I think these pictures are all out of order, but I am rushing to get this blog done so Abe and I can play Wingspan tonight instead of catch up on the blog!
The birds and sunset were so amazing and I captured some videos below to help me remember the beautiful scene.
Also, Abe worked hard and organized Clarissa’s closet and put away a mountain of laundry. Thank you, Abe!!
In the morning I flew to San Diego. Jean picked me up and it was so good to see her! After she picked me up we went to pick up her niece, Kage, who is a naval cop. We got to tour the naval base in Coronado, which was amazing. Then we picked up Zakaya, her other niece, and went to dinner in Little Italy. It was delicious.
At home Abe took a lot of cute pictures too!
It is adorable the way Ammon and Clarissa pal around and goof off together. Today it appears one of the older daughters caught Ammon and Clarissa goofing together in the back seat of the car. I love this video (even though no one realized they were probably speaking too loudly into each others’ ears) because it’s a peak into the hours and hours of goofing off they do together. They can be so cute together!
In the evening, the Ammon and Clarissa cuteness continued when they performed a couple of dances for me.
For a school project, Mary needed to write a script for a podcast and also record it. Today I had the great fun of recording it with her!
Today we invited Georgia over and made one of our all-time favorite meals, BBQ chicken cobb salad. Everything came out perfectly, and everyone was delighted with it. It was so fun to share it with Georgia and enjoy her company. What a beautiful Sunday!
Today Todd and his kids, Kasey and Cora, came over for breakfast and we had the greatest time. Lily and I always love talking to Todd and the breakfast spread was delicious (pancakes/fruit, bacon (from Todd), eggs). The kids had an awesome time together. Ammon had a lot of fun making fairy houses in the backyard with Cora.
After our time with Todd and his kids, our kids prepared a tea party for us all. They did an amazing job. I think Lydia was responsible for most of it. She’s so good at making things eventful!
In the evening, I had the best time with the kids. The had built a massive fort, and I played in it with them. Then we pretended that we all went to an outing to the fair. I ended up being a bucking bronco, a twirling swing ride, and another ride where I carried the kids around (and Lydia was live advertisements along the way). Then we all rode the train and Lily joined us for that part. We pretended to be different characters getting on and off the train and it was really fun. We also had an America’s got talent performance as well as a ballet performance from Clarissa. It was all very fun!
We recently got our family photos back. Here are some highlights!
Also, recently Lydia got into a debate with one of her friends. Her friend thinks Lydia is ignorant and innocent. Lydia thinks she is not. They were both to write an essay about their position. I found Lydia’s today and thought it was cute:
We were so grateful to Eliza and Katie who homesat Basil for us while we were gone. Katie spent the most time at our house, and in so doing, she fell in love with Basil. Here is her sweet note that she left for us.
Every Tuesday and Thursday Clarissa has no school. I love working from home on these days, but I also lament that I don’t take more time in the day to spend with her. Every moment with her is a gift and today I found more moments to be with her. I watched Bluey with her (which the whole family has been captivated by, and I found little segments of the day to spend moments with her, including this moment below. Clarissa often protests going to school, and doesn’t want to go. Today, I turned the tables on her, and made her act like the parent telling a protesting me why I needed to go to my work meeting.
Lily’s day started off really strong with a delightful outing shopping with her mom. Then at home Lily got tired, and didn’t get everything done she wanted, but she did read to and feed Clarissa, drop dinner off for a close friend (who is under a lot of stress right now) and work on her TSOS work. TSOS ends next week, and she’s looking forward to having more time and energy to spend on other things when that wraps up.
I played Pickleball with friends and grilled salmon for dinner. Right now Lily is helping Ammon with homework while I blog and catch up on my giant work pile. I’m hoping that we play wingspan tonight and I think we will! Also, here is a cute page from Ammon’s school journal:
