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Journal Key:

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

5/15/14 (Thursday)

This morning Owen was drawing when I told him it was time to come up and get dressed. He protested. I insisted. He aquiesced. "You're Mr. Awesome-Pants," I told him. "No," he answered, "I am Mr. ANGRY-Pants."

Yesterday, when Owen and I were walking to the car in Highland Park, we were looking at the comic book store when someone went into it. We walked on a little bit, and then Owen paused. "Hey, Mommy," he said, "come back here. Let's go in there and sneak around." I didn't have any money, I explained, so we could only sneak, not buy anything. I think that tomorrow I'll bring Cara and each kid can get a comic.

Owen wore a very bright green shirt today. He paused as we were almost to the car. A bee was investigating him. I explained that it had just been curious. "The bug was pretending that I was its Mommy," he concluded, "but I didn't like that, so it went away."

5/16/14 (Friday)

For Family Fun Night, it was raining heavily, but Mommy still went through with her plan: she picked up the kids and took them to our local comic book store, where they each got a comic. Owen got the perfect comic for him: a Scooby-Doo team-up comic with Batman and Robin. Cara got a My Little Pony graphic novel which seems to feature pseudo-human characters who are like the ponies...somewhat disturbing. We had ourselves a nice lazy Friday by the TV.

They also picked up sushi for Ev's dinner at the local Japanese restaurant; Ev and Owen had been there the previous week, and the waiter remembered them. He wanted a hig-five from Owen, who played shy. Once he'd given both kids lollipops, he could get one. Next thing, he hoisted Owen high into the air. It was quite an adventure.

5/17/14 (Saturday)

Cara continues to have dance practice on Saturdays for the big opening number for the recital, so I took both kids in the car and dropped her off there after we had managed to rush through lunch. Then I drove Owen onto the mall, where I got him a haircut. I was very glad, because the last time Evelyn took Owen for a haircut, it lasted a very long time, but ours was quite short and just fine. Afterwards he was offered the typical lollipop, but both he and I had a more impressive treat in mind. I took Owen back through the mall to show him the wonderful places we had passed on the way in: an Auntie Anne's stand, for instance, and a Cinnabon. Owen turned down both, and instead dragged me back to the little newsstand at the beginning of the mall, where he had noticed candy. We got him a bag of Airheads, which he enjoyed thoroughly while I read him his Scooby-Doo/Batman comic. Then he wanted to go outside of the mall, and suggested we visit Barnes and Noble. Fortunately there was a Barnes and Noble right in the mall! So we went there. For some reason, it took quite a lot of convincing to get him into the kids' section of the store, which I explained repeatedly was the only part of the store that sold things he was interested in. We read a few books and then it was time to go pick up Cara.

In the evening, we took the kids down to Middletown to see Grandmama and Grandpapa. They watched some TV, but when we decided to take a walk out for ice cream and I told them that I was going, too, they both decided to join us (they had insisted that they were staying at the house). To our surprise, Owen walked almost the whole way, playing and running and frolicking and talking and occasionally falling over on the grass.

We drew with chalk back at the house while Grandpapa cooked out. Soon after dinner, Ev and I left the kids to sleep over and went home for some grown-up time.

5/18/14 (Sunday)

Pretty soon after the kids got home this morning, we put them back into the car to head down to South Jersey. Owen brought some He-Mans. They seemed to have a very active time back there.

Guy One: (fires a ray gun) psshhhhtttt!

Guy Two: Argh!!!!

Guy One: That's not the way you play hopscotch!!

Or, alternately:

Guy: I am Farmer Beast-Man!!! I will get you!!!!!

We met Grandmom and Grandpop for lunch at Applebees, where Owen was delighted at the prospect of ordering a pouch of applesauce for his side dish. We made a deal: we would open it after he had eaten enough chicken. He ate enough chicken, and then he stuck the open spout of the pouch into his mouth and drained the applesauce in one go. It was very satisfying.

Back at their house, we played outside. There is a waterway back there, and we could see geese and goslings down by the end. Later, ducks and ducklings came out. The grass is lovely for falling in, by the way. Well, not that I've tried it.

We also did a lot of coloring. Owen likes to make people color with him in coloring books, but he also drew, on his own, a sort of vampire Batman who turned out very strange and interesting.

On the way home, Owen decided that it was "raining cats and dogs." It was not. I suggested that we should catch some. Owen caught a water cat, which liked to ride on his head. It was about eighteen feet tall, I believe. He also caught a mountain cat. It was green and also liked to ride on his head. They could both meow and bark. Then they could only meow.

I gave Owen a very fast bath this evening, and then we had some brief hilarity as I got him into his pajamas. When we get him out of the tub we wrap him in a towel and carry him to his room, where we lay him on another towel on the floor. He very much likes to be "wrapped up in a ball" in that towel and thrown onto his bed. He is not really a convenient shape for wrapping up like a ball.

5/19/14 (Monday)

It was a beautiful day, and I was very happy to get to walk across Highland Park to get Owen. On the way back, he paused outside the comic book store. "Mommy, do you think we could just . . . sneak around in there?" Well, ok. I do hope this doesn't become a daily request. We snuck in and looked briefly at the kiddie section, where Owen explained that it would be really great if he had another Scooby Doo and Batman crossover issue. He's going to get it. Daddy and he will go one day and get it. I suggested he should explain that to Steve.

Things got pretty silly this evening. Owen's water cat and mountain cat came back while he was in the bath. He made masks for them by splashing water into his own face (and also around the tub and onto the floor, but only by accident). He mimed making strings to tie the masks, and then he threw them onto the kitties, which were on my lap. He missed and they landed on the wrong kitties; I had to fix them.

He has a lot of little stuffed animals, all of whom were out on his floor tonight. They were an army, fighting a "bad fluffy ghost" (one of his blankets). They fought it by all piling on top of it, but then it kept getting out from under somehow.

It was hard to get him to settle in well enough for books, but we managed!

5/20/14 (Tuesday)

At YBR, Miss Sandi didn't show me the father's day project Owen has been working on, even though it's not for me. I asked Owen about it on the way to the car. It's not for Daddy. It's for all of us. Good thing I haven't seen it! It's a surprise.

In the bath this evening, Owen drank a potion that turned him into a monster. There was a lot of growling and threatening and lunging, and there was a considerable bit of squirming as I carried him back to his room. There was some wrassling. I got him to settle down to get dried off, but then he took the potion, drop by drop, out of his mouth, and then he wasn't a monster anymore. What a relief!

5/21/14 (Wednesday)

When we got home, neither child got out of the car. I waited a bit, and then I moved on. They came out. Owen didn't want to come inside. I got the chalk for him, and while I made dinner and Cara did her homework he played outside. He knows to stay inside the fence, and I could always hear him talking as I went by. He drew himself an elaborate chalk rocketship, and he came inside to get some guys. His guys are now very chalky. They had a lot, involved journey, possibly to Braniac's planet.

Once in a while, Owen would open the front door and call, "If anyone wants to come out, they should bring some more guys!" I took pity on him and brought a couple out.

Soon enough, PJ and Casey arrived, and all four kids played outside until it was time to clean up for dinner.

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