drive-in: 

Bed time: 

Enjoying the fan: 

August woke up really early (before 6) this morning so Carly took him on a walk. They got coffee downtown at the Vogue and then went to Riverwalk Park and played in the grass. 

They came home and he took a nap. After his nap, I took him out on another walk. We walked across the new bridge and walked around the high school and football practice field before taking a break at Centennial Park, a little park up the hill from the ranger station. We played in the drinking fountain and sat in a bench for a snack. He then walked around the grass and by the flag pole.

We walked home through Riverwalk Park. We took another August break at the boardwalk bridge by the pumping station so he could watch water coming from the pipes. He clearly knows the word ‘pipe’ now and was saying it over and over. Apparently he was saying it earlier when he and Carly walked through the same area. 

Back home he played with my parents: using the broom, getting my dad to put the bath toys back together when they came apart, having my mom help him give the doll her pacifier, etc. 

He took a long nap. After that he played outside in the sprinkler with Carly and used his cloth swimsuit diaper thing for the first time while he played in the water. 

We had an early dinner. My dad made stir fry and rice, which August gobbled down – except for the cabbage. 

After dinner we drove down to Long Park in Chelan Falls by the powerhouse. Carly floated in the water. August played in the water for a little while with the net and two plastic fish, but was more interested in a bucket someone had left on the beach. That didn’t last long either, however, and he wanted to go play in the drinking fountain we had seen on the way in. He has quite the memory. 

So I took him over there only to find that the drinking fountain didn’t work. Nor did the outdoor shower or faucet. August was not happy about that and didn’t really recover after that. 

We went home and he had a nice long bath and play time in the tub before heading to bed. 

Morning walk:

Centennial Park: 

Riverwalk Park: 

Watching his favorite pipes: 

Home: 

Long Park: 

Bring on the heat. From here on out it will reach 100 or thereabouts each day for the rest of our time in Chelan. 

So I took August for a long walk this morning when it was only in the 80s. We walked under the bridge and through Riverwalk Park, ending up at the ranger station. We sat at the picnic table, looking up lake for a few minutes. August pointed out all the buoys we could see. 

We then walked back the other side of the park and went to the boat launch. We watched a few dogs play in the water and a couple boats get launched. I would load up my hands with little rocks and pieces of wood and we would walk out on the dock and August would throw them into the water. 

On our way back we stopped at the Fox and Quail and got iced lattes for Carly and my mom. And I took photos of the lunch/dinner menu. I asked the waitress for an extra straw and has her give it directly to August. We hurried home so the lattes wouldn’t melt. 

He was looking tired – he stared at the ground those last three blocks – but perked up for awhile to play with the vacuum cleaner and watch my mom use it. 

He then spent a lot of time playing with the dryer both before and after his nap. 

As it reached the hottest point of the day, we decided to head to the city park. Carly took the floaty things we bought a couple summers back floated in the lake while August and I played in the park. He played in the lake for awhile, then we went up to the grassy area and played in a picnic shelter, where there was a tiny puddle on the ground. We went back to the lake for a few minutes, then walked through much of the rest of the park, looking for a drinking fountain. He liked the basketball hoops and also the rap music that some guys were playing really loudly. 

Carly finished with her floating and we then walked to the drive-in. Carly got ice cream and I got an iced tea. We sat and enjoyed those before heading back to the car. 

We stopped by Safeway and bought a bunch of fruit and garlic bread for dinner, then headed home. 

At dinner August ate pork chop and cauliflower for the first time. 

After dinner he had fun doing handstands as Carly held his feet, and used the push broom outside on the deck. 

He fell asleep about 8:30. 

 

Morning: 

Morning walk: 

Sitting at the ranger station: 

Back home: 

Don Morse Park: 

Little puddle: 

Back home: