Category: Uncategorized

Note: Still no photos. But we are headed to Philadelphia for a couple nights next week and I’ll try to post some of the cousins photos.  

 

Colin was the first kid up. When August came out at 7:15 Colin ran up to him, saying “Bee, bee, bee!” Colin then ran around in circles yelling “Tractor, tractor, tractor!” August talked to Carly, confirming “Is this my mama?…these are the close mama changed into?” August did some good sneezing in the morning as he played on the floor with Carly and Colin. After eating Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast, he got down and was playing around, then tried to convince Carly to go outside by arguing that the outside chairs were more comfortable than the chair she was sitting in. Really trying to convince her.

He and I went upstairs to the changing room and the music thing. Played there a few minutes, then went back downstairs. Vivian and Colin were watching a video, and August started touching her with the orange bendy thing. She didn’t want him to and I threatened to take it away. He said “If I hide it in my shirt maybe you won’t take it…I’m going to make Vivian mad…I’m going to hurt all of Vivian’s stuff.” He didn’t seem upset, but I took a break with him in the bedroom.

We came back out, and got a chair for him to sit next to Vivian. It was the one with red rubbing off and he didn’t want it: “Vivian can have th scratchy chair.” He kept trying to scoot to her chair. He was offered multiple solutions, and eventually he switched chairs with Colin, getting a fully red one. But then he started scratching it with his finger, saying “I’m going to scratch it up.”

Another break. Admitted he was in a bad mood. Decided apple would help cheer him up. Ate some, then got orange juice and we cut a long straw to make it short and then he was happily sitting in the chair.

I went and took a shower. As I came out, he had just bit his tongue on something. Carly took him in to nurse. Cassie, Carly, and I started getting ready to take the kids to a park. Kind of felt like it took forever. August was hungry and Vivian gave him the rest of her sandwich. We finally left at 10:15.

We got to Mt. Bethel Community Park. He was grumpy and didn’t want to get out of the car. The playground was too sunny or not fun. I asked if he knew why he was grumpy. He said “Everything is mean…I want things that are not mean.” Carly took him to the playground and got him in a swing.

They arrived a few minutes later. Vivian: “my swing is taller” and stick out her tongue. Cassie spott d a groundhog and Vivian went with Carly to investigate. August wanted down and we went to the purple merry go round thing. Vivian got on, then off, and August grabbed he spray bottle. Vivian was upset about that. We ended up over at the play structure. They fawned over a baby, with Colin hugging it and saying “baby, baby, baby…too.”

Vivian and August did a lot of climbing in one part. He said “It’s okay if there’s no grown ups and I’m climbing.”

Back to swings “Fresh air in my nose…it makes the machine work…bum, bum, bum…when it fills up, it makes it work…the tank.”

I took them on the round turning thing that you hang on. They took turns. August put bark on a bench while he waited, but then Vivian decided she didn’t want him doing that. I have her two Yens I. A row at one point and August wasn’t happy about that he ran across her path and got hit. She luckily held on. He went and nursed, and the cloud cover went away. We looked at the dairy barn and we left about 11:45.

Got home and Cherie gave each of the kids a spray bottle. August got blue, Vivian got red, and Colin got a clear one. Vivian and August then argued about whose favorite color was blue and whose was red or pink. I got lunch for August and me. Vivian went out to the motor home with Cherie and Colin went up for a nap. August ate most of the Boca Burger I had made. I gave him one of his pie crust cookies after lunch. We cleaned up after lunch, and August did some vacuuming. It was some nice quiet time in the house. Then August wanted to go outside to the motor home too so Carly took him out.

I went out to check on them a bit later. They were all playing with the harmonium. After that they had letter cookies. They gave the Zs and Qs to August and I got the Ds. Cherie suggested he take an M in to mama. He really liked that idea, although he almost ate it twice by accident on our way inside.

Back inside we were having some nice quite time. But he was bored, saying things like “I want to play with someone.” We went back out to the bus. Cherie spotted him from the motor home and said something. He covered his eyes and didn’t want to walk. When I told him he had to walk he said “No, it’s quite a long way.”

In the motor home Vivian was playing with a deck of cards. August wanted the same deck. Cherie went through negotiations and got them each a deck they liked, then suddenly August said he wanted to play on the bed and took Vivian with him.

At 2 August and I went in. He found a bird in the house. I think it went out the door as we were opening windows together. Vivian and I got lemonade. Vivian got a cup for August but first accused him of taking hers but he was actually holding my cup.

A guy came to pump the sewage out of the motor home, which was a big event for them. They first watched from the window, then the front porch. Once the truck was gone, Carly took them bike riding in the garage again. Back inside we planned for another outing. August went to the bathroom and said he wanted to sit there for  “hours and hours”. A few seconds later: “Mama, I’m done!”

August and Vivian were digging in dirt before we left. Vivian actually invited him to, but then had a very specific spot for him to dig, and he couldn’t dig in Colin’s hole, where she was digging. Vivian had suggested a walk around the lake but when I told her we were thinking a park she said we were going to too many parks. But I found some naturey parks in Stroudsburg and showed her and she liked the idea.

We drove Zacharias Pond Park and were walking at 4:25. For like a minute. Carly carried August and he said  “I just want to fall asleep on mamas shoulder.” But then they both needed the bathroom. From there it was to the small playground, which actually had a couple of good climbing features for both of them, and a metal bar that they climbed and swung on. Started walking again, this time to the left, but August wanted a snack. We sat at a picnic table and ate the sandwich and a few crackers. Finally, a real walk. We walked the longer trail, August mostly being carried, but doing some walking. He would say it was too slow when he walked, but then get distracted by everything and sit down, etc. Found a couple pieces of exercise equipment: bars I helped them hang on, then a slanted board they slid down. We got to the pond and they played on the bridge. From there we then walked the edge. We saw two eagles, a mama duck and six babies, snails in the pond, some small fish, and a frog, which we first heard under a deck area but I eventually spotted.

On our way out we went to the bathroom again. I took August to the right outhouse this time but he said it smell bad. When I let go of the door it slammed on his fingers. Luckily, not hard so no damage done.

On the way home they negotiated over the end of the seatbelt in the seat between them. Carly had to set the timer on that one. We were back at 5:30. They hung on the branch out front, then went out with Cherie for the Smurf Pez dispensers. August wasn’t too grateful for his. He got a generic smurf one, which I called Happy Smurf, but I think he wanted one he recognized like Papa or Smurfette, which the others got.

August had actually dug in the dirt while the others went to the motor home with her, as he didn’t have his shoes on. He then came in and told me and Carly about digging the dirt by the p
lants. He seemed worried about it, so I went out with him. It turned out he was worried that Vivian would be upset.

Back inside he said his foot was hurting. He told Carly “My foot is just worn out.” from the bark, etc.

We got things ready for dinner. A leftovers day but with fresh corn. He tried stealing Vivian’s chair a couple times, which made her scream. I pointed out it was a game that he’s always played with grown ups and we find it funny. He ate some noodles, fried rice, and corn. Cherie was then loading the dishwasher. He kept closing the drawers/door and she was explaining she wasn’t done yet. He kept asking “why?” She started giving nonsense answers, which he caught on were funny: “Because the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home.” Him: “What my old Kentucky home is?”

Jeff came home with lollipops with mystery flavors. August got a yellow one which turned out to be pineapple. When it got small again he asked if it was okay to crunch it. Vivian went out with Cherie to fill the Pez dispensers. Colin was following August around and August would stick his head in Colin’s face and say “Space, Colin.” They came back in with the filled Pez dispensers and had fun eating those.

I then said it was reading time. I had mentioned the Loch Ness Monster earlier and Vivian had wanted to read it. So we read that, then Tallulah’s Tap Shoes. Vivian was sitting next to me, and Colin next to her. Vivian’s head was on my shoulder. August actually had problems with this. He tried scooting in with them, then he was trying to hit and pinch Vivian to get her attention. He finally went off, not listening to books. We finished by reading Oh, Daddy! a couple times and George Catches a Cold.

It was then bath time. Carly did bath today and they did a silly tea time. A lot of laughing. While August and Vivian were in there I played night night with Colin and his cement mixer. After the bath I think August was frustrated because he wanted to go upstairs. Cherie taught him to say “I want to go upstairs.” and stomp his feet.

August headed to bed and was asleep at 8:05. Vivian and Colin had to go in and say goodnight. I did more reading to Vivian: Berenstain Bears Go to School (twice – appropriate since she’s going to kindergarten soon), Gaston, Goodnight Already!, Hug Machine, Creepy Carrots, and Dinosaurs Love Underpants.

When I went to bed and turned on the light there was a moth-like insect flopping around on the bed around and on August. I caught it and put it outside.

He was up at 6:45 or so. I was already up. I heard him come out, walk around the living room, then go back in with Carly. They came out a few minutes later, then went out to the motor home and visited Oma and got some butter. Came back in and had toast and butter and apple and some lemonade. He sat in the car seat on the floor. He got a little concerned when he couldn’t find mama. She was in the bathroom. I picked him up and he told me I had coffee breath (actually tea). When he finished his apple we both had a mint.

Carly tried to make some coffee, and August told her “Mama, it’s time to nurse.” When they were in nursing, August was being funny by calling me “other dada.” Cherie mentioned wanting to see August’s apps on his iPad. I got it out, but also the piano keyboard. I got Vivian and August playing with that, and showed Vivian how to use the sampler. They dueted for awhile, but eventually I got August over to Vivian’s piano. We figured out how to change the sounds, and he liked the 222 one. But then Vivian came right over and wanted to play it and quickly got upset.

I switched with Carly and went to take a shower. Came out to August vacuuming. Vivian and August then played hide and seek with Smokey. Vivian lost Smokey for awhile, then found him in the mud room. She had thought she’d left him in the refrigerator, but she’d forgotten she’d put him in the mud room. As they were playing and searching for Smokey, Colin started to say “Smokey, where are you?” And August again joked “Is this my mama?”

Cherie took Vivian and Colin out to the motor home, and Carly, Chuck, and I got ready and headed out in his car with August to do some car shopping. We drove to the Chevy dealership in Wind Gap. August was looking sleepy on the way over. We arrived to find out they are closed on Sundays. We walked around the lot and were at least able to determine that we didn’t want bigger than the Sonic, but they didn’t have a hatchback Sonic, so still couldn’t determine much.

We headed back to the house, and I tried to get him lunch. He kept wanting to play. We went downstairs with Jeff and Vivian and August wandered around the basement, looking at the water pump, the diesel tank, etc. and Jeff showed me his plumbing work on the toilet (combining hot and cold water to keep the toilet from bleeding). Back upstairs August got upset about the whiteboard/chalkboard and cookies and I took him into the bedroom. I tried to tell him my plan for what to do next, but he told me he wasn’t ready to listen to it yet. When he was ready we discussed having lunch, etc. But when we went out the pink car from downstairs was already out, so they were playing with that. They did okay taking turns.

They went outside with Carly for a bit, then were back in. August ate some lunch. He and Vivian had a debate about who could go upstairs. At first Vivian wasn’t going to let him go. But then she decided they could have private time together in her room. We went up, and one of them said “We want to be by ourselves.” But then August wanted me in there as well. They played together the whole time, despite talking a lot about alone time.

Colin came back with Cherie, who had taken him in the car to put him to sleep. We went downstairs to use the bathroom, then we had pie with everyone else. Vivian told him he couldn’t have more. He said “When in done I want more pie. I want lots and lots and lots and lots.”

Carly and I got ready to take the two of them to Weona Park in Pen Argyll. We left right after 3. August was getting sleepy on the way there, and almost fell asleep on the way back. We parked by the carousel and went on it at 3:30. All four of us the first time. I stood next to Vivian, Carly next to August. Carly talked about it making her sick, so as we got off August told her “You smell like throw up.”

We went over to the playground and played there for a good hour. Vivian made a friend with Sophia, who was also 5, and there with her grandparents. I pushed all three of the kids on the tire swing (an actual tire this time), then helped the three of them with the monkey bars, and Sophia down the fire pole. She was scared by it, but by the end doing it herself.  She also did well with the sideways monkey bar. She left, and I was pushing Vivian and August on the swings again. I went to switch to Vivian and gave August one last push – right as he let go with one had. He tumbled off the swing, luckily at the front of his swing, at the top of the wood chips. He took a nursing break, then we all went over to the carousel again. I just went on this time and stood between the two of them.

From there we went to the drinking fountains, then the bathrooms. I went and checked out the entrance to the baseball field while they were in there, then we headed over as a group. First, Vivian and August put on a little show on the stage. Vivian and Carly ran ahead and started playing pretend baseball, while August kept intentionally getting rocks in his shoe: “There’s rocks in my shoe.” When he and I got to the baseball diamond he said “I want sand in my shoe.” He thought the backstop looked like a goal and kept talking about getting a goal. I started to try to explain baseball, but realized it was pretty abstract without any equipment.

August wanted a snack, and Vivian started climbing up the remains of the old bleachers. Up at the top there were concrete pieces of old benches. Vivian said they looked like Green Monster. They pretended their apples were pieces of slime. August got a stick, and Carly broke off a branch to make it safer and he said “Now it’s an axe.” I had fun breaking apart slate, and we walked back along the top of the bleachers, then walked down a hill and headed back.  But first we stopped at the benches and took another Smokey photo with the two kids, as Vivian remembered Smokey. Basically, it was a lovely outing and the kids were much easier to handle than back at home.

We were home right after 5:30 as people were scooping up Cherie’s nutty noodles for dinner. Ate dinner, August did okay, then they ended up outside. Vivian and Colin were over at the pull-up bars with Jeff and Cassie and August played on his own with the water table for several minutes. Then Cassie got out the big bubbles stuff and they all had wands and were making big bubbles. Colin was trying to be the cutest by looking through the wand and putting soap all over his face. That turned into them all wiping soap on Carly’s leg.

August was still hungry, and he scarfed down a couple small servings of nutty noodles. Just as we finished Cassie was getting out ice cream for dessert. They got a little of each, and he and Vivian ate out on the porch again. I gave August his bath with Vivian today. They played in there for a good amount. Off to bed after that, although Vivian was reluctant to leave him alone. A few minutes after we closed the door she gave me a small picture she had drawn for him, and a marker and paper for him to write back. She was shocked when I said he was already falling asleep. He was asleep about 8:20.

I was the first one up. Might try to keep it that way, as it was nice to be up at 6 and a couple hours before the whole crowd. Vivian was up next, about 7:20. She and Jeff then made scones, and everyone else got up. August was the last up, at 8:40. I saw him first and followed him out as he made his way to mama, past everyone else. He  wanted to nurse and said “private” a couple times. Vivian had put a note under the door for him while he was sleeping and put more stuff under while he nursed. Eventually Vivian got out the walkie talkies and gave one to Carly and they used those. August came out and they started playing. The kids had some scones, and Cassie, Carly, and I got the kids ready and took them to Mountain View Park. I drove the red car by myself, as August wanted to ride with Vivian and Colin.

We left at 10. I was a few minutes later getting there as I was stuck behind someone who wouldn’t turn right after the off ramp, then missed a turn. I caught up to August and Vivian as August was trying to climb a metal dome thing. We then followed Vivian as she went down to an obstacle course thing. There were two ropes, and they climbed on those. He had and excellent grumpy face when he was telling me he wanted to climb after Vivian on the same rope. At the end of the ropes August was smelling them: “I wanted to smell my rope.”

There was then an elevated square made out of square posts. They walked around on it, August wanting to do it entirely on his own and not hold our hands:

Vivian “You want to crack your head?”

August: “Yeah!”

Vivian: “Then you would die.”

August jumped down “You cracked your head?”

One more stop at the ropes, then August said he needed the bathroom. But they got distracted by the Jeep thing. It had two steering wheels, and August remembered the similar car at a park in Seoul that we went to on a day it turned out to be really polluted. He asked what the second wheel was for and we decided it was for spraying water and he was pretended to spray people he saw: “This one sprays things.”

Eventually they went to the bathroom and then down to another playground (there were several at the park). They climbed up and Vivian went down one slide. August spun a wall thing a lot and went down a small slide several times, climbing back up a green climbing thing. Then to the sand area where they played with the “diggers” as Colin called them. From there Vivian and August went on the tire swing with another girl. She got off, and they chanted “faster, faster, faster”. August really liked the tire swing and said “They didn’t have this in Korea.” A 9 year old boy came over and spun them, getting “too fast” at one point. August also looked at the circle made on the ground and sang a “There’s a dirt wheel on the ground.”

Went over to a bench for snack time. August bit his tongue. “Maybe another cracker will help.” Colin kept pushing the tractor and mixer under my arm and fed me a couple of crackers and a bite of apple. August wanted more apple but we were out. Carly offered him other things and he said “No, I will spit all those out.” Carly convinced him to eat a banana.

We headed home. We were all going to stop at the store, but Colin wasn’t happy so they went straight home. Colin fell asleep in the car. I went to the store, getting spaghetti sauce, frozen peas, some toiletries for me, and an apple turnover that I promptly ate in the car. I headed home, but made the aesthetic and speed mistake of driving through Stroudsburg. West Stroudsburg is rather depressing, and also shut down to a single lane headed east.

When I got home Cherie had finished with pies and had leftover pie dough that she divided between August and Vivian. I helped them make cookies out of it. August was asking Vivian a lot of questions and she got frustrated: “I’m not going to answer. You’ve got too many questions.” August ate three little cookies of raw dough “I basically like little things.” They were using cookie cutters and spoons to make their shapes, and I said something about making a spiral. August wanted a little spiral. That wouldn’t work, so I just gave him a snake instead, which he ate. A bit later he seemed critical that I hadn’t made a spiral, but changed his tune again and said he really liked the snake.

Vivian had leftover dough after making shapes. Difficult for August to understand that they had started with the same amount, and he got upset about Vivian not giving him more. He calmed down, but then when she left some on the counter he took some. She got upset, and when we asked why he did it he said “I like to steal things.” Got that sorted, then they were scaring Chuck by yelling in his ear. Got them outside for a short time.

Carly and I were then going to take the kids to Columcille at 4. But Colin stayed behind with Cassie. I drove Cassie’s car there and we got walking. Vivian kept talking about how she’d been there before and seen things before and August was copying here, and said “I’ve been here a couple times.” He was then walking quite a bit and impressed by his own walking: “You’re walking a long way?” At one point Vivian found some balancing rocks and said she was balancing a rock on top. Just as she got it balanced, August walked up and asked “whatyousaid?” and grabbed the rock she had just set down.

There was a light rain as we walked. Vivian got a walking stick, then August wanted one the same size. We walked in roughly a circle, clockwise. When we came out in the grassy area we went back in through a rougher path with more stones. August pulled his hand away when Carly offered hers to him. We ended up on the same path, took a path a bit deeper into the forest, then turned around and went back to the grassy area again. August had gotten upset he didn’t have his walking stick, and Vivian remembered to look for it where he had dropped it and we found it.

At the grassy area there were were two people walking up the hill behind us. August told them “I’m blocking you.” That was pretty funny. Oh, and along the way we had met two nice dogs, although August was suspicious of both. Vivian had wanted to take Smokey out of the backpack and I said that he only came out for photos. So we found a rock to take a Smokey photo on. Vivian and August sat on a rock and we put Smokey between them. We then took a photo of Carly and the kids (and Smokey) for use in the new staff thing for WBAIS.

We headed home. Some competition over Smokey on the way home, as they argued which of them loved Smokey more (or vice versa). We got back at 5, and Carly started a 5 minute turns for Smokey thing. Carly and Cassie had been making fried rice when I got home from the store, and Cassie finished it up when we were gone. We ate that for dinner, which was excellent, but kind of drowned out by all the craziness: August spilling milk, Colin taking Vivian’s milk and getting upset when it was taken back, taking Smokey turns, Vivian upset when August erased the pictures on the whiteboard (he had said something like “I’m going to erase this because it’s not very good and erased most of it, then left just an owl. When Vivian then told him not to erase it he did.), Vivian using the chopsticks and August pinching her… For the last I took August into the bedroom and he said he was sorry about it. I told him to say “Sorry for hurting you.” He did that, then needed some encouragement in giving her a hug, as she was sitting in the chair and not reciprocating. But he reached in and gave her a hug.

They ended up playing on the whiteboard, with August scribbling things and Vivian saying “I don’t like it.” and erasing it. Vivian then brought in her pogo stick and they played with that on and off through the evening. Vivian also found our little broom from the backpack and got it out. She swept August with it: “I don’t want Vivian brushing my face.” She act how he used it, and he demonstrated by ho
lding it up and saying “sweep, sweep, sweep”.

Vivian and August played on the couch a bit, then at some point August was finding crumbs on the floor and said “I want to jump on the crumbs so I can smash them and hurt them.” Colin had started playing with Jeff’s remote control truck, and he charged it and they started driving it around out in the grass, pushing the empty kiddie pool with it at one point. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, and when I went out to watch I was greeted with a smoke smell. The engine had burnt out.

So they did fireworks instead. Vivian: “August, closing ears time. Colin, you can plug your ears if you want.” Colin spotted a ton of ants swarming on the ground, and August wanted them climbing on his feet and hands. Back inside, August and Vivian did headstands on the couch while Colin climbed on it, and they played on our bed, jumping off. Carly took a shower. They were hungry, so I cut up an apple for the three of them, and Vivian and August went out and ate all the snap peas from the plant. Vivian shared the last one they could find with August. Cassie came into the kitchen and sat on the chair and August walked right up to her, looked at her, and asked  “Is THAT my mama?”

Carly had some difficulty getting him to brush his teeth, as he wants a flashing toothbrush like the other two. He said something like “Those colors are for older kids” referring to his toothbrush. He was asleep at 8:40.

It was only a five hour flight, which seemed short. But with the Lyft ride at the beginning and long drive to Bangor at the ending, and three hours lost in the air, it was still a whole day of travel.

Carly woke him up around 7:30. Had some cereal with Kayla, then they got Thatcher up to say goodbye. We hung out on the front porch, waiting for the Lyft driver, and August wore Thatcher’s hat. The first time August has worn a ball cap that fit.

He was a little interested/confused that we were riding in a car driven by a stranger, but handled the ride just fine. We saw the Space Needle along the way. Got to the airport and were able to check our bags at the curb. Between online checkin, Lyft, and that it felt much different than our usual international flights. A long security line but not too bad.

We got food at a bagel place and took it down to a quiet corner in the D wing and ate. August and I shared a bagel with egg and cheese, and then a blueberry scone. Carly took him for a walk at one point, and he and I went to check to see if our plane was there at another point. He needed to go to the bathroom and I took him – it was his long bathroom time for the day, so it was nice it happened now and not when we were on the plane with a long line of people waiting.

As we taxied to the runway he was leaning against me. Every time a new noise started up he wanted to know what it was. He fell asleep as we took off at noon and leaned over and laid his head down on Carly’s lap. Carly woke him up just before 1:40. They read Oh, Daddy! a couple times and some Tellulah books before playing Dragonbox Numbers. He and I read the Puffin Rock book, Hello Little Egg, a couple times, and twice he sat on my lap and we looked out the window. But most of his time was spent with Carly, nursing or going to the bathroom again and again and again. And he watched a few episodes of Sarah and Duck, giggling with his headphones on. Meanwhile, I finished watching season 2 of Broadchurch and read some of Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and started a John Sandford novel that Peter sent me.

August got frustrated when we were landing because he wanted to look out the window. We found our bags right away at baggage claim, went to the bathroom, and Chuck found us. We got driving about 8:30. I sat in back with August so Carly could talk to her dad. August protested, telling me “Dada’s not as interesting.” We stopped at a convenience store on the drive with a Subway and got a veggie pattie sandwich. We ate some and got driving again. He barely ate any, but then heard the rustling of a bag up front and asked what it was. It was M&Ms. We did a five bites of sandwich, one M&M process and he wanted me to explain why five bites. I took a video of him and Carly having M&Ms. They both got red, and right after the video he said “Yeah, yeah, red!”

We got to the house at 11. Cherie met us, and August said “Hi Oma!” They helped haul our stuff in through the back door. There was a big catepillar balloon waiting for August, and Vivian had left a Q magnet for August under a pillow. Cherie hung out for awhile, then headed to bed. We went and explored the house and sat and had some tea. August had soy milk from a cup with a long twisty bendy straw and sat on the stool. But he also spent a lot of time just wandering around the first floor, getting a sense of everything. When I first walked out into the new kitchen area with him, he then asked how to get back to our bedroom.

Finally, we headed back to the bedroom and he fell asleep at 12:20.

He woke up at the same time as me again, 7:10. Derek made crepes for breakfast, which were delicious. Derek asked if August wanted a second, and August said he wanted a half. He left a small piece, as usual, and I thought it looked remarkably like a camel. August and Kayla were then playing with the big crane in our room. Thatcher woke up and started playing with them. Kayla walked off, and I watched her. Thought she’d go downstairs. Instead, she went over to the playroom, grabbed a Lego, and came back. August and Thatcher then wanted Legos and tried to take Kayla’s. I told them to go get their own, and they all ended up in the playroom playing with Legos. I went to take a shower and when I came back they had used all the pillows and blankets to make a comfy area with Carly in the middle of the room.

We all headed down to the kitchen for a snack. August continued to not like blueberries since Thatcher doesn’t: “Not blueberries. Thatcher doesn’t like blueberries.” And he kept saying “Don’t eat my food.” to Eddy, even if he didn’t have food. They then had fun locking Eddy out of the house. They wandered in and out of the house a couple times, and ended up in our room jumping on the bed. Thatcher looked out the window and asked “Do you want to go outside?” August: “No thank you. It’s too bright.”

But they ended up going outside and riding bikes as Kayla took a nap. August used the balance bike and headed up the hill: “I can go up hill but not downhill.” We went all the way to the top of the hill and he walked down. They started playing in the dirt. After awhile August wanted to wash off his hands using the hose. Carly said he could go inside and use the bathroom. August responded “Yeah but I don’t want to make the sink all dirty.” Back out, he rode in the little red car thing. Briefly the scooter. Got him water. He was spitting, but when he spit on the concrete and not the dirt Carly took it away. He said “I want to stay hydrated.” He knocked the cup down and it cracked, then when he threw the cup Carly took him to the garage for a bit of a timeout.

Carly went upstairs. I took August and Thatcher for a walk to the canyon. We saw a cool caterpillar. Back about noon for the bathroom. They played out front for a minute, then Derek suggested watermelon. Out back August out on “Aunt Andrea’s” shoes and we discussed calling her ‘Andrea’ versus ‘Andi’ and he said he preferred ‘Andrea’. Derek brought out the watermelon and they sat on cushions and ate it. Carly came down about 12:30 and I went up to the bathroom. But I heard Kayla talking and singing in her crib and went in to find her looking at a book. I picked her up and we read the book and she helped me put her glasses on and we went downstairs.

We all got ready to go to a park with a splash pad area. August saw Thatcher’s goggles in his room and Thatcher told him not to play with them: “Yeah but when things are nice I play with them.”

We left to the park at 1:40. Parking was full so Derek dropped us off. We took the kids to the swings. Kayla in the ones in the sun. August didn’t want one of those so headed over to the more shaded playground. Had to wait for a swing, but he got one quickly, then Thatcher got the one next to it. They chanted “faster, higher” together as we pushed them.

We then headed over to the slashpad. Just sort of got August to start going in the water area and he wanted to turn one of the water gun things. Then someone else hit August with some water. He got upset and that was the end of the water. Carly went and nursed him, then we went on a little walk. We worked on getting him to walk on his own: 5 steps, 20 steps. Eventually he wanted me to carry him and convinced me with a “I’ve got my dada!” We ended up back at the water park from thand north. He contemplated some of the smaller fountains over where Thatcher and Kayla were, but wandered off towards the playground instead and sat and had a snack with Carly.

We left after 2:50. In the truck August and Thather hid behind a towel. Back at the house he played in the truck, first alone, then with Thatcher, while Derek took Kayla to play in the sprinkler. August was talking with a whiny tone and I asked if he was doing it because he was tired. He replied “No, I’m not tired. It’s just for funsies I’m doing it.” They moved to the front set of seats and played there for a long time.

Carly took over watching them, and then they went up to bedroom and got out the piano keyboard for the iPad. I helped them get it set up, then they played with it for a couple minutes but the iPad froze. August didn’t get upset. Instead, he did his quiet thing where he just sort of goes still.

Carly watched them

– played with iPad keyboard – did his quiet thing when it froze

– towel present

– Thatcher hit/August pinched back

– nursing break

Hank’s visit

– August patted Hank

– spraying the mister

– playing in the dirt

– ate tons of snap peas

“What’s yours August?” “I ate all my pizza…Sorry Kayla, I ate all my pizza.”

The shows

Bath at 7. August had a tiny sliver “I can’t feel it!”

Asleep 7:50 “Where’s uncle Hank going to sleep?

 

Note: Sorry, no photos until I figure out a more reliable internet connection. 

Around 2:30 at night I woke up because of allergies. But it meant I was up to hear something right out the window and then watch two baby raccoons as they ate something and rolled around. 

August slept through the night, without waking at all. Eleven hours, which is a new record. He was up around 6:30. In the morning he did more vacuuming with gramma. We were doing a lot of last minute cleaning and packing and closing up of boxes. While I finished up some of that, Carly took him for a walk. They stopped at a gas station for some apple juice and a snack, then went to Riverwalk Park. But then they realized that his heart sunglasses were missing. They retraced their steps twice, but with no luck. Carly thinks they fell out of her pocket at some point. They were home around 10:30, then were sitting out on the front porch. He was feeling a bit nervous/upset, although not nearly like yesterday.

About 11 we started to get going. As we were loading up the car, mom joked about taking him out with the other stuff. He argued “I’m not stuff.” Then, he was looking at the vacuum cleaner and said “I need to vacuum more.” Carly turned it on and he was good with like a 3 second vacuum. Then, August was sitting on the couch and did his first ‘When this episode is over…’ A car show was on, and August said “When its fixed, I’ll leave.”

Outside, we did group photos, and August had to use mom’s camera to take a photo of him, dad, and Paul. Saying goodbye to Paul he he gave a bunch of high fives and we did an uncle hug. We left by 12:30. As we drove by the lake he spotted a parasailer. HE did a lot of humming, and hummed Eine Kleine Nachtmusik through the tunnel. He also spotted a few dead trees out the window. We stopped for gas before 1:30.

I had put the car seat behind the driver’s seat, and he kept kicking dad’s seat. Carly was worn out by trying to make him not do it. So when we stopped at the rest area, after I took him to the bathroom (he was startled first by the sensor flushing the toilet when he was on it, then by a loud train whistle as we left the bathroom), I switched the car seat to the other side of the car and I switched with Carly. While I moved the car seat he played with mom and Carly on a bench. I was now in the middle of the backseat with mom to my left and August to my right. We left the rest area at 2:20.

As we were leaving, he had noticed the small scab on the side of his face was starting to come off. He was concerned about it and told me “I need you to not touch it.” As we left he noted “Now you can see grampa driving.” And he said “The motor’s making it drive faster so we can get there faster.” He wore his sunglasses and said “In the car these are powerful.” And he held his fingers just an inch apart and said “This is a little vacuum cleaner that sucks scabs up.”

He and I played with a new nature education app I had downloaded and the Smurf’s object finding app. A few times he said “We need another rest area.” As we got close to Seattle he claimed he didn’t like blueberries and laughed. I said “don’t do that.” He knew what I was talking about and said “Don’t pull a Thatcher?” I’d said he was pulling a Thatcher earlier when he was doing something else like Thatcher.

We got to the house at 4:20. Unloaded the car and my parents stayed for a few minutes. August had a really nice goodbye kiss with gramma, which I was too slow to get a picture of, and then let grampa give him a forehead kiss as well.

They left, and we had some chips and salsa. He was then out on the back porch, climbing with the other two kids until we found out they weren’t allowed to climb on it at all. He played with the extendo arm and said “If you stick your finger in the motor it will KILL you.” We talked about going to the bathroom, and he remembered the downstairs one and called it the “Special special bathroom”. He put on Thatcher’s shoes and wore him around the backyard. Andrea pulled him and Kayla around in the wagon, then I took over, the Carly: “More coins makes it faster.”

Derek made a wonderful dinner of salmon on the grill, rice, and a salad. Andrea made a lemon cake with a honey glaze and whipped cream for dessert.

Then, the big event: fireworks. They had gotten a big box of Pop-It fireworks, and we contributed the three boxes we had. They started out doing one at a time, and August was doing a great job picking them up after he used them. Eventually though they were doing handfuls, and we stopped cleaning them up, although we still cleaned up the streamer ones. It lasted a long time. August did a few where you pull the string on his own, but mostly needed help. Kayle did the Pop-Its by squeezing them in her fingers. As a grand finale Andrea brought out sparklers and they did those. August was frustrated though that Carly wouldn’t let him hold it all on his own. He liked helping Derek spray them with water though.

Andrea convinced everyone (well, mainly Derek needed convincing) to go for a walk at 8:20. Just down the street. August wanted a blanket on him like Kayla had, then after a couple of blocks wanted to walk. He stumbled and scraped his knees a bit, but kept going. Thatcher found a feather, which made August a little upset when he couldn’t use it at first, but Thatcher was nice and let him have a turn. August rubbed it on his face and hair. We got back at 8:50.

Took him up to get ready for bed. Brought in the small mattress and it was leaning against the big one. He said “Know what I want to do? Slide down it.” I took him to the bathroom, then he gave him a good kiss. He was to bed and asleep about 9:20.

Note: Sorry, no photos until I figure out a more reliable internet connection. 

He woke up at 7:10 as I was getting up. Seemed to be from a dream, as he was saying something. We went upstairs and found Carly. He was a bit off through the morning, in part I think because he wasn’t actually ready to wake up. So it became a mama day as he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. We used the left over broccoli, olives, and cheese and mom made a scramble out of it and we had that for breakfast. After Paul went to work August wanted to go find cans on his desk. We found two, and took them up to smash them. August had left one half-crushed in the crusher, so this time he finished that one and then wanted to leave another half-crushed on in there. Mom tried to hang out with him, but as part of his off morning he didn’t want to do that. Carly took him downstairs at some point when he was upset and he talked about being nervous. He was also hitting her when he was frustrated. They nursed, and I thought he might fall asleep even though it was 10 or so. They were in there and quiet when Peter left to drive back to Edmonds.

He vacuumed cat litter with me, then Carly took him for a walk to town. They tried  going to the creperie but it was busy and hot. So they went to the sandwich shop by the barber and had a smoothie. Something like mango, strawberry, banana, and something else. They then went to the nice air-conditioned library and played with the toys for a long time. His favorite was the Melissa and Doug vacuum cleaner.

While they were gone dad and I went box building. We first went to the U-Haul place down in Chelan Falls. She didn’t really have big boxes, but she referred us to the Mini Storage place up the hill. Went there and had more success. Got two lamp boxes that we could combine two of to make a bigger box. No strapping tape, so we went to Walmart, but no luck there. Saw Bob, the owner of Local Myth Pizza where Paul works, as we were leaving. We also saw him on I think our first walk to Riverwalk Park. We then drove across to Mailboxes and got a roll of strapping tape there and one more of the square boxes as Carly wanted it as backup.

We got home and Carly and August were home a bit later, before 2. He had been great with Carly, but reverted to a bad mood once back at the house. I took him downstairs when he was upset and wouldn’t let him back up until he had calmed down, and he sat in front of the closet doors in the family room and pulled his first  “You’re mean.” on me.

When he did calm down we went up and he ate some of the leftover mac and cheese with broccoli before saying “Dada eat the rest”. We played with Legos for a little while: “This is a new kind of diving board people have never been to.” I then got his toothbrush and toothpaste. He said “I want to do it with mama so I don’t have too much.” as if I let him have too much toothpaste. He ate some of the dried toothpaste in the cap, then sat in my lap and brushed his teeth.

He then spotted the fireplace tools and asked to use them. I showed him the extendo arm ones and he started to get impatient when I was showing him how they worked, but then he stopped and said “After you teach me I’m going to do it myself.” After we were done with them he spotted Iris eating from her bowl and practiced saying “Heeeeeere kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Carly got the cotton balls and a glass and they did science experiments at the table, putting cotton balls and ice in water. He wanted something dark and we used Peter’s leftover coffee from the morning. They then took it outside to get messier with the food coloring and what not. I went out and did some of that with him.

He then helped Carly wash the car. I helped a bit, getting parts she couldn’t reach and watching him. Dad then had August crush a tin can in the vice.

For dinner we ordered two pizzas from Company Creek. Ordered a California veggie pizza and the Company Creek Combo. Knew it would take awhile for the pizza to arrive, but took well over an hour. August was getting hungry, so Carly got him a gardenburger and he ate almost all of it.

I was working on putting the big box together to hold the bike trailer for August, my guitar, two of our frames and prints, and some books and Legos. At one point August climbed in and asked of himself “You want to be shipped?” And said “I’m hiding from mama and dada.”

That was just before 7, then Carly took him down to bed. But he went in for a Paul visit and stayed in there about 20 minutes, watching Paul play Age of Empires. Paul was at his computer and August sat on the edge of the bed, close to the monitor. He kept pointing things out and asking questions. Very fun to watch.

She took him in to bed at 7:20 and he was asleep soon after.

Mom has noticed that he doesn’t like the fan oscillating and he would stop it every time he walked by if it was oscillating. Also, regarding the “You’re mean.” Carly said that when he first said it to her yesterday he kind of stopped and you could see he was thinking and then realized that that was what fit what he was thinking.

Note: Sorry, no photos until we have a more reliable connection. 

He was up at 6:20 with Carly. He went outside with dad, and Iris let him pet her. When I got up at 7 they got ready to go to the park. August was quite hyper. They went to the park at Don Morse. Did some bouncy thing and climbing and up on the play structure. They went to the water for a few minutes, then he sat on a bench and lamented his wet shoes.  Carly got sunscreen on him against his protestations. They did a couple swings – he still prefers the bucket ones as they are new to him. They got back to the house about 8:50.

He was watching a car show with gramma and grampa and grampa left. He watched for a couple more minutes, got up, and said he wanted to go see the garage. He found grampa and they first went to the old garage, which he hadn’t wanted to do the other day with him. They ended up in the new garage, where he turned the vice (when he did it last time, the rod fell through and strartled him), August told him “We need to oil something so it doesn’t wear out.” And they played with with air convertible. It was running out of compressed air, so dad asked “Do you want me to turn it on?” August firmly said “No.” When asked which of the cars is his favorite, August said the new convertible. And when he’d seen the old one he had noted it only held two people.

We all came in about 9:35. Dad needed some breakfast, August went downstairs with Carly, and I took a shower. They were downstairs for quite awhile, and when Carly and August came out he was talking about cinnamon rolls. They went up and shared one.

We left about 11 and drove down to the Beebe Springs Wildlife Area. August was being grumpy, and also complaining about some itchiness. Think the heat was also bothering him today. He was better once I got him in the backpack. We got walking at 11:20. The trail to the west was closed due to water over the trail, so we went back to the area close to the parking lot where you can get down to the river. Went to a different spot than our usual, actually out on the river side, and played with rocks: turning them over, throwing them in the river, and doing some stacking. We all relaxed until close to 12:30, then got in our cars and headed over to Powerhouse Park.

Had fun there as well. Peter and Carly went in a couple times, with Carly doing a lot of floating. When we first got there and were choosing a spot in the shade, August was particular: “Yeah but I want tons and tons of shade.” I took August down to the water and he was doing well with some wading, but then he stumbled and got his arms, shirt, and face wet. He got upset and we ended up back at the towel site. He wandered off and led me on a walk past the picnic shelter and along the path. When I caught up and asked why, he said “For funsies.” And he proudly said “I also did it without my shoes.” I got him back to the towels and he had the raspberry strawberry walnut Orchard Bar and he was feeling pretty good. He played with the floaty that Peter and blown up and sang a “Peter’s float” song. He fell down, then sang a “Ow ow ow” song to Peter, then a “Peter P” song. August wanted his wet shirt off, then I got sunscreen on him, mainly without complaint, although he told me “You did it on my belly button. I don’t like you doing it on my belly button.”

He was also doing a lot of pretend vacuuming, sucking up the people, the sunscreen, and the dog nearby. However, he noted that the dog was tied up, and he slowly got closer and closer. There were a boy and girl with it. The girl said a few times “It only licks.” Which was rather funny. And we found out its name was Leo. August also sang a “I’m distracted” song, although it wasn’t clear why. He was eventually petting the dog, and it licked his hand and foot. So maybe a turning point for August. August also got a graham cracker from the woman they were with. Eventually, I was worn out by monitoring him as he tried to step on/jump over/touch more and more strangers’ stuff, so I said we were ready to go. On the walk out, a woman asked us if he wanted to see the baby in a crib that August had walked by a few times. His name was Sebastian and he was 5 months.

Left 2:30 and August promptly fell asleep in the car. That helped explain the whiny tone he had been using at the end. When we got back to the house we parked the car in the shade and left the AC on and Carly stayed with him and read.

Mom had helped a guy carry a watermelon as we left the park and needed a shower as a result. After she did that, we left about 3 for the Chinese restaurant. Carly stayed in the car and woke him up. The rest of us went in and ordered: veggie delight, chow mein pork, honey shrimp, and sesame chicken. Carly got August to eat the vegetables, by saying that Uncle Paul was going to eat them. August took this seriously: “Don’t do it uncle Paul. Eat your own…I ate all the broccoli, Uncle Paul.” When there was something messy on the table he told Paul  “Clean that Uncle Paul.” I took him to the bathroom before we left and he kept asking why there was no urinal. I ended up doing a “I don’t know” dance, which he requested more and more of. He also said he wanted me to pee in the sink and said “The water would wash it down?” Needless to say I did not. He was still complaining of being itchy, so Peter and I took them him and Carly to the house then headed to Safeway where we got a few things to turn the steaks into steak tacos. Came back and found Carly and August down in the bedroom, him watching Sarah and Duck. I rested on the bed for awhile, then we all went up. They went out to play in the sand.

Carly then brought him in to do the root beer tasting at 5:15 He first asked if root beer was an adult drink, and when told it was a kid drink he asked “When you’re a grown up you don’t get any anymore?” He got to try each of the four kinds of root beer with ice cream, but it turned out the ice cream was his favorite, and he was very excited when Carly gave him just some ice cream at the end.

He then went down and did a long Uncle Paul visit. Carly went down and saw him playing with an empty tin of Altoids: “What these mints for?” Paul: “Enjoyment” August “I’m going to get the crumbs.” Paul left to go back to work just before 6. August found an empty can on Paul’s desk, so we recycled Paul’s cans for him. August crushed three cans in the crusher. The last one wouldn’t start to crush and he said something like “Maybe this one doesn’t want to be smashed.” He then played does it blow or not with a Pepsi box from recycling. When he was done he put it on his head and sang a “This is my hat” song.

We then did the science experiements again. Carly told me what to do, and I did them and she relaxed a bit. When she did the glove thing for me though August said “Not the glove thing! Because I’m running away!” He watched from a distance. We did the science art and ended by pouring all the leftover vinegar in.

Carly gave him a bath. He had fun playing for awhile, but didn’t like the washing. I was outside with Peter and my day – we took apart the third wheel that Peter gave me, trying to figure out how to ship it. Peter then fried up the steak for tacos, and August seemed ready for sleep around 8 so she took him in. The rest of us ate, but then they came back out. Carly went and took a shower, and he came out with me and played outside. He actually started by sitting down at the table outside with my parents and Peter and putting up his feet and talking to them for a few minutes while I went and got him olives and avocado to eat. He ate a good amount of both. He and I then measured things with the tape measure, which he had been wanting to do when we were using it on the bike.

He saw Carly with a quesadilla and said he thought it was bread, and he wanted bread. We said no to that, and he argued “But bread is the yummiest.” I helped him do a headstand, then we ended
up out front petting the cats. They are very accommodating with him. Peter keeps commenting on how calm they are. Finally, back inside he was climbing on the chair and said “I’m sleepy. I want mama to take you to bed.” I took him out back to say good night to gramma and grampa and Peter. He said “Night night gramma, grampa, Peter, Zinnie, Dada, Mama, Peter, Gramma…I messed it up.” He said he wanted to read with me, but when we got down to the bed he decided he wanted to nurse and turned around and went upstairs to find Carly. He wanted the chocolate-covered coffee beans on the counter, and Carly told him they were off-limits. He thought about it and asked “What’s ‘on limits’ means?”

At some point today, in talking about the meat we had for Chinese, or the tacos, he decided “I won’t eat any meat”.

Carly took him back down and he was asleep 9:30.

I went down to wake Peter up at 7:45. Instead, August opened the door to our room. So I started to accompany him upstairs. As we went up, he asked “Who’s taking a shower?” It was uncle Paul. I then told him Peter was here but still asleep. He kept asking “Why’s he still asleep?” August was good with Peter when he came up a little later. August played near and far, saying “bigger, bigger, bigger” as he walked closer to Peter and “smaller, smaller, smaller” as he walked away. August was out front a little later and got his fingers banged in the screen door. Luckily not bad. He then spent quite some time playing with the hose, making his lake and watering flowers. He told mom that one of the flowers on the vertical flower pot “it’s not petaling good.”

Peter and I drank coffee and did some reading and whatnot at the table and I took a shower. About 10 Carly, August, Peter, and I headed out for a walk. We showed Peter our usual routine, walking into town and going to the bakery. I made the Korean mistake of ordering an iced cappuccino and settled for a latte with cinnamon. August chose a cinnamon roll. We walked back to the park and AUgust chose a metal picnic table to sit at. We sat there quite awhile talking, and August had fun talking to Peter and was also being a machine: “It sprays and makes the wood hard so you can’t cut it.” He went to Carly and said “I want to cuddle with mama.”

We then went to Bear Foods and Carly got a few things and a big bag of popcorn. She and August put the usual yeast and olive oil on it. Peter got chocolate covered coffee beans for my parents. Ate some popcorn there and as we crossed the street, then they left the popcorn with me and Carly and August went to the bathroom and Peter and I went to the bookstore. They came back, got the popcorn, and headed back to the table in the park. Peter and I got there a bit later. Carly said that August was surprised that she was eating so much. He told me “I really don’t want mama to get sick of it.” But then he also said “I want all of it.”

Back at home, the two of them went downstairs for a long time. He had asked to watch Sarah and Duck but I think he forgot about that. When Paul got home he was carrying a pizza box, and August kept asking “What’s in it uncle Paul?” He wasn’t content with being told it was just a box. I asked August where Paul worked, and what he thought Paul would bring from there and he correctly concluded it was pizza.

Back at home he played outside more, walking around the yard in Carly’s sandals at one point. She got him apple as a snack and I picked him up at one point. He said: “Don’t rock me; the apple might fall out…I have my mouth closed.” When he was done: “I already ate my apple, mama.” And at some point earlier he had allowed mom to give him a hug but told her “Yeah but not too long.”

I made a long shopping list for two quiches, science experiments Carly wanted to do, and several other things we needed. Peter and I jumped in our car and went and braved Safeway on Saturday of 4th of July weekend. Busy, but we did well and didn’t have a lot of back and forth in the store. Peter got four rib eyes to cook on the barbecue, and we also got asparagus for dinner.

At home I unpacked the groceries and mom and I started on the quiches. Peter did some reading, reading parts of my copy of Popper’s Conjectures and Refutations and more of his Wittgenstein. Carly and August did their science experiments out on the grass, making some cool “science art” with the food coloring and vinegar and baking soda, and doing the glove thing where you blow up a latex glove with vinegar and baking soda. But the first time they did it some vinegar got on August when it popped off the cup and then he didn’t want to get close the second time, or even when she was just blowing them up with her mouth.

I went out to play with him and the eye droppers and what not for awhile, then we went in the garage to look at cars and stuff with Peter, then dad came up. Carly did the asparagus on the grill, then Peter did the stakes. August helped me test the quiches as they were cooking, poking them with toothpicks. August was really hungry and had some quiche at 6. When we all were sitting down for dinner he had a bite of my broccoli quiche and it was too hot and he got quite upset. Went downstairs with Carly for a few minutes, then they came back out for dinner. Carly took him in at 6:45. He was already looking really tired, tired out by the science experiments. She gave him a bath he wasn’t too happy about and then went to sleep at 7:30.

I had a long day. Alarm went of at 3:50 and I left at 4:05. Got to the Amtrak station in Wenatchee and found street parking for the day, then waited. My 5:35 train was running late and didn’t show up until 6. On the train I finished season 4 of The 100 and finished reading the Eleven Prague Corpses book from Paul. The train had made it from Chicago to Wenatchee only 30 minutes behind schedule, but then we got stuck somewhere around Leavenworth waiting for a freight train. We lost another 90 minutes and were now two hours late. I’d been out of cell phone coverage while we were being delayed, but once back in range Peter and I decided I’d get off at Everett. He and the kids and Stephanie picked me up at the Everett station a little before 11, and we got to Breysse’s cabin about 11:40. Along the way Micah, Peter, and I discussed The 100, as I had just finished season 4 and was caught up.

Jen and Stacey had beaten us up there by a bit. We had a good book group meeting, not really talking about the books until after 1, as Chris was supposed to be showing up from his AP training. When we decided we’d waited long enough we started discussing the books.

By four we were ready to get going, and people were packing up to go. And that’s when Chris got there. He had been delayed by traffic and other things. Stacey left, but the rest of us sat back down and sort of had a second meeting, although we also talked about things at MTHS and the Edmonds District. Chris and Peter went down for a swim and I talked to Breysse for fifteen minutes or so and then we all left around 5:15.

We drove back to Peter’s house and dropped off Stephanie and the kids. We grabbed the third wheel for the bike, Peter packed, and we hit the road. Stopped for gas, then drove to Leavcnworth. Along the way discussed the band East West and who sang “Marseilles”. And all our usual politics and writing stuff.

In Leavenworth we parked and looked for somewhere to eat. Found the Bavarian Bistro and Bar and had a nice table by an open second floor window. We each got the sausage plates. Quite good. Got on the road from there about 9:15. We drove into Wenatchee where I got my car then led him to Chelan. I had Ben really tired leaving the cabin, so White had done all the driving. I picked up dinner to compensate. But by Wenatchee I was feeling good, and the adrenaline from having to lead him to Chelan and knowing he didn’t have a cell phone so I couldn’t lose him helped keep me focus. We got to the house just after 11.

While I was gone August slept until 8. He sat with grampa out on the porch, and they sent me photos of him sticking out his tongue. Carly took him for a walk and they got popcorn from Bear Foods and ate it in the park. Back at the house he helped gramma vacuum for a long time. And he asked about the silver fan, and why it has a switch and not a button. They talked about the thing that makes it rotate, and they tilted it, and he put things in front of the fan to see if they’d blow. Cotton balls were interesting, and then he got them wet to see what would happen when they blew. As Carly said, cotton balls were big today, as he also experimented with them in the bath, pouring water on them and putting them in the bath to see them expand.

Out in the kitchen sink, he poured things in a pan to experiment with color, and they did a science experiment where you soak an egg in cola, then brush it off with a tooth brush, which takes off the brown color. He wanted to add water to the cola, then that turned into an investigation of whether it was making the cola lighter or darker. He wanted to use other things, so they used some left over soy sauce, then some barbecue sauce, and Carly made tea and they used that and discussed whether their mixture was getting lighter or darker.

For dinner they had Kraft macaroni and cheese and some sort of sausage. He really liked the mac and cheese, saying “I like this. This is good.”

There’s also evidence that they played with Legos, as part of a water park that they made, with a water slide and other things, was still together.

He fell asleep about 8:40. He resisted going to sleep until Carly used the reverse psychology on him and told him he couldn’t go to sleep. That’s worked quite well on him for awhile now.