Month: May 2022

Lily, Lydia and Mary were elated about today, especially Lily.

First they took the train from Springfield to Evanston, IL. Here are Lydia and Mary being pals.

I’m not sure if they put this collage together, or if Google photos did it for them, but either way, it’s so cute to see how they have always been a pair.

In Evanston, they visited Dewey, Lily’s elementary school.

Then they visited the neighborhood Lily grew up in.

And they bumped into Lily’s neighbor Fonso! Fonso has known Lily since she was a baby. He said he was thinking about her today, so what a surprise that they saw each other! I’m sure it has been over a decade since they have seen each other!

Then Lily, Lydia and Mary spent time with the parents of her friend Julie.

Then Lily, Lydia and Mary visited Lily’s good friend Liz Nyden who she has not seen in years. Liz threw Lily’s baby shower for Lydia!

Here is another school Lily attended.

The day ended at the beach.

Lily was over the moon to be in Evanston. She felt home and even said she’d love to move back there, which I also think could be really nice. My next step in my career could naturally take me to Chicago area so we will see what the future holds. But as for now, It was so neat that Lily could be with old friends, and old places that make her heart sing. She had such a magical day.

Today was a more low-key day for Lily, Lydia and Mary. They saw the Dana Farber house (Frank-Lloyd Wright) which they loved (especially Lydia) and then they went swimming. They also went to dinner and did some napping and hanging out and watching TV in their hotel room.

I took Ammon and Clarissa to breakfast at Magelbee’s with Todd and his kids. It was a bit tricky to keep them all behaved (and not running around the restaurant). I finally told Ammon he was going to the car if his butt left the seat. He was good after that. I sure had a great time connecting with Todd. He is a great dude.

Then we took some French Toast from Magelbee’s to Georgia and visited for an hour. All things considered, the kids were good enough, but still a bit tricky to keep occupied for an hour while Georgia and I talked. It sure was good to connect with Georgia. She shared some thoughts about the life-story she is writing.

Then I took Ammon and Clarissa swimming. I told Ammon we’d stay for an hour and a half and he was disappointed because he wanted to stay for an hour (he didn’t realize an hour an a half was longer). To explain it to him in a way he could understand, I said we would stay 100 minutes, and he got super excited about that (and we did stay that long). Todd came too, and we all had so much fun playing together. Ammon and Clarissa are getting super comfortable in the water.

Back at home I bathed the kids and put them in their PJs and told them they could watch TV while I got some things done (like blogging). They did watch a lot of TV, but I was also delighted to see them naturally making their way to the craft room to work on sticker books.

In the morning Lily, Lydia and Mary said good-bye to Amy, Emerson and Isabel, and Lily, Lydia and Mary caught a train to Springfield.

In Springfield they went to the Lincoln museum.

The pictures below make me think of Ammon and Clarissa.

I left my moms a little after 9:00 to make church at 10:00. I lamented not getting photos with my mom and Jay. Neither of them were available for a photo at this moment, but I wanted some recollection of being at their house.

Church was so wonderful and nourishing as always. I think everyone needs to find what’s right for them. But the Community of Christ is definitely where my soul belongs.

After church we bought subway and ate it with Andrea at her house. Ammon and Clarissa were a bit crazy in her house, but it all worked out. In fairness to them, there isn’t a whole lot for kids to do there. Andrea and I talked for two and a half hours, and loved each other’s company as always. Below Andrea is teaching the kids about one of her dad’s paintings and also about the concept of texture.

After being at Andrea’s, we went home and I fed the kids dinner and put them to bed.

Today was also my anniversary with Lily. We celebrated two weeks ago knowing she was in Chicago, however, this anniversary actually turned out to be pretty special for me. With Lily gone, I have been really missing her. There have been work developments, experiences I’ve had and time that I just would much prefer to be sharing with her. I’ve even found myself getting a little blue. Just feeling a bit of that heart-ache has helped me to better appreciate her. When she is here, it just isn’t that the house runs better (which it does), but my heart runs better too. She’s my companion, my guide and my soul-mate. I cannot wait until she is home 🙂

Lily, Amy, Lydia, Mary, Emerson and Isabel had one more day in Chicago. First they had fun in their hotel room.

Then they went to breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful designs in their cups.

Then they did some bike riding and the weather was perfect!!

Then they went to the Shedd Aquarium.

And they finished Chicago where they started….at the bean 🙂

Meanwhile, I was having a sleepover at my mom and Jay’s house with Ammon and Clarissa. I stayed up the night before chatting with my mom and it was so fun to talk with her. In the morning, she made us waffles, sausage, and bacon. Then I took the kids to the tree museum in Ogden, basically an educational play area for kids. I like these pictures because it looks like Clarissa is really thinking about her moves. She has no idea how to play Chess and the game lasted maybe 30 seconds. Ammon does have an idea to play from all the times he plays chess on his Kindle.

Eventually they upgraded to a larger set 🙂

For some reason, I cannot get the two links below to embed. They are videos of Ammon and Clarissa 1) watching a block-tower tumble in slow-motion (I love the facial expressions) and 2) playing with the parachute tube.

https://youtube.com/shorts/VNsvIOwoLUc?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/8xSthmxyswE?feature=share

After our outing, David and Olivia came to my mom’s house and they brought Oslo! It is the first time I’ve seen my new Nephew!! Isn’t he cute!! Lily’s been insisting to me that his name is Ollie because she saw it in a photo that David and Olivia have shared, but David and Olivia clarified Ollie is the brand of his swaddler, and the brand name is right on the front of it, and it has confused people. They have another family member now that has been calling him Ollie, lol. The do call him Oslo though 🙂

We all had a great lunch together, and then Clarissa and I napped. Then I napped again. Then we all had diner (my mom made fish) and then I stayed up late talking to Jay. My favorite part of that conversation is when he reminisced about when he used to play Star Craft with his grandkids, Alex and Austin. He lit up as he told about one of the happiest memories of his life. I loved sharing that with him.

I’m sad I didn’t take pictures of my mom and Jay with the kids. But we had a really good time.

Lily, Amy, Lydia, Mary, Emerson and Isabel started the day by riding the subway to the Hull House.

Then they went to the museum of science and industry.

Then the toured the bell tower at the University of Chicago.

Here are pictures from Lily’s first day at Chicago. I’ll add what I know, but Lily may need to add a lot more context.

In the morning they went to Millennium Park and saw the Bean.

Then they went to the Chicago Art Museum

In Millennium Park the group listened to a performance by the Chicago Children’s Choir. Lily was so moved by the music that she cried.

They went on an architecture tour. The weather was perfect, and as always, the tour was spectacular and educational.

For dinner they went to Lou Malnati’s

What a great first day in Chicago!!

Lily, Lydia and Mary left for Chicago today! I’m at home with the two younger kids getting help with childcare during work from Lizzy (our new stop-gap nanny). After work, Todd came over with his kids Chora and Kasey. I felt so tired from my allergies, but still it was so great to hang out!!

Lydia planned a party for her class, Eli, Emerson and Isabel. Lydia is incredibly shy at school (apparently she won an award or some type of recognition for being so quiet). But inside she wants to connect more with her classmates, and I think she wanted her party to be just the thing to make that happen, – to help the class get to know her better. Lydia planned the activities and the concept of the party.

Lily also has been completely on-top of helping to plan the party. Lily had a really hard time socially in the latter part of elementary school, and so all of her heart-strings were pulled, and she did a ton of work to help provide a great party. She cleaned the house top to bottom (which was a ton of work), cut veggies, ordered drinks and pizzas, got s’more ingredients, and coordinated with me for karaoke setup etc. We were perfectly prepared and everything pulled off without a hitch.

First the kids ate pizza outside.

Then everyone watched Matilda. I was going in and out of working, but I was laughing harder than any of the kids at Matilda. I forgot how funny it was, especially when the parents argue with Matilda and insist that she’s 4, not 6 and a half, that she can’t go to school because no one would be home to sign for the packages and tell her to put down her books and watch tv with the rest of the family.

After the movie, we had a raffle. Lydia and Lily prepared gifts to hand out to raffle winners and Lydia announced the raffle winners.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ceL0QBpFOYA

After the movie, we set up the karaoke machine and the kids really took to it. They sounded great!

Then we all had s’mores.

I’m so impressed by Lydia’s class. I just enjoyed being around all of them. They are all so bright, kind, funny, thoughtful and fun. It made me very grateful for children. They really are the light of the world.

Clarissa is still a little tired from getting over being sick. Just after 7:00, Clarissa announced she was tired, crawled into my lap, and promptly fell asleep. This was s joy for two reasons. One, it was so sweet and adorable to have her cuddling in my lap with her little kid snores. And two, she’s the hardest one to put to bed, so having her fall asleep was a gift. Lily captured a picture and a video.

Today I slept in (Lily and I stayed up late watching Yellowstone) and then walked Basil. I grabbed a couple of pictures while I scratched his belly. He loves that.

While I was doing all that, Lily was working out, and Lydia and Mary were recreating pieces of art from the Chicago Art Museum (which they are about to visit). Here are Lydia’s recreations. I’m not sure if Mary finished hers because I never saw them.

After that, I showered and Lily and I took Ammon and Clarissa to Ikea. We ate lunch there, made returns from our purchase last week and got ice-cream. It was a very fun outing. I also bumped into my friend and old co-worker, Shane Smith. It was so nice to see him!

Then we went to Barnes & Nobles for some things for Lydia’s party and we got some things for the yard from Lowe’s. After that, I went straight to home church at Whitney’s place in Vineyard. We gave Lydia and Mary a choice to go with me or do something else for their soul, and thy chose to listen to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I loved home church as I always do.

At home, Lydia and Mary showed me the incredible things they made in the crafting room while they listened to Charles Dickens.

Then we all went to Noodles and Company and picked up food for ourselves and our friends, Chris and Jen. They are moving to Baltimore the day after Lily and the girls get back from Chicago and we wanted to see them one last time before they leave. We had a really nice visit with them and saw their new 37′ Montana trailer that they will be living in for the next little while until they decide where they will permanently settle. It was a beautiful trailer. It was so great to see them!

At home we put the kids down and I worked at my computer while Lily took a bath. It was a great day!