Today, I fulfilled my recent daydream of sleeping in. I do not think I got out of bed until 10:45. Lily, on the other had, was being productive from early on by helping the kids with their music practice. I eventually wandered into the music room and enjoyed listening to Mary and Lydia practice. They are getting so good! The low notes of Lydia’s “Watching the Wheat” just melt me, and “Linus and Lucy” which Mary is now playing is so fun to listen to. All three kids worked hard on their instruments (Ammon had his practice before I arrived) and it was awesome that Lily helped them to knock their music out early so we could enjoy the rest of the day as a family.
Basil is loving his new alligator stuffy!
After Lily and I worked out, we decided it was time to explain Santa Clause to Clarissa since she has been asking about magic and what is real and what is not lately. We captured everything on video.
After explaining everything to Clarissa, we asked how she felt, and she said, “alarmed”. We had her repeat it on camera since we thought that was so adorable.
We then all packed up and went to Ikea to get desks for Mary and Clarissa (their Christmas wishes) as well as a table and chairs for the basement so we can always have a puzzle going. Clarissa fell asleep on the way to Ikea. I assume her sweet brain was heavily processing all her new information about the world!
We LOVED our meal at Ikea as we always do, and all the kids really enjoyed interacting with all the displays. Lily and I compared it to going to Lagoon (and for roughly the same cost, only we end up with furniture) in terms of how much fun everyone had.
The desks were out of stock, but now we know which ones we want. Everyone had a really good time!
At home, Lily worked on Christmas shopping by the fire, while I assembled some new chairs for the basement. Today was a really happy and fun family day!
Before I get into Basil’s birthday festivities, I will first report on all of the medical activity we had today.
Mary, Georgia and I all had dermatology appointments today. Georgia had some moles check, and had some precancerous skin on her nose treated. Mary had a couple of moles looked at to make sure they were healthy, and I had a mole on my back removed. We all loved our Dr. very much. He was friendly and informative, and I think he removed my mole for free (since it didn’t qualify for insurance coverage).
After the dermatologist, I dropped off Georgia and some couch cushions for repair and Lily took Mary to an appointment to get her blood drawn to make sure she is OK since she weighs so little. Clarissa weighs 42 or 43 pounds, Ammon weighs 49 pounds, Mary weighs 53 pounds and Lydia weighs around 75 pounds. Mary was incredibly brave during he blood drawing, which was huge improvement over her last flu shot in Target which was a high-drama activity.
After my work day was over (and it was very stressful from a very demanding and complex brand and customer experience deal that I’m working on), we all got to enjoy Basil’s birthday!
First we sang to Basil, and let Clarissa blow out the candle on his slice of pizza. Basil LOOOVES pizza. In the past I’ve had to chase him around the yard to try to get back a piece of pizza he stole from a family meal.
Then we gave him apple and whipped cream for desert.
Then it was time for his gifts! A new alligator stuffed animal toy!
And a dog cookie (desert #2)!
Basil, we love you and you look great from your recent grooming! You fill us with laughter, comfort, and warm fuzzies. Happy 2nd birthday buddy! All I can say (in the spirit of the Sia Christmas album which we have continued to enjoy this season), puppies are forever!
In the evening, Lily and I had Daniel and Amanda Olsen over to play games. We played San Juan, and had a complete blast. It was a perfect blend of being a fast and simple game, yet still very strategic. They brought over cookies and chocolates and Lily ordered from Crumble, and the treats were delicious too!
Over the weekend Clarissa had a double-ear infection that was so painful for her that she was writhing in pain and did not sleep well (neither did Lily or I). Lily got her on an antibiotic quickly, and Clarissa was doing way better today, but we still kept her home from school just in case.
Clarissa was very well behaved today and spent a lot of time coloring. She’s so cute!
Work has been particularly stressful for me lately, so it is really nice to have a fluffball to pet when I am stressed. It really calms me down, and I get the feeling that Basil likes it too…..
Last night Clarissa was up almost the entire night (falling asleep around 5am) moaning from the pain of a double ear infection. Abe and I felt so sorry for her that we let her in our bed. She writhed for hours and we felt awful for her pain. Eventually she got really hot sandwiched between us so she moved to the day bed. After she got settled there she went right to sleep.
I called the after hours care for her pediatrician’s office and took her in at 11am to get checked out. The nurse confirmed the double ear infection and said she might have a touch of strep too. While we were there Clarissa started heaving to throw up and only got out blood and mucus, which was sad. A sweet part of the visit though for me was just watching Clarissa, who manages to be cute even when she is miserable.
She sat there somberly with her hands around her pulled-up knees, and when I stroked her nose with my finger (like the bedtime scene in Frozen 2) she gave cute little smiles.
There is so much sickness going around that the only store with children’s amoxicillin within twenty minutes is the BYU CVS!
I took this picture of the new Top Golf seven minutes from our house. The new after-hours office was right next to it, so it was my first time seeing both. I enjoyed golfing with Abe last year and got a little excited to see this. Plus, what a view!
After I dropped Clarissa at the house I went to get her prescription. I got some coffee afterwards because I hardly slept last night and the night before that got only four and a half hours. I asked the guy who handed me my coffee why the BYU Starbucks was so busy, especially on a Sunday. He must have thought I had no knowledge of Mormons because he explained it was all just a matter of how you were raised and that even though he himself was a BYU student he had been drinking coffee with his family since high school. He said even though the stores sells a lot of non-caffeinated drinks it also sells a ton of coffee to BYU students like himself. So interesting. I honestly did not know many (any?) Mormons who drank coffee in college. Honestly, I had almost 70 LDS roommates in my twenties and none of them ever had a sip of coffee that I knew of. Maybe the culture is changing?
Then I went to Trader Joe’s, came home and cleaned, got a massage from Abe, made a salad to accompany our dinner of rice and salmon spirals, and watched Elf with the kids. I lovelovelove being cozy on the couch with my family in the middle of all my Christmas decor watching Christmas movies. The kids are such wonderful ages and it is so fun when something funny happens and everyone starts laughing hysterically. The best part of the movie (gauging from the level of familial laughter) was when Elf started throwing snowballs in Central Park. Ammon and Clarissa were both snorting and out of breath, and the older girls were also laughing hard.
Before Elf Lydia and Mary both got an hour of practice, Clarissa slept most of the day on various couches, and Ammon learned how to felt from his sisters. Abe took Basil on a long run, cleaned out our fridges (THANK YOU, ABE!!!), and helped me tidy the house. He also grilled the salmon and helped clean up. He is such an amazing partner.
Also, funny story:
Clarissa was asleep for long stretches on the couch. During an early stretch Abe told the older girls that they had to practice the minute she woke up, and additionally they could be in charge of ensuring the house remained quiet for as long as possible so Clarissa could sleep.
Both girls took that job very seriously and ferociously guarded the silence. The knew they would have to practice when she woke up and they did not want that time to come. At one point Ammon started making noise and then came to Abe crying.
“Dad,” he sobbed, “I made noise and Lydia told me to shut up and Mary called me a hot dog!”
Abe and I thought that was the funniest insult, even though Abe did go and correct both girls. But if someone has to call me a name, I hope they take a note from Mary next time and try “hot dog.” I love it!
I over caffeinated on Thursday and so woke up at 4:30am on Saturday. That was good though because I needed to leave the house by 5:30am to make it to bikram yoga in Lehi at 6am.
I was home a little after 8am, raced to get ready, and drove the girls up to Isobel’s birthday party. Then I grocery shopped and all of us drove to pick the girls up and take everyone, including Isobel and Emerson, to the Christkindlemarkt in Salt Lake. Thank goodness they published a map of parking because we took a different route this time and saved ourselves HOURS of waiting. No joke. The line of cars trying to get in the park via Sunnyside was more than a mile long and they were moving slowly. There was no line the back way, which meant we made it just in time for the parade! We are going to do that route every time in the future.
One Voice Children’s Choir was there! I love them!!
We waited in the longest line to get some of these Transylvanian Treats. That’s the name of the stand, and I forget what the pastry is called. Visually it’s an A+ but taste wise it is just okay (kind of doughy). But the visual spectacle of its creation and also the finished products were worth the wait!
We stopped for felt and pizza from Via 313 on the way home. Then the kids played school, played games, ate, and did crafts until 9am when Amy came for her girls. The kids all had a lot of fun.
After the play date Abe and I showed Lydia and Mary some videos of a comedian whom we met and spent a long time chatting with at the national parks donor event. He wrote for Ellen and for Conan O’Brian, and he plays “Kevin the Cashier” on Ellen. I have not laughed that hard in years. He is so hilarious!
Afterward Abe and I watched Yellowstone and the girls sneaked watching more “Kevin the Cashier” in their room until 11:30pm. They did get in a little trouble for that because we thought they were sleeping. But he is really funny, so I can hardly blame them!
On Friday morning I helped Mary learn part of a new piano piece, and it was rough going.
After school I tried to counter that rough experience with some mommy-Mary time. Mary invited Lydia along too but Lydia said that when I am mean to her at the harp she likes being alone with me, and she wanted Mary to have that experience too. Thank you, Lydia! You are such a sweetheart.
Mary and I had the greatest time. Mary is the cutest little talker and I learned so much about her during our date. I had no idea her favorite color is brown! She likes that brown can’t be made into extreme neon shades.
We also had fun laughing at socks and funny cards in one of the shops we browsed. Our favorite card had a picture of a mouse with crazy white hair that said, “A little stressed?” on front. We got a good laugh out of that. Mary thought it would be a perfect card for me (I wonder why?).
Something made Mary laugh really hard while we ate waffles and I am really sad that I can’t remember what it was. But this might have been my favorite part of our date because this quiet child just talked and talked. She is so, so cute.Santa was charmed by how sweet and shy Mary is.Browsing in Blickenstaff’s was so fun.
Earlier in the day I took Ammon to his well-check appointment. The doctor gave us a referral to a pediatric orthopedic specialist because Ammon’s walk is so crooked. I hope Ammon does not need surgery. He definitely does not want that!
We started the day by getting up early and going for a 3.2 mile jog from our hotel to the Mall, around half of the Mall, and then back to our hotel. Then we raced to shower and pack and walk to the Willard for the National Park Foundation breakfast.Morning light on the WWII memorial during our jog.A gingerbread rendition of The Willard, where we did all of our National Park Foundation activities.
We visited with more lovely parks people at breakfast and listened to some great talks about what the National Parks Foundation is accomplishing. I feel committed for life. The national parks are our nation’s greatest treasures (in my opinion) and I am thrilled to support them in any way. The only caveat to the parks is the stolen land from indigenous people, and as far as I can tell the parks are honestly trying to confront that past.
Our secretary of the interior is of native descent and I have seen multiple rangers of native heritage at the parks this past year, including the one featured at the Christmas tree lighting the night before. Most importantly, the parks do an incredible job preserving and honoring the ecological and cultural aspects of our land, and that excellent stewardship serves all cultures. I love the parks and was so happy to hear the report at breakfast about the ways in which our parks are thriving.
After breakfast Abe dropped off the gift the parks gave us at the hotel while I ordered coffee two blocks from the hotel.
Then we power-walked through three Smithsonian museums: The Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, and the National Gallery.
We both got emotional seeing the Star-Spangled Banner. The display was excellent.At the natural history museum we were enamored with the evolution section. When we were LDS neither of us knew how to make sense of evolution and did not give it much thought. It was amazing to see how humans evolved and what different human species have looked like throughout time. Some of my favorite fossils were of ancient human species that showed evidence of a crocodile bite, a child attacked by an eagle (early human species were so small that they were the dimension of prey), and one fossil showing a blow to the head that withered the left arm and meant that the human survived into mid- 30’s early 40’s because of the care of his family. Very sad stories but so incredible that these lives are recorded through bone and that we can see them today!There was a program that changed our faces into an early human species of our choice. Abe chose Neanderthal because both of us have abnormal amounts of Neanderthal in our genes.At the National Gallery.I love Caillebotte! He might be my favorite impressionist because I love how graphic AND fluid he is. Most of all I love the quality of the light in his paintings. It always is soft and beautiful.I wrote an essay on this for a final in college. I don’t know what I wrote but after being a mom I know I see this differently! The man is physically working by pulling those oars, but the mom is physically working to keep that squirming baby safely in the boat. I know this is supposed to be a serene moment for this family, but I am not sure these people look fully relaxed. It is a very American impressionist painting. The French impressionists show people fully relaxed, laughing, having fun, or frolicking on swings or in a field, but Mary Cassatt is showing a situation where work and tension seem to weave their way into the vacation. It seems very east coast if you ask me. Also the fact that the perspective is from the boat itself seems very bravura technique-wise. Now I want to research this painting because there is no way Cassatt could have painted this in the boat, right?! Maybe she sketched it from the boat. If she painted this in the boat (as the picture suggests) I am floored. Also the boat itself might be my favorite part of the painting. I guess I am a sucker for strong lines in the middle of paintings that feature light.
Then we walked as fast as we could to the start of our walking tour. By the time our tour began we had already walked about ten miles that day. On our walking tour we learned so much from the ranger!
We learned about Marian Anderson singing three times on these steps and how the memorial neglected to mention Lincoln’s role as the great emancipator. The inscription only talks about his role as the savior of the union, but his other greatest accomplishment was the emancipation of slaves. Also: Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the Daughters of the American Revolution when that group would not allow Marian Anderson to sing for them because she was black. FDR said she could sing from the top of the Washington Memorial if she wanted, and Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for her to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939. It was a beautiful moment of American unity while Hitler was ascendant across the pond. She sang here twice more in her life, the third time being the day of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech.The inscription is the phrase of a golfing buddy of the architect of the memorial. Our group ran into the grandson of the architect during the tour!The architect of the Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin, did not want these sculptures near the wall because in her opinion they romanticize war. She was a Yale student when her design was chosen. Because she was Asian American a lot of bad things were said about her during the construction of the memorial and many people did not understand what she was trying to do with her design. Now everyone understands how brilliant and profound this memorial is, but when it was going up people really did not understand. We went to a restaurant called “Immigrant Food” for dinner. It is a restaurant honoring immigrants and refugees, and it tries to provide pathways for immigrant and refugee chefs to bridge their careers in the U.S.. The food was amazing.We were in the Salt Lake airport in the hallway between terminals when I took this picture at 11:59pm. I think this might be a record for me! Our flights were amazingly smooth.
This trip was an absolute highlight for Abe and me. Every minute was a delight. We are so grateful to Tom and Suzanne who made it possible to go, and we are grateful to the National Parks Foundation for inviting us out. It was so great to get back home to our children, who light up our lives. But we did have the greatest time in DC, and I will never forget this trip!!
