Clark is in town which we are loving! Also, Basil got lice from the boarding house (we think) and got a shot yesterday to kill the lice. He was supposed to get a bath from groomers today, but we learned we need to wait two weeks until they will take him. Our family has gone through such horror with lice (years ago) that I can’t figure out why they’ve figured out how to kill lice with a shot for dogs, but they haven’t figured out a cure that simple for humans, lol. Oh well. I’m just glad we aren’t needing to bust out the nit combs for Basil.
Also, Lydia has been sick all week (it started in the Tetons) and she stayed home from school again today. She’s been working on a really fun book about different characters that win a trip around the world.
Because Lydia was sick, it was Mary only who had tennis practice. The younger kids played, while Lily, Clark, Georgia and Amy all talked. Lily and Amy talked about Amy’s book that she is working on.
I worked today and also had two fantasy football drafts, one with my old spartacus team and one with my uncle Kurt and his side of the family.
Dinner was delicious salmon, pea pasta, salad and bread. It was great!
Before Georgia left, Ammon and Clarissa performed a dance. It was very cute!
Also, I ready Harry Potter to the kids tonight and that was very fun. It was also a really easy way to get Clarissa to go to bed!
I ended work early to help my dad for 6 hours with his and Suzanne’s project of moving to their new home. Suzanne has been super tied up with her new management job and I briefly saw her, but my dad and I moved a ton of boxes, listened to good music, chatted a ton, and worked through some of his decisions together. I love that man so much and will never forget the way he invested in and cared for me during my formative years. I have so many deeply meaningful memories in that home and it is sad for me that I will possibly never visit it again. It was fun to bump into some old memorabilia though. Here is a first grade (I think?) pencil chart and my middle school report on the Wasatch Fault:
Unfortunately, both Lily’s and my phone died and we didn’t have power until after we drove to Jackson so we did not take pictures of our morning activities in the Tetons :(.
We did have an amazing time though. We hiked almost 3 miles round trip to see Taggart lake. Ammon and Clarissa especially had fun playing on a big rock that I think they were pretending was a ship. Lydia has been feeling very sick on this trip, and she was crying at times on the hike. We were so grateful she found a way to hike so everyone else could have the experience, and our hearts really felt for her and how bad she was feeling. Thank you Lydia for a team player and we are sorry for your discomfort!
After hiking we drove to Jackson and had a delicious brunch at Cafe Genevieve.
We then wandered around Jackson and took a picture at the antlers. It was cool to learn that they were all shed by bucks, and not the result of hunting.
Then we had delicious ice-cream at Moo’s Gourmet ice cream.
After a great stint in Jackson, we boogied home and made it by 9:30. What a quick, but wonderful trip to the Tetons! Lily, thank you for always organizing such fun for this family!
I am so grateful that Lily encouraged us to stop at a cabin an hour outside of the Tetons instead of getting in at 1:00 to set up camp. I’m not always thinking clearly when I’m trying to save a buck. Because we all got rest, we were able to have such a fun day today. We were to String Lake by mid-day and we had a wonderful picnic together right next to the lake. Lily had made the most amazing Panini sandwiches and the balsamic vinegar in them really made them pop!
Then we all enjoyed String Lake together. Honestly, I was afraid of the temperature of the lake, so to confront my fear, I just jumped right in really quickly. It was cold, but actually very refreshing and it got better over time….until it stopped getting better and then I started shivering and left. But before I left, Lily joined me and we both had fun swimming in the lake. Lily especially got some good laps in swimming to and from rocks.
The kids had fun playing on the beach.
At one point it got a little windy, and a toppled tree that was hanging over our heads (stuck on another tree) started to creak. We got freaked out (especially Clarissa) and decided to wrap up our time at String Lake. No trees falling on us to today, thank you!
In the car, Clarissa showed off her fishlips.
Then we all went on a short (I think about 2.4 miles) hike to Heron lake.
We loved looking at this beaver dam which seamed to be a true beaver mansion. The water was really low, which was a theme throughout our Teton’s trip (Jackson lake was at 33%) so we actually saw a dam higher up on the shore too (which we assumed was built when the water was higher). If you look closely in the picture below, you can also see the dam higher up on the shore.
We said, “Hey Bear!” multiple times to help stay safe.
Ammon and Clarissa LOVED looking at the beautiful and massive mushrooms all around. We also found a friend on the trail who taught us about mushrooms. She thought these were edible, but that they were older, as in past their prime for eating.
It was very tough getting Clarissa to walk, but things turned around when I encouraged her to tell me all about a Halloween party she was planning in her imagination. She talked all about it as we walked.
After hiking Heron lake came my favorite part of the day, and a highlight for the entire year for me. I got to cook Lily and Mary’s tin foil dinners on the fire, and then we had the MOST delicious family meal together. I LOVE seasoned roasted vegetables. The weather was perfect, and it was so wonderful to be together. Then we all had banana boats, and they were the yummiest ones I’ve ever had. They were cooked perfectly. Then after everyone went to bed, I sat by the fire and pondered and wrote a poem. I was feeling very inspired with thoughts and felt so grateful for every moment of life (which is what my poem was about). What an incredible gift life is!
Today Lily had a wonderful time talking to our good friend, Kim Baker while her kids played in our house. Our kids were at school, but Lily had a really good time talking with her. I finished work around 3:00 then we all hustled to get ready for the Tetons and we left by 6:20. Mary has been extra helpful lately and here she is helping Lily prepare the tinfoil dinners:
Lily was a total rockstar and did all, but the last bit of driving! We were going to get in at 1:00 AM to our campground, and Lily suggested we stay the night at a cabin a little short of our destination. We did, and it worked out perfectly! Also, Mary threw up at our cabin from car-sickness, poor girl. It could have been really complicated trying to set up camp at 1:00, a blow up matress that is loud to fill up, and a car-sick girl. Thank you Lily for your wisdom!!
Lily and I have both been trying really hard to get back in shape. Today Lily did the bike, the elliptical and strength training. I did the dogout workout wiht Basil (jogging, sprinting, pull-ups, stretching). One side effect of all this activity is that we were super tired today. I felt like I barely functioned at work. But we have hope that our bodies are changing to be more fit!
During work, I caught Lily reading with Ammon. Lily also helped kids with their music later in the day. She has been working really hard with the kid’s development.
We were all impressed with Clarissa’s imitations of Lydia’s drawing!
My satisfying parenting moment today was when I made Ammon and Clarissa clean up the insane mess they made on the floor with the kinetic sand. It was completely unnecessary and they are old enough to know better and be accountable to clean up messes. So so often, I take the easy route and just clean up their mess for them (sometimes feeling frustrated). Today, I took the time to explain to them the importance of not making unnecessary messes. I wanted them to feel how difficult cleaning is so I made them clean the mess. I was happy every time Clarissa said she was tired because I felt like she was getting the point. I hope making them clean this up helped them see that messes don’t always just magically get cleaned up. This is something Lily does better than me, and I hope to do more of it to reinforce the behaviors we are trying to instill. Additionally, aren’t they just the cutest sweepers?
Ammon was very excited by the fact that he could get his broom to stand up by itself.
Ammon and Clarissa were the world’s best playmates today. I was busy working today, and Lily took Georgia to a neurologist appointment and also walked Basil and got things done around the house. That gave Ammon and Clarissa a lot of free time and they used it so well! The played with kinetic sand, colored on themselves (lol), danced (see video below), played with legos and more. They just happily played together for hours. It was so cute to catch glimpses of their play from time to time.
Lily was super productive today an in the afternoon she folded laundry, swam, worked with Ammon on the piano, worked with Mary on the piano (her concerto is really coming along!), made a caprese salad, cleaned the bathroom and more.
When I finished work, I ate and then took Clarissa to back-to-school night at Arches. Afterwards we got a few groceries and a new microwave at Lowes for our basement. Clarissa was hyper and extremely talkative on our errands. She’s so cute! Also, Mary organized all of our Tupperware and the cupboard is night and day. She has done multiple organization projects lately, so today we told her she’s earned our trust to use the guest room as her room because we believe she can keep it clean (and therefor ready for guests on short notice). She was super excited, but then still slept with Lydia tonight because she’s still a little scared of sleeping by herself.
Today I woke up and fulfilled a promise to Ammon and played legos with him. It is such a win-win because legos was one of my favorite childhood games and I honestly enjoy it as much as an adult. While I played, Lily was doing another hard workout in the basement. Lydia really helped out the family by walking Basil. After playing legos, I got ready for the day and then got all the kids ready for church and loaded them in the car while Lily wrapped up her workout and got ready. We were close to on-time to church! Lydia really wanted to be on-time once we told her that in her class they were going to perform spiritual exegesis on The Hunger Games.
Church was amazing. In Sunday school we talked about Christ’s example of being non-violent, yet standing up for righteousness and goodness. During the main meeting, we had a great sermon about being audacious in our efforts to love (using this poem) and we washed each other’s hands as a sacrament to strengthen our connections and vulnerability with each other.
Afterwards we had a potluck lunch. It was so wonderful mingling with our beloved community. People in our community are walking through some very difficult things including death of a spouse, as well as divorce. It is so beautiful to all be together and carry each other’s burdens together. Lily especially was able to comfort some people in pain today and that made me really happy. We also have a number of friends that continue to grow closer from our church both for me and Lily, and for the kids. I’m so grateful for the role, the Community of Christ is playing in our lives.
After the pot-luck, we all drove to Lagoon. I wanted to take the kids this summer and I plopped it on the calendar for today. Going after church would mean not as much time there, but I checked online and saw they were open until 9. I was also hopeful that the had some half-day rate for latecomers like us. We especially wanted to make it happen because earlier in the week Clarissa had asked for a roller-coaster for her birthday.
When we arrived, we saw a sign that said Lagoon closed at 7:00. “No problem” I thought, we will still have just under 5 hours. Then we parked and walked up to buy tickets. Not only were the prices crazy (over $80 for an adult ticket), but there were no half-day prices and all, but Clarissa counted as an adult (how does that work?). When the lady rang up the total and told me $490, I felt a pit in my stomach. I just stood there, thinking. Then I called to Lily, but she was a bit far away with the other kids in the shade. I then almost just made the call myself and paid for the tickets, but I couldn’t do it. Sales have been low this year, and we followed through with our France trip because of all the planning and preparation Lily put into it and because it was a bucket-list thing to do for our family, but we are now in the position of really needing to make trade-offs around what to say “yes” and “no” to. I told the lady she could help the people behind me and that I would be back. I went to consult with Lily and we both agreed $490 was just too expensive. We decided to reschedule our rafting trip down the Provo river (which was scheduled for tomorrow) to today and do that instead. Fortunately we were able to make the reschedule. We could tell Clarissa was about to have a major melt-down, so we made our way back to the car without lingering more than necessary while we talked things over.
In the car, Clarissa completely burst. She cried dramatically for a solid half-hour. All of our hearts were broken for her. We even passed right by the wooden roller-coaster and saw people having fun on it on our way to the ticket booth. Clarissa LOVES roller-coasters. To add an element of comedy to the heartbreak, Clarissa was making extremely compelling socialist arguments around the price of Lagoon. For example, she wailed repeatedly, “DON’T THEY CARE ABOUT US? IF THEY CARED ABOUT US, THEY WOULDN’T MAKE THE TICKETS $500!! DO YOU HAVE TO BE RICH?” It was really adorable and sad. I felt sad that Clarissa was disappointed and that I was the source of letting her down (I should have researched and prepared everything in advance and learned we weren’t going to go before getting us all the way to the ticket booth), but I also felt a bit grateful that Clarissa had the experience of learning that sometimes we need to say no to things that we can’t afford, and that it’s ok to not get what you want sometimes.
Eventually Clarissa calmed down, and then even started feeling happy when we gave her a phone to play with.
Rafting was SO FUN. After getting our life jackets, we took a bus ride to the start of the route. At the end of the bus ride, we went down a steep and very bumpy dirt road. Our driver was so fun and turned that that experience into a pretend Indiana Jones ride at Disney Land.
Clarissa when I asked her to show her excitement
Once we were in the water, everyone had so much fun. Lily was in heaven and kept commenting how much she loved the experience (adding to my theory of where Clarissa gets her love for water). Lydia and Lily had oars to help steer in front. I steered in the back, Clarissa was our water girl to pass around the water bottle, Mary was our photographer and videographer and Ammon was our greeter. As we passed by people he would say things like, “Have a nice rafting trip!” or “I hope you catch a fish!” In one case, we passed a group of very lively young women, and they complemented Mary on her glasses, said all the kids were cute and gave us a heart sign with their hands. Ammon returned a heart-sign with his hands to them, and the girls went nuts.
After rafting, Lily and I praised Clarissa for being able to still have such a fun and good day after not getting what she wanted in such a dramatic way (getting all the way there and then being told “no”). We also praised the other kids who were disappointed, but didn’t complain and were mostly just sad for Clarissa. We were so so pleased with our children today!
We then had a delicious meal at Olive Garden and then went home for bed. What a wonderful wonderful Sunday!
Clarissa at Olive GardenWhen I put Clarissa down for bed, she was excited to show me the prominent position where she placed Elsa’s Lego castle.
I was up late last night working while Lily took care of the kids (including a play-date with Amy’s kids).
When I woke up, I was going to walk Basil, but it was raining, so I got right to the meat of what I was planning for today: blogging.
Lily and I tried to blog a few days ago, but her laptop mouse was not working again (couldn’t even use a bluetooth mouse) so we finally ordered her a new mac. It arrived yesterday, so today she was my blogging buddy!
It was both exhausting and fun to charge through France blog post after blog post next to my sweetie. We talked about life plans and other things while we blogged together. Lily also wrote a blog post she was asked to write for TSOS. It was great! We didn’t finish until almost 6:00PM. The kids did some cleaning and music, but they also watched a lot of screens while Lily and I were blogging away.
After blogging, I played legos with Ammon and Clarissa. Clarissa got two new lego sets for her birthday, and together we built the Frozen-themed one. It was a huge highlight for me. The activity was so authentically fun. It was perfectly age appropriate. Clarissa was very excited by her legos, and I was able to guide the building process. I would take turns asking Clarissa and Ammon to find and/or connect certain pieces and they were continuously entertained and enjoying it, and I was too! It was really enjoyable play-time with the kids.
Afterwards, we took the legos up to Clarissa’s room and played with them. Anna visited Elsa, who was sad, and took her on a sleigh ride to Olaf’s. Elsa cheered up when she got a crown and socialized at Olaf’s place. It was a great time! Mary joined us towards the end.
Lily is getting back on the exercise train after France and she’s going full at it. We could hear her screaming while using one of the workout machines while we were playing legos. Go Lily!
After playing legos, I showered and got ready for the day (at 7PM lol), helped tidy the kitchen and then went to the Real Salt Lake game. I arranged tickets at the Qualtrics suite for my old team-mates, team Spartacus. We had an amazing turnout and used all, but one of the 15 tickets. I had such a great time catching up with old friends who mean so much to me. I was tired, and I felt a little socially off, but that didn’t stop me from just feeling grateful for being with people who have meant so much to me and enjoying their glow and humor. Also the game was very entertaining. The opposing team tied up the score right at the end with a beautiful header.
I spent the day cleaning both my house and a friend’s while Abe worked from early morning until midnight. He also went on a bike ride in the morning.
In the afternoon Amy and her kids came over, and Emerson stayed late for extra fun with the older girls. I helped Mary with her concerto in the evening and was so impressed by how much she retained after such a long time away from the piano. Ammon’s friend Kasey also came over to play for a while.
After I put the little kids down the older girls enjoyed some fireworks outside. The weather was beautiful, and I think we all enjoyed being home!
