Author: lilydarais

beautiful Monday

After dropping the kids off at school, I took Basil on a six mile walk in the canyon. It was another gorgeous morning.
In the afternoon the girls had tennis practice, which meant Ammon and Clarissa got to play in the park while I chatted with my new friend, Amy Eastman.
Abe took a selfie while tucking in Clarissa.

Last perfect day in Chicago

On Sunday the girls and I woke up and got breakfast at a cute little nearby cafe.

Then we walked past Buckingham Fountain on our way to the Shedd Aquarium.
On our walk the girls wanted to touch the lake.
Admiring the Amazon River exhibit at the Shedd.
Sharks.
Our favorite creature there, a kind of alligator snapping turtle. He was hairy, had a piggy nose, and was exceptionally animated.
See that nose?
Belugas. Swoon!
After we watched a 4D show on octopuses, we happened to catch the dolphin show! The dolphins did all sorts of tricks.
On the walk back to our hotel.
We packed everything from our room and then checked our bags at the luggage storage in the hotel. I wanted a picture of the girls in the hotel lobby.
On the way to luggage check.
Then we took a taxi over to Water Tower Place so we wouldn’t miss Lydia’s appointment to get her ears pierced!
She was so brave.
And she looks so beautiful with her sparkly earrings!
With Ms. Skyler, who pierced both Lydia and Lydia Jr.’s ears.
Then Swathi, the girls and I headed to the Drake for high tea.
After tea we walked back to the American Girl store so the girls could look more at the doll displays and I could ship everything to Utah so I didn’t have to lug it all around. Then we taxied over to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was near closing time but we still saw some interesting things.
Meanwhile Abe and the kids were celebrating Olivia’s birthday with David, Olivia, Baps and Bapa!
In a termite house.
Our favorite animal at the zoo was the pygmie hippo. He kept floating up even though he appeared to want to stay grounded underwater.
After the zoo we wandered over the bridge to Clark Street beach. The girls played in the lake and sand for 45 glorious minutes. We walked 9 and a half miles this day, so my ankle and feet loved the break in the sand. I loved watching my daughters love the lake.
Candidly caught.
They got soaked, but changed after our walk back to the Drake (via the Gold Coast) and then a taxi to our hotel.
Mary, Lydia, and Lydia Jr. before takeoff. The girls slept the whole way home, which was great because there was turbulence that they would not have enjoyed if they had been awake. I spent the time reading a phenomenal issue of the Economist on the illiberal left.

This was the best trip I have taken in my life. I adored every minute of my time in Chicago with my beautiful daughters. I kept pinching myself that this was our life. I loved watching them fall in love with the city, and I loved enjoying it alongside them. The weather was perfection, the city was gorgeous, the pizza was yummy, the walks by the lake and along the Gold Coast were so fun, the Shedd was marvelous, and the pygmie hippo made us all laugh. We had the best weekend. Thank you, Mary and Lydia, for being such fun travel buddies. You both are the very best. I love you!

This is now Abe briefly reporting on what I did with Ammon and Clarissa today.

We woke up at my mom’s and she fed us breakfast. Then we went to church. Then I tried to connect with my cousin Alex, but I wasn’t successful so I spent time with my dad and Suzanne and saw their new shed and some of the updates they are working on at their house.

Then we visited David and Olivia with my dad and Suzanne for Olivia’s birthday. It was so fun watching Basil and Willow play together!

Then we went to my aunt Andrea’s house for a delicious peaches and ice-cream desert. I have a soul-connect with Andrea, and always love talking to her. I also learned about my Greek lineage in preparation for our upcoming trip to Greece!

My favorite day (second only to my wedding!)

I woke up at 4am and realized my phone was dead. I spent the next few hours trying to charge it in various outlets to no avail, so when the girls woke up I let them go swimming for a mere 35 minutes before we had to head out to the T-Mobile store to see what was wrong with my phone. They were so happy and grateful to be in Chicago and swimming that neither of them complained about how little time they had to swim.

When we got to the store, it turned out that all I needed was a charger, which I promptly purchased. However, since my phone was not charged I don’t have many photos from this day.

That is a tragedy because this was the best day of my life, second only to my wedding. I adored every single second of this beautiful day. After we got the charger, we went to the river to go on an architecture river cruise with Clark and Swathi, who also happened to be in Chicago this weekend for a wedding.

We loved the architecture cruise and learned so much about many of the buildings. There are also now kayakers on the Chicago river! I had never seen that before.

Then we walked with Clark and Swathi to Lou Malnatti’s on Michigan Avenue, ordered pizza, and walked to the Water Tower and popped in for a historical brochure. On the way we examined the stones in the Tribune building and determined that we all need to go to the Philippines together in January of 2023. Swathi and I decided we should start looking for tickets.

After our stroll down Michigan Avenue, we walked back up to Lou Malnatti’s to get the pizza, which we ate in a plaza. The plaza was shady and filled with plants and flowers, and we had a great view of the Tribune building and the river.

After the pizza we walked back down Michigan Avenue to a bike shop across from the Art Institute, where we rented bikes. This was the absolute highlight of my day. I love Lake Michigan, I love biking by Lake Michigan, I love my daughters, and the combination of all three was heaven on earth. We biked up to Lincoln Park Zoo and then down to the Shedd Aquarium. The weather was gorgeous. At the Shedd we stopped for ice cream cones, after which we headed to Buckingham Fountain before returning our bikes.

Speaking of biking, Abe had an epic bike ride too back in Utah. Here he is biking the entire Alpine loop (plus getting there and back from Orem) with Daniel Olsen, Dallin Darais, and one of his other friends.
About to start our bike ride.
After the zoo.
Crossing back over to the bike park after Lincoln Park.
The girls got lemonade. I asked Mary not to drink too much because she has a very miniscule bladder, but the lemonade was just too good. We had several emergency bathroom breaks after this.
Lydia kept exclaiming, “Buckingham Fountain is so spectacular I just can not even handle it!”
A rainbow came out over the fountain.
Lydia wanted to play in the face fountains because this playing in this fountain was her only memory from her last trip to Chicago.
Back in Utah Abe brought the kids up to Grandma Karin and Grandpa Jay’s for dinner and a sleepover.
Clarissa appears to enjoy her bed. Ammon was super tired and is the bump on the right (already asleep).

Did I already say I loved this day? Because I can’t say it enough. I was so grateful to be alive, have consciousness, and experience this incredible life that is amazingly my own all day long. I loved every minute with my daughters in Chicago.

Flight to Chicago

Excited to fly!
Playing with dolls on the way to Chicago
In front of the Bean
Fountain in front of Giordano’s
Playing in the plaza by Giordano
After waiting two hours for pizza we were very excited to eat!
After pizza we went to the Nutella Cafe, which is the only one in the world. The girls were very excited by the giant Nutella jar.
Nutella pancakes.
Nutella crepes.

Back at home, Ammon sang a very cute song he learned in kindergarten:

beautiful walk and date with the Bakers

Ammon and Clarissa have dance Thursday mornings, which means I get to walk Basil for almost two hours while they dance. What a glorious morning.

In the evening we had a wonderful dinner with Lucas and Kim at The Happy Sumo. After they came over to our house for a date cake I had made earlier in the day. They are just the most wonderful people, and we always love spending time with them.

Ammon and Clarissa wanted me to take a picture of their castle in the morning.
The first tree I have let Ammon climb since he went to the hospital after the last one.
A caprese salad for dinner. Abe’s tomatoes, which he has put a TON of work into, have gone crazy this year and produced a massive crop. We have loved eating them!
Ammon loves coloring, doing sticker books, and doing color by number books and putting them up on his wall. Here is a quick tour of his art that he has posted on his walls.

A date

Abe and I went on a date to La Jolla in the Riverwoods. Afterward we walked around and talked for an hour. I feel so lucky to be married to Abe. We never get tired of talking to each other, and I always think he has such wise views on every subject. I tweaked my ankle twice because I wasn’t smart about shoe choice, but other than that it was so fun.
Earlier in the day I gave Mary a question mark braid and took a picture so she could see it.
On Tuesdays I am home with just Clarissa, and she often amuses herself by playing with Basil, just as she is doing here.

Descent into Kolob Canyon

On Saturday we hiked 4 miles in 6 hours on the La Verkin Trail in Zion National Park. We had never been to this part of the park before and it was stunning.

Before the hike we woke up Saturday morning in a Conestoga wagon at Zion Ponderosa Ranch. The last time we were at this ranch we only had two kids! We arrived at almost midnight the night before and so Ammon and Clarissa woke up not knowing where they were. When they discovered they were in a wagon, they could hardly contain their excitement.

I was worried about how I was going to backpack on a sprained ankle.
In front of our wagon.
Breakfast at Mel’s. We ate here the last time we were in Zion too. We love their crepes.
Getting ready to descend into Kolob Canyon to backpack the La Verkin trail.
Gorgeous Kolob Canyon.
This boy carried almost his weight in his pack for three hours until we realized our mistake. He cried a lot and I feel so bad that he had to go through that! But as soon as we fixed his backpack and made it an appropriate weight, he cheered up and was a trooper the rest of the trip.
Working hard.
I love her smile.
I really should have touched up these photos because the color is just drained out in the picture. In real life the canyon was stunning colors at all times. It was just incredible. The camera (or my lack of skills) just couldn’t do it justice.
Abe carried a super heavy pack…and Clarissa!
Tired after hours of hiking.
Pretending to sleep while standing. Lydia should have gotten a gold star for attitude on this hike. She cheered everyone on and pushed forward the whole time without asking anyone to lighten her load. She played games with Clarissa to keep her entertained and distracted from the pain of hiking. And she kept her sense of humor the entire time, even when the hiking was rough.
Ammon made a toy of his water bottle and a stick.
Just when the kids had given up hope of ever reaching our campsite, we discovered it! We all could not wait to just collapse in our tent, but in the meantime the kids played games, made up dances, and sang a ton. It was so beautiful to see them so happy after they had worked so hard all day. We also enjoyed an absolutely delicious tuna noodle casserole dinner.

Date cake

Clarissa and I made a date cake together. She liked the batter.
She also found my phone and took selfies innumerable. I discovered them just now and am amused.

During the day, Abe found Clarissa in Ammon’s room dancing all alone to let it go in a blue and pink tutu dress. He was delighted and took a video.