A break in the weather

It was a lovely sunny day in Seattle, yesterday, after a week of rainy days. We had a birthday party to attend at an indoor playspace in Ballard, and then stopped to pick up some pieces for Halloween costumes on the way home, so we didn't get home until almost 2, and we hadn't really had lunch. We decided to walk to the avenue, and ended up at Trader Joe's, where Nicole got bread, cold cuts and cheese, trail mix, edamame, apple sauce, seltzer, and chocolate. We sat on the benches in front of our old apartment building and ate, then walked down the street to Blue Highway Games.

Colin has a birthday party to attend today, so we picked out a present for his friend. Then it was on up the street to the coffee shop so Nicole could stave off a headache. Rachel went into the bookstore while the rest of us waited outside. Then we headed to the library, where we dropped off some items from the last time, and Nicole picked up a book on hold. From there, we walked back home.

At home, I practiced Spanish with Duolingo, which I started up again about a week ago after a long hiatus. Rachel joined me, looking over my shoulder. It was interesting to see which vocabulary she knew better, and vice versa. But I definitely noticed a deficit in listening comprehension. She's much better at segmenting into words, especially when noise made it just a little harder to hear.

Once I had finished, Rachel wanted to do it herself, in her own account. She spent a long time practicing. At one point she called out, "Dadda, what does cerveza mean?" I said, "They didn't teach you that in pre-school?" Eventually Lydia wanted to join in, too, on the other computer, and by the end of the evening Rachel was learning Welsh and Lydia Turkish.

Meanwhile, I sat down on the floor and practiced standing with Eric. He can now get back up to standing from squatting, and his balance is improving. He also suddenly seemed very excited to be making progress at this. He also helped Nicole unload the dishwasher, by handing her silverware, with enthusiasm.

We finished off the day with a dinner of hamburgers with chips and guacamole, and a little bedtime reading.