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Journal Key:

Green = Steve | George = navy | Janet = Purple | Evelyn = Black

Today, for very complicated reasons of logistics involving the Loefflers coming to our house for a while, Owen got picked up by Em. I don't know how that went, but it must have been interesting for Owen--or at least confusing.

Tonight was a very lazy night, because we were all tired. We had grilled cheese in front of the TV. Then many of us had popcorn. Then, because Owen enjoyed the popcorn so much, we had even more popcorn. Then there was a conflict-filled trip to the potty, and then bed.

8/25/12 (Saturday)

Yesterday, Friday, Cara went back to Middletown for a granddaughter-only sleepover for the first time since her Middletown grandparents returned from Europe. Owen stayed with his parents. We decided to scoop him up and take him out to dinner with us. When we arrived, we went out back and the teachers told us, "Owen is in the house." I was ready to turn around and search inside the building, but in fact he was inside a kiddie plastic house that was in the yard. He wandered out of it and eventually noticed us. We were very happy to listen to a couple of the teachers tell us how funny Owen is. One of them described how, while having his diaper changed, he had interrupted a girl trying to talk to him by saying, "No! You can't do that to me, I'm Spider-Man!" He punctuated this statement by shooting his web-shooters at her. I was not aware until this weekend that Owen has perfected the Spider-Man web-shooter hand gesture. But he has been using it a lot.

At the restaurant, Owen had pasta. He didn't want to use his fork but was repeatedly upset at getting sauce on his fingers. We drew on the paper tablecloth, which is an exciting feature of the chosen restaurant (Mozzarella Grill). We also drew on the wine list, which fortunately was not a big problem.

This morning, Owen broke with our more typical morning routine and decided he didn't actually want to get up and go watch TV. I have to admit, I wouldn't have minded this arrangement; but it was probably better that we went downstairs and played with toys and read books instead. Cara got back home from her sleepover and the kids had a chance to hang out a little with Grandmama before she had to go back to her home. It wasn't too much later that the other pair of grandparents arrived, with Griffin!

The kids had a nice time together, playing with all kinds of toys. For Griffin a lot of our toys are new, so he got out some that we hardly ever bother with. But he also enjoys Castle Grayskull very much, and we strung together a lot of our Weeble houses and had a nice village going on. There wasn't any squabbling--at least not that I saw.

When Griffin and grandparents left in the afternoon, our action-packed day was still not over. Because an hour or so later, PJ and Casey arrived for some date night fun! When they got here, Owen was asleep on the couch. He hadn't napped at his usual time, so he just shut down in front of the TV. He stayed asleep for a little while, and then had a traumatic wake-up period. Actually he was rather fragile for the rest of the evening--he still really seems to need his nap. It was rather rough on PJ and me, since I think we'd both been hoping to play a lot of video games, but I ended up coloring with Owen for a lot of the time.

After dinner, we forced the kids to sit and watch The Muppet Movie, a DVD from our Netflix queue that's been sitting around the house for ages. I think we'd put it on the queue, or at least kept it there, to show to the kids at some point, but Cara had always objected. Of course, when forced to watch it, she enjoyed it--probably more than anyone else under thirty.

8/26/12 (Sunday)

We had a last blast of summer today, thanks to Steve's Aunt Sally, who invited us down to their vacation house in Ocean City. Steve and I used to go there all the time, but we're not really sure we remember ever even taking Cara there. We were both happy to go back. The kids were just happy to go!

The house was amazing, literally two houses from the ramp to the boardwalk. We didn't even bring the stroller to the beach. Cara, of course, headed right into the water. She's a veteran, because Grandmama has taken her so often. Owen went in a little slower, but he got there. First I carried him and did a little bit of dunking, but after that he'd walk into the water. He went in clutching both of my hands so tightly that whatever sand was on my index fingers was still there when we got out, no matter how much we got our hands wet. At first I'd just take him in a little, but eventually he was getting swamped by waves and loving it. He realized that he could pick his feet up and just dangle from my hands, so he'd do that even when the water was shallow enough. He liked the sensation of being swept around. Steve swumg him around in the water. We'd get in and then get out and then get in and then turn around as if we were getting out but go back in again. Finally he was shivering so hard I could feel it, but he didn't want to get out.

I talked him into playing in the sand. We sat by Aunt Sally in her chair, just out of the reach of the waves, and we generally made a mess of ourselves in the sand. I sort of tried to teach Owen how to bury my feet. Sally got Owen's nose. She gave it back. Then he got her nose! He wouldn't give it back, so she had to take his. Then they were friends.

Their house had a shower downstairs, so we were able to de-sand ourselves before we went up. Cara showered first and headed out, and then I took Owen in and stripped him of his suit and diaper. The best way to do things, I decided, was to pick him up and just turn him about in the water. He thought it was hysterical; when he was done I sent him off to Steve, but he wanted more.

After lunch the four of us headed to the boardwalk; the amusements started just a short walk south of the house. At Wonderland, which we always used to think of as the last thing on the boardwalk, we bought a big book of tickets. After Cara and I went on my favorite ride, I took Owen and ten tickets and headed to the baby section while Steve and Cara set out for the cooler stuff.

Strangely, Owen seemed to be willing to try a ride. I couldn't take him on the little boat ride, one of my favorite's as a child, because there was a big "no adults" sign. I could take him on the balloon ride. For six tickets, he and I went and climbed into a little red hot air balloon. When the ride started the balloons all went around in a circle and went up and down, plus they spun around and around. I made lots of exciting "whee" noises, and he liked it! After a while I wasn't so sure. It was awfully spinny. It was a little rough. Finally, it ended. What did Owen think? He wanted to go on the orange one.

We walked around for a while until we found Steve and Cara, fresh from the log flume, and got more tickets. He hadn't changed his mind; we went on the orange one. I saw Steve getting Cara onto a more exciting ride nearby, but he didn't see us until the exciting part of our ride was over. Owen wanted to go again, so Steve and Cara both went with him. We had exactly enough tickets left for Owen and Cara to go on the boat ride and then Steve and Cara to have one final log flume.

We walked the boardwalk and had lemonade and funnel cake and went to an arcade. Owen stood on a crate in front of me and, well, I don't know what he did while Cara and I played air hockey, but I know he had a good view. We played skeeball and he insisted on getting a turn; I was very relieved that he wasn't upset that his balls never went further than about three feet and I re-rolled them all.

The last thing we did, when it was getting late and we ought to have been heading home, was to play mini-golf. There was an indoor, air-conditioned, glow-in-the-dark course at Wonderland, so we gave it a shot. Owen was delighted to have a club and a ball. I was delighted that all of the things that could have tripped him glowed in the dark, so he stepped over all of them really nicely. On some holes he sort of kicked his ball around, but really he was happy to just wander about, looking at things. Steve and I both kind of showed him how golf would work, but it never took. Cara, though, was masterful. My favorite Owen moment was when he'd gone over to the hole next to us, in which there was a ramp to hit the ball up. He dropped his ball down the hole, and then he couldn't figure out where it had gone. Meanwhile, it had come out between his feet and was behind him.

We went and said goodbye to Sally and Ron, and we piled into the car. We'd resigned uprselves to terrible traffic, but we didn't really hit anything too bad! Both of our long drives were fairly pleasant today. Owen slept all the way home.

8/27/12 (Monday)

Cara and I had a tough day at home, and fortunately Steve responded appropriately by taking us out to Friendly's. It's been a long time since we've gone there! It went something like this:

Me: . . . for dinner and ice cream!

Cara: No ice cream.

Me: No ice cream?!

Cara: No ice cream.

Me: No ice cream.

Owen: I want ice cream!

Eventually we decided that, yes, we could have ice cream.

Owen: I want ice cream!

Me: Yes, Buddy, dinner and ice cream.

Owen: No, I want ice cream!

Steve: Dinner first.

Owen: I can't eat dinner.

Me: Why?

Owen: I want ice cream.

Me: Dinner and then ice cream.

Owen: I have ice cream and dinner.

He had dinner and then ice cream. Between bites, he reached over and grabbed my sleeve. "I got you, Mommy!" I I grabbed his shirt and told him I'd gotten him. He grabbed his shirt, too. "No, I got me, too!"

He was actually a little less messy with his ice cream than he'd been with his dinner. He likes the little orange sections that restaurants serve, but they get him very sticky.

Back at home he got a couple of piggy back rides, went on the potty, got into pajamas, and got his teeth brushed. I asked him, knowing the answer already, who he wanted to read to him.

Owen: Daddy!

Me: Owen, can you say, "I love you best, Daddy"?

Owen: I love you best, Daddy! I love you best, Daddy! I love you best, Daddy! I love you best, Daddy! I love you best, Daddy!

8/28/12 (Tuesday)

This morning I took Owen to YBR. They had the dinosaurs out, so I had no problems dropping him off. Audrey was upset about something when we arrived, but she cheered up when Owen arrived, because she got to sneak into the bathroom and pop out from time to time, just to bug him.

Tonight when I got home, the kids came over to see me, and Owen immediately said "Can you color with me Daddy?" So we colored together until dinner was ready. Dinner was pasta and also corn on the cob. I decided to give Owen his milk in a grownup cup--he spilled it a little but it could have been worse.

I also wanted Owen to eat his corn like a grownup, so I gave him a half an ear. He started chewing on it right away, but--like Cara when she was his age--he insisted on a vertical orientation for his ear of corn. Or he would try to put one of the ends right into his mouth (at which the rest of us at the table strenuously objected). With a lot of coaching he was willing to turn his ear sideways for a few bites, but then he wanted some other pieces of corn which were untouched by his teeth, and was very upset when we told him to finish the corn he had before getting more.

8/29/12 (Wednesday)

We went to the park after YBR again today. Owen's confidence is soaring; he went right down slides and through tunnels. He also went on the swings. Cara and I had seen Audrey at the park a couple of weeks ago when we snuck there without Owen, and her daddy had put her on the big swings. I offered Owen the same choice. He walked around and carefully looked them over, then elected to go on the baby swings.

I put him into the swing. As soon as he was in, he started saying, "Go away, Mommy. Mommy, go away!" I pushed him a little and went to sit on a bench. I wasn't surprised, because the last time I put him on a swing he wanted me to go away. I haven't figured out yet why. He swung for a while. Sometimes I'd go back and push him, though he protested. Finally, he was done.

I took him out and found out that he was only done with that swing. I had to put him into a different one, and we repeated the whole thing. Then with the third swing. Then the fourth.

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