It's my birthday and it's time to wake up!

(Claire wakes up and comes downstairs.)
Claire (excitedly): It's my birthday!

(Daddy is still in bed.)
Claire: It's my birthday and it's time to wake up!

(Daddy asks what it feels like to be four.)
Claire (considering): I don't feel it.


(Claire opens a couple of birthday presents.)
Claire: I think I wanna open all my presents now, because it's fun!


(Alex points out that he'll always be a year ahead of Claire.)
Claire: I'll never be as old as you?
Alex: Yeah.  I can't help it, sorry.  I can't stop growing.  A kid can't stop growing and getting older.


Alex: I wanna go back to Disney.
Claire: Why?
Alex: It's fun there.


Claire: Daddy after I get my shoes on I can show you my cupcakes!


Claire: Daddy, a long time ago, the lights went out, and, a little of a long time ago, the lights went out.

Alex: When Grandma and Grandpa were a kid, did they have mommies and daddies?
Mommy: Yeah.
Alex: Well how did they get to be just two people?
Mommy: What do you mean?
Alex: Well how did they get to be just two people?
Mommy: Well, their mommies and daddies died.
Alex: Oh.
(Mommy explains about growing up, moving out, getting married, and having kids.)
Mommy: But you can still visit your mommy and daddy.
Alex: Until they die.

Alex: A bad guy would park in the walking place or the wheelchair place. A bad guy would do that.
Daddy: Yeah.
Alex: But then he would learn a lesson.


Claire: Daddy, there's icing on my legs.


Mommy: Claire, did you have fun at your party?
Claire: Yeah and I'm excited to open my presents. Its fun to open presents.

Claire: Alex, are you gonna, help me open the presents? Help me open the presents?
Alex: No, it’s your birthday. You get to open them.


Claire: How do people cut trees down? They're too hard. When they're reeeeeally big.


Claire: I really wanted a toy car.
Mommy: I know.
Claire: Will that one stay for a long time?

Claire: Will it stay forever?
Mommy: For as long as you wanna play with it.
Claire: I want it to stay forever.
Mommy: Okay.


Daddy: What does it feel like to be four years old?
Claire (shrugging): I don't feel anything when I'm four.

How does the sun make it even hotter?

(The temperature is 102F today.)
Claire: How does the sun make it even hotter?

Claire (pointing to the mixer): Mommy, why is that over there?
Mommy: Because I had to make something for tomorrow.
Claire (whispering excitedly): My birthday cake!

You can't step on the butterflies 'cause then they'd get dead.

Claire: We’re gonna go to the Tannagle Garden after breakfast!


(Alex and Claire went with Mommy to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens today.)

Claire: You can't step on the butterflies 'cause then they'd get dead.  I saw one on the ground I think it was dead because someone stepped on it.
Daddy: Oh.
Alex: You know what they ate?  Rotten food.

Alex: There was a stick house and a wooden house!
Daddy: Yeah?
Alex: The stick house was so cool!  It was like, made of sticks, sticks were piled up on the wall, and the ceilings!


(Daddy, Alex, and Claire discuss astronomy.)

Claire: How does the moon get up in the sky?

Alex: The sun's bigger than Grandpa.

Claire (regarding the sun): Is it the biggest thing in the whole world, even different states?

Alex: The earth is turning and why do we don't get dizzy?

Why does she give us some of her money?

(Alex buys a birthday present for Mommy at the dollar store, with his own money. The cashier gives him change.)
Alex: Why does she give us some of her money?


Claire: When can I open my seatbelt, when I'm a grownup, so I can drive the car, when I'm grown up?


Claire: Daddy? Can I tell Mommy when it’s her birthday?
Daddy: Yeah.
Claire: Mommy, when is it your birthday?
Mommy: Friday.
Claire: Oh.
Mommy: When is it your birthday?
Claire: Saturday.


(Alex and Daddy don’t want Mommy to know that they went to the store to buy her a birthday present.)
Daddy: We were slow coming home from school.
Mommy: That's what Alex said.
Alex: Because there was a lot of traffic.


Mommy: On your birthday, you want a cake and presents.
Alex: She said raccoon.
(Mommy laughs.)
Alex: She said presidents.

Mommy, look! This is a dress! This is a dress, Mommy!

(Daddy comes home from work.  Claire and Alex are watching TV, and Claire's baby kitty is sitting on a chair next to them.)
Claire: We have my baby kitty right there watching our show with us.
Daddy: Oh, okay.
Claire: We're gonna take care of her.


(The kitty is now on the kitchen table, with her mouth in a paper cupcake cup full of beads.)
Claire: Oh!  Kitty is cold when she's eating every day.
(Claire puts a handkerchief on the kitty.)


(Claire is talking about a rocket ship they built, and wanted to fly to "out of space".)
Claire: But how do we get back to our Earth, Alex?
Alex: We'll just turn the wheel, and -- fly the other way.



(Alex drains the water in the bath such that the pipe squeals.)
Alex: What is that noise?
Claire: Maybe it's a monkey.
Daddy: Maybe it's a whale.
Alex: I think it's a lawnmower.
Daddy: Maybe it's a dolphin.
Claire: I think it's a monkey or a dolphin.

Claire: Maybe it's a whale or a humpback whale.

Claire: Maybe it's crying but we're far away from it.


(Claire is jumping around, very excited about her new nightgown.)
Claire: Mommy said this is a dress, you can just wear a pull-up!
Daddy: Wow!
Claire: Some of my friends have dresses with just underwear! Isn't that funny?
Daddy: Yeah!
Claire: This is a dress, I think!

Claire: Mommy, look! This is a dress! This is a dress, Mommy!


Alex: I just like the way Claire reads. I like her reading to me.


(tucking Claire into bed)

Claire: I'm your baby princess.

Claire: Can you say what I say?

Claire: Can you sleep on my floor?
Daddy: No.
Claire: Can you be in the hall?
Daddy: Yes.
Claire: Can you be in the real hall?
Daddy: Yes.

How does the power get out of the things? And how does it get back in them?

Claire: Bye! Make money! Bye! I love you! Bye Mommy! Have lots of fun!


Alex: There's this type of dream, that isn't a dream. When you close your eyes, it happens, and when you open you eyes, it doesn't happen. But if you close your eyes too long, it turns into a dream.


(The power is out.)
Claire: How does the power get out of the things? And how does it get back in them?

Claire: Can we make coffee?
Daddy: No.
Claire: Can we beep on the dinner thing? Where we put pizza?
Daddy: No.
Claire: The oven?
Daddy: No.
Claire: The microwave?
Daddy: Nope.
Claire: Only people can play, right Daddy?
Daddy: That’s right.


(Claire is happily eating a chocolate muffin.)
Claire (singing): I'm eating my chocolate muffin
Claire (singing): And I already ate my chocolate bar

What color's magoons?

Alex: Can we go to The Tyler Place again today? ‘Cause we went last year, in June.


(Daddy mentions legumes.)
Claire: What color's magoons?
Daddy: All different colors.
Alex: Well, lagoon is another word for a lake.

Mommy? Not everybody in the world be at parties right? Only some people.

Claire: Mommy? You wanna see something cool?


Claire: Daddy? I wanna count by two thousand with nines.


Alex: I'm gonna count to a thousand.
Daddy: That’d be big.
Alex: Well actually, maybe I'm gonna count to a million.


Claire: Mommy? Not everybody in the world be at parties right? Only some people.
Mommy: Only some people.
Claire: Right, because some people maybe can't come, because they might be sick.


Claire: What's the problem?


Alex: I really want you to play with me, Claire.
Claire: But I'm doing something else.


(Claire and Alex are laughing and playing in the sprinklers, while holding their umbrellas.)
Claire: It’s raining, right, Alex?
Alex: Uh-huh!
Claire: It’s raining today!


Claire: Daddy, this day is when we have family dinner, and no show. And I have a game to play. When everybody’s ready.

Claire: Daddy, this day were having family dinner but Mommy and Daddy have no food.

Claire: When Mommy’s done with my hair we can all eat and we’ll play the game.

Claire: My game is, you say a color and the other persons have to guess it, except, you can't say a thing we already said.

Make lots of money for us!

Claire: Have lots of fun at work!
Mommy: Have lots of fun at school!
Claire: Make lots of money for us!
Mommy: Okay!

They can't fly out of the TV into our house.

(Claire is trying to clarify the "realness" of the Mickey Mouse characters.)
Claire: And they're not real.
Mommy: That's right.
Claire: They can't fly out of the TV into our house.


Claire: I love games.

I'm gonna watch a movie at the bookstore movie theater!

Claire: Mommy and Daddy, I'm your baby kitty.

Mommy (to Alex): Have fun on your field trip.
Alex: I wish you were with me.

Claire: Have a good day at work!
Mommy: Okay.
Claire: And, make lots of money for us!


Alex: I like Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Mommy: Me too.
Claire: I like Tuesdays and Thursdays because I'm gonna see a movie!

Claire: I'm gonna watch a movie at the bookstore movie theater!

Claire: I'm just gonna check if it's too loud for me.

Alex: How big is it?  Like, bigger than that window?
Mommy: Mm-hm.
Alex: Like as big as our house?
Mommy: No.

I love everyone in this world, and I love everyone in the other world

(Claire is alone in her room, getting dressed.)
Claire (singing): I love everyone in the world
Claire (singing): I love everyone in the states, even this world
Claire (singing): I love everyone in this world, and I love everyone in the other world

When it's Thanksgiving, we’re gonna eat where we keep our clothes.

Claire: When is it Claire and Alex’s day? When we don't need to do anything?


Alex: The years just keep on going, even after you die, right?

Alex: When is everybody gonna die, and there's no one left?



Claire: When it's Thanksgiving, we’re gonna eat where we keep our clothes.


(Alex points out that he can always take off his own seatbelt now, in both Mommy's car and Daddy's car.)
Alex: I feel proud.


(Daddy and Alex go to the store so Alex can spend some of his own money.  It is quite an adventure.  Alex has only $12, and is eager to part with it as quickly as possible.  The toys at Target would empty his meager savings, so Daddy finally convinces him to go to Dollar Tree instead, where Alex buys 6 toys for only $5.51.  Alex pays from his own wallet, and is excited when the cashier hands him the receipt.)




Alex: I wanna get this day done.

Daddy: Why do you wanna get this day done?
Alex: Because I wanna get on the bus.


Alex: Paying with that money made me really hungry.


Claire: Mommy, Ashley is four like me when I'm birthday.


(Claire is playing with the new fishing rod toy that Alex bought at Dollar Tree.)
Claire: I'm fishing for toast.

Claire: And this purple one has no butter on it, it has jelly on it; and the pink one has butter on it; and the green one, is not toast, it's waffles.

(A little later.)
Claire: I just need to catch the crocodile!
Claire: Well, I mean the waffle.


Claire: Look, I've got my own notebook!  Look at my own notebook, everybody!

Claire (to Alex): You got your own notebook?!  Wowwww.  Spider-Man, you got.

Claire: Look what I've got!  Look what I got!
Mommy: Cool!  What are these?
Claire: Stickers, I think.
Mommy: These are magnets!
Claire: Ahhhh, magnets and stickers!

Claire: I got more stickers!!

Claire: Can I open my notebook?

Claire: I got what you got!  A bubble maker, too!


(Nana, Pop, Uncle Doug, Aunt Renee, and cousins Dana and Camden go home.)
Alex: I liked having everyone over.
Mommy: Good.
Alex: I wonder what the bus is gonna be like tomorrow.

I like that Claire likes her present.

(After Alex's friend's party, Alex picks a purple balloon.)
Alex (to Daddy): I'm gonna give this to Claire.

(Later, Claire is having lots of fun with the balloon Alex gave her.)
Alex: I like that Claire likes her present.

Alex: I liked having time with my friends.

Well, you die when you're a grown-up. But I won't die when I'm a kid, right?

Alex: Daddy, watch how I can take off my seatbelt!

Claire: Now I can make a X!

Alex: We missed you a lot.
Daddy: Aw! I missed you guys lots and lots too.
Alex: After graduation, I cried.

Alex: Remember I told you, “There’s just one more day, so you don’t have to worry.”



(Alex, Claire, and Daddy watch Alex’s graduation video.)

(In the video, the kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance.)
Claire: I have that song. At school.

Alex: I like that part because I like watching my shoes light up.

Alex (to Daddy): When I’m 42, don’t turn 43.



Claire (to Mommy): I have the pretty, socks – I have the pretty socks of the whole world, right?


Alex: I’d’ve never’ve thought five-year-olds could do it.
Daddy: Yeah, but you can do it.
Alex: But a lot of eight-year-olds and seven-year-olds do it.
Daddy: Yeah.

Alex: And ten-year-olds.


Alex: You never stop getting bigger when you’re a grown-up, do you?
Daddy: Well --
Alex: Well, if you die.

Alex: You keep getting to a bigger number, right?
Daddy: Right.
Alex: Until you die.

Alex: Well, you die when you're a grown-up. But I won't die when I'm a kid, right?



Alex: What did you draw, Claire?
Claire: Um, the sun and the grass and all the dirt under the grass, and our family.
Alex: Oh.
(Pause.)
Claire: And the sun.


Alex: I wanna have some Daddy time without Mommy.


Alex: A duck’s life has food all over the world.

Claire: Mommy, the mostest thing in the world is grass.



Claire: Our rules are, don’t get on the table and don’t talk while you’re sleeping.

...you're in a different state, and I'm in a different state, and…

(Daddy is on a business trip, and Claire and Alex talk to him on the phone.)

Daddy: I miss you.
Alex: I miss you, too.

Claire: Is it wake-up time?

Claire: I love you, and I miss you, and, um… you're in a different state, and, um… you're in a different state, and I'm in a different state, and… you're in a different state, and I'm in a different state, and, um… you're in a different state, and I'm in a different state, and, um…
Mommy: Do you wanna tell him that you miss him?
Claire: What?
Mommy: Do you wanna tell him that you miss him?
Claire: I love you and I miss you.

Just I miss him.

(Daddy is on a business trip, and Claire and Alex talk to him on the phone.)

Alex: I went to Miss Jalbert’s class.
Claire: And I went to Preschool 2.

Alex: I was in Miss Jalbert’s class the whole day, except for lunch.

Claire: I was in Preschool 2 the whole day but not lunch but I was there for snack.

Claire: Bye! Good night! I love you!

Mommy (to Alex): Do you wanna say anything?
Alex: Just I miss him.

I went to Preschool 2!

(Daddy is on a business trip, and Claire and Alex talk to him on the phone.)

Claire: I went to Preschool 2!

Claire: And I wasn’t mean, and I’m gonna go there every day!

Alex: I’m graduating tomorrow.

Alex: I learned a different way to eat a cherry.

Alex: And I did my seatbelt today!

Claire: Right now I did my buttons by myself!

Daddy, do you remember a long time ago we ate that little brown stuff that was like applesauce in a little cup but it was like applesauce but it was brown?

Alex (to Daddy): I need to do all my favorite things with you today. Because tomorrow you're leaving.


(Claire is going to draw a thank-you card for Grandma and Grandpa.)
Claire: I know what to make.
Daddy: What?
Claire: I can write “I love you”, and my name, and I can draw me and Grandma and Grandpa.
Daddy: Yeah?
Claire: And a heart.


Alex: He's eighty. He used to be seventy-nine. And then he had a birthday and turned eighty. Rememeber? We went.

Claire: Daddy?
Daddy: Mm-hm?
Claire: Do all the girls in the whole world go to my birthday? No -- um -- do all the girls in the whole world go to their birthdays, in June?



Claire: Daddy, do you remember a long time ago we ate that little brown stuff that was like applesauce in a little cup but it was like applesauce but it was brown? Do you remember that?
Daddy: Yeah.
Claire: What was that?
Daddy: Pudding.
Claire: Oh. I like pudding.


Alex (reading to Claire): These friends stick together.
Claire: How do they un-stick?

I love being at home, but what I love most is the beach.

Claire: I love being at home, but what I love most is the beach.

Alex: Daddy?
Daddy: Yeah?
Alex: Why do we have to go home?

Save money or we won't have jobs!

Alex: That was cool!


(An airplane flies by, pulling a Geico banner behind it.)

Alex: An airplane is flying with a lizard!

Alex: “Save money.” It wants us to save money!

Alex: Save money or we won't have jobs!
(Alex laughs.)

I made a geyser!

Claire: Daddy, can you play this game with me?

Claire: After all the sticks are done, we should count them and see who gots the most, okay?


Claire: When we get back to the house, we can put all the shells in my collection.


Claire: Maybe we can play a game while we walk.

Claire: Now I have a different game. This game is gonna be really hard.
Daddy: Okay.
Claire: Somebody has to walk, and get ahead of the other person. Isn't that really hard?


Claire: You get in this path. No, you get in that path. Now. I have a game. You need to -- um, run and get ahead of that other person. Okay?
Daddy: Okay.
Claire: Go!

(Claire and Daddy play this game several times.)



Claire: What does “intrepid” mean?

Alex: It’s like a marching band! In the water!

Claire: It’s really yummy. I'm gonna eat all of it.

Alex: Sit right here, Daddy.
Daddy: Okay.
Alex: You're my buddy.


Claire: At school, Miss Yvonne has a baby named Claire like me!
Daddy: Oh yeah?
Claire: Except she's tinier. I saw pictures and she has piggy tails like me.



Alex: Maybe it’s because sometimes bad guys try to cut it down, and bad guys don't like pretty things, so they can't cut it down...



Alex: Wait up, guys!

Alex: You're like Meg’s Uncle Jimmy!

Claire: I'm gonna teach Alex my shovel game. Someone hides the shovel where no one can see it, and then they say "Where's the shovel?". And then if they find it, they win.

Alex: I made a geyser!

Alex: I made a geyser!

Alex: Mommy, I made a geyser!

I like being your chucklehead.

Alex: I liked yesterday because I liked seeing the sand flying across!

Alex: Then we had to pack up so much! And we, almost, blew away! How much wind was it? Did you listen to the weather?

Alex: First it was a little breeze, then whoosh!



Claire: It’s warm enough. It’s really cold.

Mommy: I can go down there with her.
Claire (running over excitedly): Can you go down to the beach with me, Mommy?


Claire: Daddy, the little little holes are where no crabs lives in, because crabs are too big for little holes.


Claire: There's a mountain over there! You can climb up it!

Claire: Alex, there's a mountain over there!
Alex: Yeah?
Claire: You wanna climb up it?
Alex: No.


Alex: You can only go twenty-five and, no parking.
Daddy: That’s right.
(Pause.)
Alex: No parking here either.

Claire: I saw those persons park on that sidewalk, and there was a -- there was like a -- there was a kid with a jacket on, and it looked like you, Alex. It was littler though.


Alex: We’re walking across it on a bridge!
Claire: We’re going through tall grass!
Alex: This is like a cornfield!
Claire: It’s like a forest!


Claire: I saw a girl, that was a kid, riding her bike with her daddy.
Daddy: Oh!
Claire: And the daddy, was riding his bike with her.


Claire: I can count to ninety, Daddy. Watch me, watch me count to ninety.
Daddy: Okay.
Claire: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ninety!


Alex: Daddy! That window is our room!
Daddy: Yeah!
Alex: I figured it out!


Aunt Sheridan: That word is “core”. Do you know what a core is? Like an apple core?
(Pause.)
Alex: Ah, it’s the round part, with the stem on it, that you can't eat.


(Claire explains to Grandma and Meg how to play Zingo.)

Claire: Somebody has to zingo it, and something comes out, and it has something on it, and you can put it on your card.

Claire: If everything is on your card, you can't put anything on the red, if everything is on your card, you get to win.



(The sun comes out.)
Claire: Maybe the pool is warm now!
Grandma: Maybe we can test it out.
Claire: Maybe we can test it out later after the game is done!

Claire: Because it’s really hot now!


(Grandma suggests Claire dip her toe in the pool to see if it’s warm, and Claire points out that she has to take her socks off first.)
Claire: Yeah because, if I put my foot in with my socks on, my sock will get wet.


Claire: This is gonna be really cool. This is gonna be what makes you happy.

Claire: Or it could be a person falling down.



Daddy: You're pretty good at these puzzles.
Alex: That's why I like puzzles.
Daddy: Just like me.
Alex: Mm-hm. I'm your ki-- I'm your boy!



(bed time)
Alex (sadly): We’re gonna hafta go home soon.
Daddy: No, we've got lots more days here!
Alex: But seven isn't really big, like twenty or a hundred or a thousand.

Alex: You don't call Claire “chucklehead”, right?
Daddy: No. You're my chucklehead.
Alex: I like being your chucklehead.

I like being your chucklehead.

Alex: I liked yesterday because I liked seeing the sand flying across!

Alex: Then we had to pack up so much! And we, almost, blew away! How much wind was it? Did you listen to the weather?

Alex: First it was a little breeze, then whoosh!



Claire: It’s warm enough. It’s really cold.

Mommy: I can go down there with her.
Claire (running over excitedly): Can you go down to the beach with me, Mommy?


Claire: Daddy, the little little holes are where no crabs lives in, because crabs are too big for little holes.


Claire: There's a mountain over there! You can climb up it!

Claire: Alex, there's a mountain over there!
Alex: Yeah?
Claire: You wanna climb up it?
Alex: No.


Alex: You can only go twenty-five and, no parking.
Daddy: That’s right.
(Pause.)
Alex: No parking here either.

Claire: I saw those persons park on that sidewalk, and there was a -- there was like a -- there was a kid with a jacket on, and it looked like you, Alex. It was littler though.


Alex: We’re walking across it on a bridge!
Claire: We’re going through tall grass!
Alex: This is like a cornfield!
Claire: It’s like a forest!


Claire: I saw a girl, that was a kid, riding her bike with her daddy.
Daddy: Oh!
Claire: And the daddy, was riding his bike with her.


Claire: I can count to ninety, Daddy. Watch me, watch me count to ninety.
Daddy: Okay.
Claire: Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ninety!


Alex: Daddy! That window is our room!
Daddy: Yeah!
Alex: I figured it out!


Aunt Sheridan: That word is “core”. Do you know what a core is? Like an apple core?
(Pause.)
Alex: Ah, it’s the round part, with the stem on it, that you can't eat.


(Claire explains to Grandma and Meg how to play Zingo.)

Claire: Somebody has to zingo it, and something comes out, and it has something on it, and you can put it on your card.

Claire: If everything is on your card, you can't put anything on the red, if everything is on your card, you get to win.



(The sun comes out.)
Claire: Maybe the pool is warm now!
Grandma: Maybe we can test it out.
Claire: Maybe we can test it out later after the game is done!

Claire: Because it’s really hot now!


(Grandma suggests Claire dip her toe in the pool to see if it’s warm, and Claire points out that she has to take her socks off first.)
Claire: Yeah because, if I put my foot in with my socks on, my sock will get wet.


Claire: This is gonna be really cool. This is gonna be what makes you happy.

Claire: Or it could be a person falling down.



Daddy: You're pretty good at these puzzles.
Alex: That's why I like puzzles.
Daddy: Just like me.
Alex: Mm-hm. I'm your ki-- I'm your boy!



(bed time)
Alex (sadly): We’re gonna hafta go home soon.
Daddy: No, we've got lots more days here!
Alex: But seven isn't really big, like twenty or a hundred or a thousand.

Alex: You don't call Claire “chucklehead”, right?
Daddy: No. You're my chucklehead.
Alex: I like being your chucklehead.

Good one, Meg!

Alex: No. We had to stay up, because all the people who were telling us to look at the walls were playing... pianos.
(Alex laughs.)


Claire (getting back in the pool): It’s not warm! It’s warm! It’s a little bit cold but it’s really warm!


Claire: I wanna eat lunch at our real home. Are we going to our real home?

Alex (to Meg): What are you gonna have for lunch?
Meg: I don’t know. Maybe a hot dog. Maybe it'll split open.
Alex: Ha ha ha! Good one, Meg!

Alex: Daddy, I'm gonna see things that are far away!


Alex: It’s splitty. Like “my hot dog split open”.

Alex: It’s hot. Like “my hot dog split open”.


(Alex and Claire are looking out the window, and see birds flying overhead.)
Alex: Look! They're making a triangle!
Alex: They're flying north.
Claire: Yeah but -- a triangle has to have a bottom one too.


Alex: And it’s good that you already had your dinner, so you can stay in here with us. And you'd be scared out there without us. Right, Daddy?

Those brown things make me wanna eat one.

Mommy: Okay, what's your game?
Claire: You need to say a color, that's outside, and, then the other person has to guess it.


Alex: This is like a California bridge.


Alex: Those brown things make me wanna eat one.

Which it stands.

Claire: Alex, you know what's my favorite things?
Alex: What?
Claire: Um, swinging with Alex, and --
Alex: Going to the beach!
Claire: Um, swinging with you, going to the beach, and drawing.


Claire: Um, I can read "stop", and all my family, because I know all those words, except “Grommie”.

Claire: I know lots of words.

Claire: And I can write "I love you!"

Alex: I have trouble with very long words.



Alex: Do you like packing, Daddy?
Daddy: Uh-huh.
Alex: Me too.
Claire: Yeah, because, when you pack, that means maybe you’re going to the beach, or to Disney World.
Alex: Or a different state.
Claire: Yeah a different state.
Mommy: Is the beach in a different state?
Alex: Yeah, well, it’s still in the United States.
(Pause.)
Alex: Of America.
Daddy: And to the republic.
(Alex laughs.)
Alex: Which it stands.
Alex: Imagination.
Alex: Um – and just as for all.



Alex: I can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.

Alex: I wanna go to sleep without thinking about the beach, ‘cause I don’t think I can sleep.