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He got up just before 7 but no panicking today. He started to get up on the bed with me but I said it was still really early. He lay back down on the lower bed and went back to sleep. He woke up around 8:30. So a little earlier.

He had cereal for breakfast, then he and Vivian played their allotment of Minecraft for the day. He also watched something. I snuck away for about an hour of work. Whereby ‘snuck’ means sitting at the kitchen table.

We then got ready to go to the pool. Jeff drove me and the kids, and Carly got to drive on her own this time. As we got there he was singing a wonderful “Zero nine two five…lady princess dog and an old man…” song.

We got to the Bangor pool at noon. Vivian said that the pool said no floatation devices. I said that meant the big kind, and August gave a pretty complete explanation for why they would be dangerous. And he said that if it was donut-shaped though you could come up in the middle.

The others went in and I studied Arabic for a little while then joined them. We played in the pool for a while. Vivian made friends with a toddler that she played with. Jeff and I did motorboat, etc. with Colin. Carly went down the waterslide a few times, as did Jeff. We all got out and went and got mint ice cream sandwiches for the kids and a couple orders of fries and we sat in the shade. Then went back for a second turn in the pool. Jeff was holding Colin on his shoulders, then Colin would flip off backwards into the water. Quite impressive.

Same arrangements as we drove home, getting here a little before 4. I did some more work, and August and Vivian were creating a barrier, out of paper ribbon. Vivian was a bit frustrated by Colin breaking the ribbon walking through the doorway, then Carly had them all outside and she got upset over control of the hose. She came inside and went up to her room.

Cassie was making spaghetti for dinner, and said there were cheese balls and asked if August could tell Vivian. He asked if Vivian liked them, and then if Cassie had “made them just the way she likes them?” When she said yes, he went up to tell her, but her door was closed. He came down and talked to Carly about his plan to tell Vivian: He had a sentence he wanted Carly to write down, then he was going to slide the paper under her door. But before they could finish that she came down.

We ate spaghetti for dinner, and Cassie cut up a peach. August really liked it. Vivian and August watched a dark cloud rolling in. Vivian said she didn’t like it, and hid under the table. August joined her, and they had a sort of fort under the table. When the cloud made it dark, he explained the relationship between us, the clouds, and the sun by describing a chart, assigning numbers to their height.

It started to rain, and we all went out to watch. Vivian and August each had a ‘spy ball’ that they’d been using to spy on all of us, and they were now throwing them out into the grass to do research. Vivian would run out and get them. I went back in at some point, but apparently August went to the bathroom outside, as I heard him say “I will always pee outside. Then I don’t have to worry…” “Next time we move let’s move to Pennsylvania so I can pee in the grass.” I played trucks with Colin. We were looking through his tubs of Hot Wheels, etc. and I was looking at them and lining them all up.

Carly, Cassie, and I took the kids for a walk over to the ‘lake’. August wore Vivian’s pink rain boots to walk through the deep grass. Then, as we walked out into the area where they’ve built fish habitats, there was more mud, so August wore them again. Vivian and August climbed on a rock pile and put one of their balls down into holes to do research. We talked about how the fish habitat would work. Carly, Cassie, and Colin headed back to the house after Carly brought him out to where we were for a minute.

August and Vivian weren’t ready for ice cream, and instead we explored out the other direction of the ad hoc roadway that has been built in the lakebed. We spent 15 or 20 minutes tromping through the mud. August and Vivian were being “daredevils.” We would have kept exploring if Vivian had her way, but eventually August decided he was ready to head back.

We got back after 8, and the kids decided they wanted banana splits. Cassie made them for August and Vivian. Colin asked August “Autust! Why you no like rain?” I did a little more work as they went in for a bath. August and Vivian were quite hyper. Colin got upset about something, and August gave him a slightly funny, but ultimately mean nickname (like ‘cranky toddler’). I told him that would be a “Mean moniker.” I explained what ‘moniker’ meant (a word of the day). August was trying to tell me that he was hungry at the time, and he said “Teaching me words does NOT make me not hungry.”

He had cereal with soy milk. We brushed his teeth, then he and Vivian noticed that there was a lot of lightning off in the distance. They watched out the windows, and we turned off all the lights. They went upstairs to see it out those windows. I went up before 10 to tell August it was time to come down, and they were in Colin’s room with Cassie and Colin. She was reading the Paw Patrol book that I’d gotten to him. Vivian was rubbing wax from a candle on herself as “perfume”, but she just smelled like a stinky candle. August didn’t want to go downstairs, but I eventually convinced him to go downstairs.

We got him in bed. He wanted Carly tonight, but said I could put him to sleep tomorrow. He was a asleep by 10:40.

In the pool:

In the tube:

Watching the rain:

Spy balls in the rain:

Walking through the mud in pink boots:

Spy ball in the fish habitat:

More mucking through the mud:

Lots of laughing:

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:

He yelled for Carly about 8:50. He fell back to sleep, head facing the foot of the bed, and slept for another hour. Carly and I had gotten up around 8. I was catching up on journaling, being 4 full days behind due to our busy schedule and my cold. I didn’t see them for a while, and then they came out looking for supplies for his sorry note for Vivian. They got a bottle and taped a piece of paper on it and he wrote ‘sorry’, then hid it for her to find when she woke up.

I made myself tea, and ended up using the two-week old half and half. Luckily, it wasn’t too bad. August walked out and said “Uncle Jeff was walking by and didn’t even notice me…I was invisible.” He was hungry so I got him multigrain Cheerios and soymilk. He’s been on a soymilk kick the last few days, having it in his cereal.

August then looked through the toybox. Cassie took a couple toys up to Colin’s room that might be difficult for him to share, and August suggested a firetruck that might be difficult. He then played with the air rocket. One got stuck up on top of the refrigerator area and Cassie used the ladder to get it down later. Colin was down first and they took turns with the rocket. Vivian came down about 11. They took the rocket outside, and Vivian found a ripe tomato.

Back inside they negotiated turns on the rocket. August really likes that thing. He sat in one of the butter chairs and called them the “twin chairs” since there are two of them.

They went on August’s iPad to play Minecraft, then switched to PBS Science at some point. They were doing a great job sharing, but Vivian was ending up doing most of the playing; I was a little concerned that would be an issue later when time ran out and August realized he hadn’t played much. August had some apple, then I made him fake chicken nuggets. I cut up carrots for everyone, but don’t know if he ate any.

I had taken a shower in there, and Cassie went shopping. Jeff mowed the lawn. Carly cleaned out the blow up pool and refilled it.

They got off the iPad and went back to the rocket, mainly. There was also a spider in a cup at one point, and then they convinced Cassie to move the couch so they could make a fort. August randomly ran up to me and said “Did you know dance helps everything?…Dance solves everything.” I don’t know where that came from.

He asked to go to the bathroom and explained he didn’t have to really go at the moment, but he wanted to do it early. I mentioned pausing my work timer because Omar doesn’t need to pay me for watching him go to the bathroom. August said “I know what Omar should pay you for: writing a book.” I said that was basically what I was doing, then he said “After you’re done with the book for Omar you should write a book for me.”

They made their fort, then were pulling Colin around on a sheet and pillow. They would do that a couple times in the day before getting bored of it, then I would pull him around later.

They went out in the pool for a few minutes with Cassie, then were over picking all the peas. Colin is fascinated by a neighbor boy, Jason, who rides by doing wheelies on his bicycle. So when Jason rode by with two friends, going up and down the street, Colin started yelling to them. August got into it a little as well, yelling “Hey! Three boys!”

Cassie got some of the smoking sort of fireworks and lighted those for the kids. They ended with the red, white, and blue smoke one that they dance/run through the smoke.

Vivian had said she was really interested in rolling sushi, so they then went inside and Vivian helped with that. August just ate it. Both he and Colin would have coughing up sushi moments. There was more pulling around of Colin. Vivian had gotten down her magic set and shown August some of the tricks and let him do them. The most popular was the broken magi wand that gets fixed when you flick it. August and Colin kept playing with it. When Colin wanted it this time August let him have it and set a five minute timer. He then decided that Colin could have it as long as he wanted.

It was kind of a grazing dinner, with people eating at different times. Got August back to eat more and he said “I’m so full of sushi there’s sushi coming out of my eyeballs.” Vivian asked about Colin’s fortune from last night. I knew where the paper was so got it: “An ounce of gold cannot buy an ounce of time.” August said “But an ounce of gold can buy an ounce of blueberries.”

There was more fort making. August said “Did you know that time doesn’t count as a thing?” I very roughly told him about how that is true in a physics sense. I pulled Colin around on the sheet. When I was getting tired and said two more minutes August set a timer on his watch.

August then played some Minecraft. Carly, August, and Vivian then disappeared. They had gone on a little walk around the end of the lake. Not sure how far they got, but they walked in some mud.

It was getting late, and it kind of started going downhill. Luckily, Carly was there and averted anything. She took them in the pool. I was out with them, but stepped back inside to get wi-fi signal for a moment. August got upset because he was being splashed by Vivian and Colin when they were splashing Carly. She grabbed him and brought him inside.

They had ice cream for dessert, or maybe that had been pre-pool. Earlier, August and Vivian got popsicles while Colin was off somewhere else. Colin got a tootsie roll when he had a bath though, so it was fair.

Carly read some books to them. I think it was Vivian’s turn to get a little upset as she felt she hadn’t gotten to choose books. Eventually they all went outside to catch fireflies. August started to get upset with Vivian again, so Carly grabbed him and brought him in. It was getting close to 9:30, anyway, and we had said 10 was going to be our bedtime. I came in and read the new Hildre Cracks the Case book to him, then the start of Ben Braver. August randomly asked “What’s a chronometer?” So a word of the day. Carly got his teeth brushed, and I said good night and left them right after 10. She read Harry Potter, then was doing a relaxing thing with him where he tightens all his muscles. He said “need a special machine to take all my energy out.”

I switched with her and ended up putting him to sleep. The first time in quite a while. I sang the usual songs to him, then the big numbers song. He said “I love you a million Qs.” He curled up against me and fell asleep at 11:20.

Air rocket slo-mo:

Magic tricks:

Pea opening:

Discussing fireworks:

Smoke firework:

Pulling Colin on a sheet:

Trampoline:

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:

He started waking up around 7. Then around 7:30 the first thing he said was “In my lab, kaleidoscope starts with a C, even in important meetings.” He also talked about how ‘centrifuge’ should start with an S. I stayed in bed because of the cold, but I think the NyQuil was also slow to wear off. A lot of noise from all the playing.

He was talking about a “Hyperbolic chamber”. From Inspector Gadget, perhaps. Not sure if he is mispronouncing ‘hyperbaric chamber’ or if it is a joke from the show. I talked to him about going to brunch: “I’m excited for waffles but I’m tons more excited for the airplane. Tons. So excited I can’t explain with words how excited I am.” Colin had fallen on a toy and needed a bandaid. When I asked August about it he said “It was a pretty big gash.”

We drove up to brunch at IHOP in Lynnwood at 10:30. We stopped for gas. The IHOP was only half open, so busy, and my dad called and said they were saying 45 minutes, so we were going to do Denny’s instead, but then they called back a minute later and had two booths. So we met them there. I wasn’t very good company, but started to feel much better when I started eating. I had the country fried steak, and August chose the strawberry and cream crepes. Carly also got a side salad. Dee and Grant and Mom and Dad were in the other booth, and I sat next to Paul.

Paul got his luggage and we said goodbye in the parking lot. My parents and Dee and Grant drove Carly and August back to Derek and Andrea’s house, while I drove Paul’s car over to Peter’s house. That at least gave me a few minutes to talk to Paul. We talked about going camping again next summer.

At Peter’s I said goodbye to him and he headed back to Chelan. Mom and Dad are staying in Lake Stevens for another day or two.

Peter and I had a good day hanging out. We started with the last episode of Too Old to Die Young. We were pleasantly surprised by the last episode, which was only 30 minutes. Our expectations weren’t very high, but we thought the contrasting scenes of Diana and Yaritza summed things up quite nicely. A satisfying thematic end as opposed to an episode that tried to tie up all the narrative threads, which would have been unsatisfying.

We sat around and chatted for awhile, then went out for a drive. Stopped at a physical therapy place for him to see about an appointment, then he showed me the marshlands place in Edmonds. We drove down through the fancy house area and into Seattle and looked at Top Ten Toys. Couldn’t buy anything because of luggage space, but got some good ideas. We drove back north and stopped at the farmer’s market place to get veggies and tortillas for tacos for dinner. I was feeling much, much better by now. This morning, and even at the end of brunch, I didn’t know if I’d feel like staying for dinner.

We went back to the house. Kasiah was babysitting and they had made amazing cupcakes, with sprinkles inside, that would be dessert. We grilled some corn and he did the tacos. The four of us ate, then Christine showed up before we had cupcakes.

Peter drove me home about 8:15.

While we were gone, the other kids had gone to the Ballard Locks. That made it an easy choice for August to go to brunch as he didn’t want to go out in the rain. Andrea’s parents and Billy had then come over. There was a cake for Cassie and Carly and Happy Birthday was sung. They had also brought over the bins of old Thatcher clothes and Carly had chosen a bunch of stuff.

They were still there when I got there and the kids were up finishing baths. Vivian and August were just getting out. We got them dressed, then they went in the play room. Kayla had first choice and they watched some Halloween song videos. Then they watched a show called Dino Dana. August seemed to like it pretty well. Two episodes, I think. They spent some time jumping into the fort that was where Thatcher and Kayla were going to sleep. We then got his teeth brushed and into bed. He told me “Try putting me to sleep as fast as you can. I love the night time. I love it.” I left them at 9:25.

Skateboarding for the first time:

Towel battles:

Cousins watching together together:

Jumping in the fort:

He was up just after 7:30. I was still resting in bed due to my cold, but doing pretty good, considering. When I got up I was in the kitchen. Cherie asked if he wanted any of her yogurt. He said he was full, but then immediately saw my cereal and got excited for the sugary Cheerios, with soy milk. Made his yummy noises. He had a bowl of that, then was playing with Colin. In the bedroom he sang about a CD cover and random lines like “Star Wars is just Star Wars…”

I prepared snacks and helped clean out the cupboards. He and Colin and Vivian were doing a great job of playing and letting the adults pack up. At one point he tried to take Colin’s water gun away, as he thought that Colin would spray it in the house, but I was able to convince him to give it back. August also had me do the ball maze thing, which we had done so much of last year, for a awhile. He was singing a song with lines like “That’s the glorious end of the treasure…”

We all got packed up and everyone was leaving within a few minutes of each other. we left just after 10. He watched Inspector Gadget. We had some snacks, and he got a Q cracker. He said “Q. The best letter in the world.” That made me happy. He asked what ‘zowzers’ meant. A word of the day. He had a little Brother and Bar game where Brother is stealing tooth fairy money from kids and he is caught by Bar using security cameras. I think Inspector Gadget influenced.

We met Brenda and Matt in Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill. We walked over to Rancho Bravo Tacos. I took August to the bathroom. We ordered some tacos and sat outside. We talked, and when August was done we did some Brother game (a girl with laser fingers, which they used to break into Sister’s diary), and he also swung around a post and climbed on the fence. August told them about My Planet, although a little reluctantly: “And that’s all I’m going to say about it.” He had seen an M&Ms machine inside, so Carly gave us a quarter and we went and got a handful.

While we were sitting outside I pointed to the Oddfellow Cafe across the street and told August that was where I saw my first concert (D.O.A. and Alcohol Funnycar).

We walked back through and around Cal Anderson Park to see all of the construction over the finished light rail station. Would have liked to walk up to the north end to see the actual station, but we were short on time (we also parked across from the new Richard Hugo house, which I would have liked to see). We got back to the car and said goodbye to them at 1:50. As I got him into the car he told me a joke: “A triangle was walking in the park: ‘Aaaagh! Trapezoid.’”

We stopped at Haggen’s and I ran in to get a selection of Kona beers. We got to the house at 3. We saw Dee’s flamingos (her friends had surprised her with own ornaments for her birthday) and the hamza from us hanging by their door. August got his finger pinched in the screen door.

There was a lot of talk about calculus, and August showed Paul the graphing calculator and the coordinate numbers. He asked Paul what they meant, and when he explained August went and grabbed Carly and brought her over so she could learn too. I’ve started to explain them before, but he really listened to Paul. After that, we were figuring out how to plot individual points and simple equations.

Cailen and Clover showed up, then Darrin and his girlfriend Julie. First time I’ve met her. We went outside to eat. There were beef burgers, lamb burgers, and hot dogs. I had lamb. There was also a really good pesto pasta.

August had an audience and was really performing. Julie has two older boys and seemed to handle him well. When August was eating Doritos but licking his fingers they put some on a plate for him. He talked about some food being his favorite, then turned to Carly and said “ And my second favorite…you…I love you chocolate mama.” And he told everyone to eat faster as he wanted dessert. He didn’t know for sure that there was dessert, but said he expected it. He asked me “What’s Junior scouts? What’s a ‘code?’” We discussed those, and he also was asking things like “Where’s great great great great great…grandma?” Carly said something about ‘serfs’ so another word of the day. Darrin mentioned a great-great-great grandfather who had drunk himself to death and August heard that and asked about it later.

Dee brought out a big cake for all of our birthdays. Rather an important year, as Darrin just turned 50 and Carly is turning 40. We took photos with the cake, then August had a big corner piece. He randomly asked “Do you know what I do with bones when archeologists don’t want them any more?” Mom then brought out birthday presents for Dee. August helped her a bit as he was getting the things to pop. He was pretty much drunk on cake. He would wander over to the cake and say “Look at that glorious cake.” He popped bubble wrap. Paul helped him with the smaller stuff that needed to be twisted. He kept saying “Don’t push it, dude.” Which is from Elephant and Piggie.

Dee had bought a couple of big bubble things, and Carly and August did those. A bit later he asked Dad to do them. August was saying things like “Come to papa.” “You’re a bubble making machine.” And earlier, when I was sitting on the picnic table, he sat on my lap and I was a rotating chair machine. At the height of his cake drunkenness he said “Where’s a semicolon cookie…I’m really into the word semicolon right now. It’s satisfying to say.”

I think it was a little past 7 that I suggested it was time to go. I had handled it pretty well, but my cold was making me really tired. Out at the car Mom, I think it was, spotted a bald eagle sitting in a tree at the end of the road. Crows were yelling at it. We had a great view of it as we drove by.

At the house I basically went straight to bed. August played with a cool clock toy they have that helps you learn how to tell time (you turn the hands of the clock and the digital time changes, and it also quizzes you). He watched the Inspector Gadget episode where he’s sick. And he told me “Don’t breathe on me.” They went to bed sometime after 9.

Odd and even:

Between the chairs 1:

Between the chairs 2:

Spinning around a post:

At Dee’s:

Math with Paul 1:

Math with Paul 2:

The birthday cake:

Helping Dee open presents:

Bubbles:

When I first got up I saw August cuddle up against Carly and wrap his leg over her. Colin was up early again. I worked in the corner, but he eventually wanted me to read Elephant and Piggie and I went back in the bedroom when he was getting upset. August and Carly started stirring at 7:40 and were up a few minutes later. August had cereal and a cinnamon roll. When I came out he and Colin were both playing the rabbit game.

It was a rainy morning. I read part of Shivers, then part of an Elephant and Piggie. I then went and took a shower. When I came out August and Vivian were playing Wizard School back in her room. There was lots of GroForest, as all three of them have it on their iPads. I made lunch for him. Nuggets and broccoli and almonds. Carly made a number line and was doing negative math with August and Vivian. They were then being cats and dogs with Cherie. Colin was a dog, Vivian and August were cats. We got ready to go to the pool.

I walked down, listening to the Neil Young book Special Deluxe. I had thought they were about ready to head down, but I probably had about 20 minutes before they showed up. At the pool I went in the pool with them first. The other adults went to the hot tub. There was a girl about August’s age named Mikaela. After a while I got out and did some work.

When they headed back I walked back via the west path. I actually walked all the way down to the beach, then walked back along the beach. Right after I left the pool I realized that my left sandal was broken in the back. More like a flip flop now. That made going down the path and climbing through the downed trees along the shore a little more challenging.

I got back at 3:20. Cherie had read the entire Elephant and Piggie book to the kids. He was being grumpy about Colin again, and said that Colin isn’t his friend. I got August cereal, with soy milk. He had it fall off again, spilling all over the floor and him. He got upset and threw the salt container. I took him in with Carly and I cleaned it up.

I started to sneeze as I shopped for shoes on REI. I hoped I was just allergic, but I had a feeling pretty soon that I was coming down with a cold. We had dinner, then Chuck made a milkshake for everyone. He talked to Cherie and she told him that she loves all of the grand children equally. August (I think) pretended to be shocked: “I’m sweeter than him. I’m the best…Huh? They’re all even‽”

We took the kids out for a walk to the tennis courts. He started with Oma before me. I caught up, and he found the same stick from yesterday along the side of the road that he and Thatcher had used as a laser thing. At the tennis courts there was no ball, so we looked in the bushes. No luck. He and Cherie and Colin were throwing pine cones back and forth over the net. August found a metal pipe and showed off his sword moves.

August was in a good mood and being silly: “Let’s talk about silly stuff, like let’s destroy the International Space Station. Let’s rob the bank.” “Airports are the best. I love lines…the airport smell…there’s a certain smell to airports….and I hate being on the ground. The ground is an idiot.”

But then it started to rain. Just a few drops at first. August started to panic rather quickly. He insisted I make everyone head back, but they were heading down to the dock and watching the mama and baby otter. August wasn’t happy sheltering under a tree, then wasn’t happy with the actual picnic shelter, refusing to stand under it, and getting wetter and wetter instead. When he started running away from me I picked him up and carried him back to the house, screaming part of the way.

We made it back to the house just before it started to get really heavy. He hit me as I set him down, and I sent him into the bedroom with Carly. I went in with them after a while. I went out for a bit later, but mainly the cold was coming on, and I went to bed.

Being kitty cats:

Being kitty cats 2:

Pool time:

On the tennis court:

Sword skills:

Pine cone tennis:

August came out at 7:50. The cinnamon rolls that Andrea and Derek made were ready. August had one, and Thatcher woke up. Andrea used a sheet to make a fort in the area behind the couch. At first he and Kayla didn’t want to let Colin in, but we talked to them and they were all able to play well together.

When August went to the bathroom he asked about a world record for someone having digits of pi in their brain. We looked it up and read about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Haraguchi. ‘Cheat sheet’ was a word of the day when we talked about the requirements to prove a world record.

There was more playing in the fort and with the circuit set. When Thatcher and Kayla were sort of arguing over some car August went and got Andrea. And when Colin knocked down part of the fort August went and got Thatcher and Vivian to help rebuild it. August also sang a “1 plus 2 plus 3, calculation, calculation” song at one point.

They all went on a walk to the beach, from 9:40 to 11:10. I stayed at the house and worked. It was rather chaotic as they got back. Calmed down as they got some lunch, of fake chicken nuggets. Colin kept running around with his bottom falling out of his shorts. And the kids were telling each other crazy jokes, like “What do pillows sleep on? Pillow pillows.” August grabbed his iPad, which got their attention, but then he turned on one of those marble videos. I successfully got them to switch from that to Berenstain Bears.

Derek and Andrea and Thatcher and Colin left. The remaining kids said goodbye, watched a little more, then got bored. Cassie took Colin on a ride to take a nap. Vivian said that Thatcher always has ideas on what to do. And they said that Thatcher told them he gets a whole day timeout if he touches Derek’s car. We talked about how that is probably an exaggeration, another word of the day.

Carly and I took Vivian and August to the club house. We were there for maybe 45 minutes. They played around with the pool table and ping pong, mainly. And also looked at the board games. August played a few moves of his watch game using my phone. I watched part of the British Grand Prix, as the internet at the club house was faster and I could actually watch it.

We got back after 2. I watched Vivian and August as they played in the garage and boat garage. I wouldn’t let Vivian play with the real darts. August played with the bike pump, pretending to pump up tires on the tricycle, then pumping up my toe. We found the croquet set and took it to the back yard. August had fun hitting a gas tank with the croquet mallet that made a sound that reminded me of a buddhist temple. We played with the wickets and balls on the forest floor for around 20 minutes. Rather challenging.

We went inside, and August went to the bathroom. He asked me “Is an integer times an integer always an integer?” We talked through different version, like integer plus integer, integer times decimal, and integer plus decimal.

August and Vivian played in the fort area for a while, but August broke a tiny and dollar that he found, which apparently Vivian had cared about. She left and he just sort of looked at it for a few minutes. I talked to him about it, but that was the end of it.

We had talked about going to the pool, but then Vivian or Carly brought up swimming in the ocean, and then also paddle boarding. So we did that. Chuck had put the paddle boards in the car, then August and Vivian rode in the car with him and Cherie, while Carly, Cassie, Colin, and I walked down. Chuck and I carried the paddle boards to the beach.

August climbed on the rocks a bit while Cassie and Carly started paddle boarding. He asked me “What’s compliment?” Vivian climbed on the front of Cassie’s, and August soon wanted to join Carly. I went and got a life vest from the car (Vivian was wearing August’s) and August wore it and joined Carly, and a bit later Colin, who had been up on the swings with Cherie, joined them as well. The paddled all around the beach area there, as the tide kept coming in. I was sitting in the grass by the sea wall, finishing the Saeed book. I eventually had to move as I was getting wet when the boat waves came in.

They came in for a snack and to put on August’s sun hat. He also needed to use the bathroom so I took him. I was then pushing both him and Colin on the swings, first as they lay on them, then sitting. When I asked why the kids always face the forest, they then turned around to see the water. Vivian was burying herself in the warm rocks, and August helped. August was also quoting a scene from Captain Underpants, with lines like “Cut! That’s not what horse life is about!”

We left at 5:15. The kids walked with us this time. They met a dog named Bailey. Rather big, and August went up to meet it as well. Very brave of him. August then rode on the front of Colin’s stroller as Cassie pushed. When we got back to the house and Paul’s car was the only one there August exclaimed “Ah! Yes! I don’t have to worry about touching uncle DD’s car!”

The kids started moving everything downstairs to make a fort down there, so Chuck and I moved the couch back. Cherie had made spaghetti for dinner. At first the kids said they weren’t ready for dinner, as they were making a fort, but they came up a few seconds later.

They watched something on August’s iPad, then had ice cream for dessert. August asked “Did you know kilograms and kilometers are based on ten?” Vivian and August played the tablet game with Cherie. I distracted Colin most of the time by reading the Elephant and Piggie book Biggie to him twice. That’s 10 Elephant and Piggie books in total. Chuck left to spend the night at the motor home and golf in the morning.

Cherie took Vivian and Colin on a short walk. August had cereal, banana and letter crackers. They were starting to do baths around 9, but Vivian was doing her delaying routine. August had some almonds, then when Vivian had toast he wanted an English muffins. Cherie and I moved the paddle boards in from the car, as there was a light on in it (it is Claremay’s car, and Chuck just got a new battery in it as it died at the beginning of island time).

Colin was watching Llama Llama during this, and August watched some with him. We got August in the bedroom and I said goodnight to them at 9:40.

What do pillows sleep on?:

Pool table:

Table tennis:

Croquet:

Paddle boards 1:

Paddle boards 2:

Paddle boards 3:

Paddle boards 4:

Paddle boards 5:

Paddle boards 6:

He was up just before 8. He came out with Carly, then after a few minutes I reminded him about the tooth fairy. He went back in and found the $1.50 and the note. A few minutes later he wanted some breakfast and I got him a bowl of multigrain Cheerios and Life cereal. Andrea put on a DVD of Wild Kratt (the one they watched last year) and I went into the bedroom to work.

August came in to get his iPad to watch something, but ended up watching one of those marble video game videos. When I came out all the kids were now watching that, and I got him to turn it off after a minute.I got some of Derek’s incredible creation for breakfast, and August wanted me to go downstairs with them as they played in the fort. He positioned me as a guard: “Now dada has eyes on both entrances.” Colin was in there again, and saying “I don’t like this place” but stayed in.

Carly gave him a bath with Vivian and she washed his hair. August was then watching Andrea and Thatcher play mancala and learning how to play. He was then watching Derek and Andrea sitting out on the porch and playing ukulele.

We got going at 11 to Claremay’s house. He told us “Do you know what pec is? It’s the speed of light…” He used it like a variable. I crammed myself into the back of Chuck and Cherie’s car, then the three kids were in the row in front of me. As we got them buckled August was saying “…cheesesticks, poop poop!” Quoting the owls in the Treehouse books.

I was able to watch Too Old to Die Young and listen to my audiobook both ways. Vivian and August watched videos on her iPad.

We had a great time at Claremay’s. Brad and Levi and the kids were there, as was a good chunk of the rest of the Althauser clan, although not nearly the whole crowd. August was comfortable from the beginning, and soon started with one of the little egg salad sandwiches that Claremay had made.

Glecy was there as well, and August had a great time with her. He was answering math questions that she asked, and he explained how people can’t tell the difference between his ‘thirty’ and ‘forty’. When an answer was 40, he said, “If you think I’m saying 30, three zero, you’re wrong…”

The kids had more food, and then went down in the yard to play. They mainly looked for snakes, after Thatcher had found one within 20 minutes of getting there, then there were bubbles. August came and asked if it was okay to go in the lower yard when people were going down there and I said yes. He didn’t insist on me coming with him. A bit later Claremay suggested the kids could dig up the potatoes. August led that, and they had a great time digging them all up. The other highlight was dessert and more dessert. August had some pie, peach I think, then there were cookies (he ate several pieces of melon to earn a sugar cookie at one point, and Cherie gave him more of a chocolate cookie too), and multiple trips to get licorice jellybeans, then when they were playing downstairs they found the peppermints. When Cherie was giving Colin pieces of a cookie he asked her “Is he done with that?…I’d be happy to finish it.” I focused on the berry pie, having a couple slices. August summed up his dessert consumption by telling me “I’m a sugar boy.”

At some point during the party he came up and told me “Your great-great grandpa is my robot dad.” There were two other 5-year olds there, Hattie and Jake. I introduced him to Jake at some point. They played with the other kids well, but I don’t think they did a lot of talking.

As we left, Glecy gave us a big bag of snacks for the kids. It included two big tubs of animal crackers, so they had some of those in the car.

We got back just before 6. Derek and Andrea got stuck at the gate, even though they had the key card. We had been behind them, but they weren’t waiting at the gate when we got there. We assumed they had gone in already, so called Levi and he let us in. But Derek and taken a different route and ended up behind us, so was waiting for us to show up.

August told me “Did you know there’s an answer for everything? There no magic.” Andrea gave him a little notebook and pen that did invisible ink, then the pen had a light that would let you see it. August was fascinated by it.

Derek had music for the kids on, songs like “Can’t Touch This”. Colin asked me to pick him up, and he rested his head on my shoulder. He then wanted me to jump/dance with him. Did that a few times.

August was talking to Thatcher about the drives to his house and to and from the airport. August asked me about them and I told him the drive from the airport to Vivian’s house was two hours. He said “Two hours. That’s like nothing compared to the drive to Thatcher’s house.” Meaning the one from Chelan to Claremay’s, I think.

We went for a walk to the beach. We went to the rope swing area. The tide was pretty high, and there was a good wind. A lovely evening though. Vivian and Thatcher ended up jumping off the tree on the rope swing for the first time. They got that down pretty well and wanted to come back in the morning to do it more.

We got back at 8:30. August was watching Derek practice ukulele using the Kala app. He and Thatcher were wanting dessert: “But what’s for dessert?” I listed all the things they had at Claremay’s.

We got them ready for bed. No bath tonight. August came and counted by multiples of 3 that are even numbers again: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30. He and Colin were playing with the fan in Cassie’s room. They ended up squabbling over it. I saw Colin pushing August in the leg, and August pushed him in the head. The only moment of drama between any of the kids all day, I think. I took him into the bedroom, and left him and Carly a little after

10, I think.

The tooth fairy:

Listening to ukulele:

Thatcher and the snake:

Squiggly the snake:

Math with Glecy:

Zeroes on My Planet:

Math song:

Jumping on the couch:

A log leap:

Thatcher on the rope swing:

Vivian on the rope swing:

Pulling the wagon:

He woke up at 7:37. I had come back in a few minutes earlier. He stayed in bed for several minutes more then I went out with him. He sat on the couch for a couple of minutes until Carly came out of the bathroom.

He came in the bedroom, then didn’t want Colin in the bedroom. He found a pack of fruit snacks so I let him have those. I started joking that there were worse things he could eat. Turned into a Brother game with his body trying to process all the sugar molecules, turning them into fat. Brother drank two bottles of soda and got sick.

We went out at 8:05. We weren’t out long until Thatcher came up. He had a blanket with him. August stood on it and Thatcher didn’t want him to so he pulled it out from under August, making him fall. August didn’t like that, so he shoved Thatcher. Carly took him into the room.

After he calmed down they ended up doing math together. They were starting to work on circle math: circumferences and areas. When he went out he apologized to Thatcher and Thatcher to him. He then played downstairs with Thatcher and Kayla and Vivian a lot. Colin was happy in the upstairs fort.

I took a shower. Carly got him cereal. She then went to take a shower. As soon as I was sitting down across from him his cereal slipped off the edge and went everywhere. I got his shorts off and saved the shirt by wiping it just a bit. He stayed in the bedroom until she ws out, and I cleaned the floor. By this time the other kids were having cereal, and August wanted more: a mix of Kix and Rice Crispies.

They went back downstairs. August asked me to go with him. Colin was in the fort, under the bed, and said “I don’t like this place.” He came out and August went in.

They went upstairs after a few minutes when Carly called down about going to the beach. They all got going about 11:10, and Andrea and I stayed behind as we were both working.

They saw a cool starfish and I think they played in the stream area most of the time. They started coming back in phases, and when most of them were here I moved into the bedroom. August and Carly were back by 12:40. He had a veggie hotdog and some other food. He had a hard time when Vivian didn’t want him playing with her camera. Didn’t hit or anything, but just grumpy. So they came into the bedroom. He watched something and did math. We then got ready to go to the pool. He was talking about “Nine times ten to the one billionth power.”

We left after 2:20. I was down by the cars for several minutes with August and Vivian, waiting for Carly and Cassie. August and I were discussing decimal numbers and I taught him ‘repetend’. He understood the part that sounded like ‘repeat’, but said it was called “repifor” on his planet. ‘For’ means forever.

Found goggles for him. We saw the four old (WWII?) planes that had been flying overhead all day, and I found swim goggles in the bottom of a tub in the garage. August started talking about how the planes were connected by a rope. Vivian quickly told him that wasn’t true. When she walked away he got my attention and had me lean over. He whispered in my ear “They’re carrying a bad guy up to space and they’re airplane rocket ships.”

We went to the pool. Wasn’t as busy as we feared it was going to be. I sat by the pool today and worked. Surprisingly able to focus despite the noise, etc. August wore Colin’s goggles again since Colin didn’t use them. A little frustration when the strict pool monitor (she had also made everyone shower, and wouldn’t let the smaller kids in the hot tub) told August he couldn’t have the squirt gun, but we got past that.

As we got in the car to come back August sang “strong and yummy window” and talked of turning things into chocolate. Apparently he’d been doing this in the pool. We were back at 4:45.

Played outside for a little while, then inside he wanted to get the old suitcase open. We figured out the trick, and there were toy trucks in it. He told Vivian the secret. There was pot roast for dinner. I had curry from yesterday. August liked the meat. Thatcher was playing with a loud wind up car, and August joined him with it.

The kids really wanted dessert, and August was buttering up Cherie for ice cream: “I’d really appreciate it.” And described exactly how he wanted rocky road in a bowl with a cone on it. He asked Carly to go downstairs with him, then said “I’d be happy to go with you.”

I switched with her, then the kids were Planning against the evil wizard (me) while in their fort. I was sitting on the stairs. They went out the door and up the stairs and came around to ‘surprise’ me from behind. August had the real surprise, as he pulled out his second tooth in the process.

He showed it off to everyone. He said “It’s like a tiny straight screwdriver.” And he said “This will solve all our problems.” That’s quoting the Treehouse book where Andy gets a tooth out.

They went back downstairs and there was a new game where Kayla was giving birth to twins. Thatcher and Vivian claimed she had to be asleep, as it was a caesarean birth.

Andrea put on the Bewitched movie. The kids came up and started watching. August asked “Are they criminals?” as they walked around a store at the beginning. Cherie explained it was just two people shopping, and August responded “This is boring.” But the kids watched all of it.

We got them ready for bed. Carly downloaded a calculator for Vivian. August talked about how “The middle of something is always zero.” He was talking about in a coordinate sense, and it goes back to our discussion at Seattle Center of the layout of the city. I left them just before 10.

The downstairs fort:

–CJv8

Spraying water in the pool:

Getting into the trucks:

Blown away by the fan:

His second lost tooth:

The baby game 1:

The baby game 2:

The baby game 3: