Burnt out day of fun

In the morning, Dad drove out to the Araluen park with Logan in hopes
that the mini-bulldozer from the previous day was still there (he wanted
to take some pictures with Logan in it). No such luck. However, while
driving back out of the area, Daddy noticed Logan's dear friend Holly
playing in the playground with her parents. Knowing Logan would enjoy
playing with Holly, he stopped and parked next to their car. When Dad
opened Logan's car door, Logan looked down at the car and proclaimed
"Holly!" Dad was bewildered because Holly was nowhere in visible range,
and it didn't make sense that he would've recognized their car as it is
nothing that stands out (it is much like many other cars). But one can
only surmise that this must have been the case! At the park Logan
really enjoyed playing with Holly, and perhaps to show off for her, he
did exceptionally well at climbing various objects, including ladders
that were just barely within reach. Afterwards Dad and Logan headed
out to a garage sale, but mainly it was because Daddy wanted to check
out the house in the hopes that it could be the next place we would live
(it was a JDFPG Base house and the occupants were moving out). Whenever
you increase in family size, you can submit a request for a new house
(with more bedrooms), but you aren't allowed to choose where you live.
A housing board decides that for you. Well, Dad immediately recognized
the person sitting under the porch at the house, and it was the Chief of
the Facility (COF, or chief of the base). Needless to say Dad knew he
wouldn't get to live there as it is the nicest base house of all and
designated specifically for whoever is the COF. But Dad did buy a few
cheap items for Logan, to include a toy lawnmower, a toddler's remote
control car, and a few kid's books.
After the garage sale, Dad was still on the lookout for a present for
Mom's upcoming birthday. So what does Daddy do but the dumbest thing he
could. He goes to the grand opening of the Mad Harry's Discounter
store. He has to park a block away to get to it because there are
hundreds of people. He gets there with Logan and can barely fit
inside. There was free food, but it was all gone because they cleaned
out all three grocery stores of snags (hot dogs). Dad made the mistake
of letting Logan see the toy aisle, in which there were trucks and cars
galore. Daddy finally relented and let Logan get a cheap $2.00 matchbox
truck set of 4. That was another huge mistake. The checkout line was
huge and it took forever to get out. When paying Logan would not let
go of the matchbox trucks so the cashier could read the UPC symbol for
the price! Never again will Daddy make that mistake! Dad tried to
go to another store, but the second we walked in, Logan went ballistic
and had enough of shopping for the day.
Back home, I expected Logan to go down for a nap, but no such luck. He
was too wired and perhaps got 15 minutes. Logan is getting better about
listening, can get his own drink from the fridge (but must be already in
his cup and within reach), but occasionally he will drink his grape
juice and milk at the same time (his cups have built in straws which
allow him to do this). He now tends to get out his DVD of choice
('Brainy Baby' or 'Baby Einstein') and can power on the DVD player,
stick the DVD in, and then close the DVD player (we still need to turn
on the TV and get it going for him). We then will let him watch the
30-40 minute show, but he generally only watches about the first 10-15
minutes before moving on to other things.
Mom then took Logan to the grocery store since we had a dinner
engagement with friends (Pat and Sherley Vulk) that evening and needed
to bring along a dish to share (Mom was making a 7 layer dip for an
appetizer). Upon her return, Logan crashed down for a nap (far later
than usual). When heading out at 5, Logan still wouldn't wake up and
we stuck his limp body in the car. Finally at the Vulk's house, Logan
woke up seeing all the other kids running around. We jumped on their
trampoline and rode their trikes around and around. Great food was had,
Mom's 7-layer dip was a big hit, and we were all stuffed. Going home
past Logan's bedtime at about 8:30 PM, we were nervous, but Logan still
went down easily enough.