The new young multi-talented look of an up and coming superhero

^Thor^

^Batman^

^Super Green Gooman^

^Spiderman^

We were walking from daycare to the park today and Andy spotted some broken balloon pieces on the sidewalk.

Andy: Oh look. An outflated balloon. I wonder why someone broke it.

Sarah: Well we might never know why, but we can speculate. [Definition of "speculate" omitted.] So why do you think that balloon might have broken?

Andy: Maybe someone blew it up too much and it popped. Or maybe someone popped it on purpose. Or maybe someone drew petals on it, and a bee thought it was a flower, and the bee popped it with its stinger.

Sarah: Maybe…

Andy: But there were no petals drawn on it!

Couer d’Alene, Idaho

Chucking rocks in the lake. We had to remind him to throw overhand and not side-arm, which tended to hit us.

After a lovely visit with the Osgoods–or, to be more accurate, the Kellers and the Cooks–in College Place, we were officially on our way home. Our first rest stop (not counting gas or bathroom stops) was Couer d’Alene, Idaho. We had a picnic lunch consisting of blueberries from Aunt Margaret and assorted snacks we’d had in the car since the beginning of the trip. I don’t have to tell you what the culinary highlight was.

Andy got a Mr. Incredible costume from Grandma Cheryl and a shark from Uncle Jonathan as early birthday presents! He wore the costume to dinner at Red Robin and announced to the host: “I’m here to keep evildoers away.” He used the shark to terrorize random kids at the park (“Roar! Roar!”).

Andy with scenic background

Multnomah Falls

Bonneville Dam Fish Hatchery

Still at the hatchery. Jay had just bought him a Spider-Man watch the day before.

Andy and Boompa at the park

Andy and Addison blowing bubbles with Boompa

Tickle fight with Uncle Jonathan; Boompa Terry and Grandma Cheryl watch approvingly

“I want to be a real artist when I grow up…but I also want to be a scientist and sewer plumber. And I’ll have my original rug to drip paint on. So if it gets dirty I’ll be able to clean it myself.”

Andy kind of let his “junior ranger” designation go to his head at Devil’s Tower. He kept directing us and insisting that we follow him because he was the ranger. After a while, though, he decided we could all be rangers. I got to be the time-keeping ranger because I had a watch (Thanks, Jay!). Jay asked what ranger he got to be.

Andy: Well, you can be the poop ranger. You watch out for poop and warn us if you see any.

We bought some cherries and apricots at a roadside stand in western Montana. Mostly we didn’t eat them in the car, but when we did, I asked Andy to hand me the pits and stems for disposal.

Andy: Don’t throw my pits away!

Me: No? What would you like me to do with them?

Andy: Keep them! Until we get home. I mean our original home. I want to use them for an art project. I’m keeping everything I find in nature or in food for an art project.

Me: I’m not going to keep them until we get home. They would get all grody.

Andy: That’s what I need! I’m going to make a picture of a dead body. So I need grody things!

We spent most of Wednesday just seeing the Portland sights.

Andy fancied up one of the beaver statues with a dinosaur mask he had gotten at the zoo the previous day. I hope Jay will do a blog post about the zoo visit; I can’t, since I didn’t get to go. Stupid conference.

I was determined to drag the whole family to Mill Ends Park, the smallest park in the world. And here we are — standing behind it.

Playing in the fountain. Fortunately he didn’t get soaked, since we had all the extra clothes packed away in the car.

Gelato break across the street from Powell’s, where Andy got four new books: two about Batman, one about Spider-Man, and one about the Transformers. He also picked out one for Addison — about bees, although he’s been freaking about bees this entire trip, to the point of not wanting to go anywhere that we might see flowers.