Author: lilydarais

Ammon and Clarissa don’t have school until next week, so for now we have been going to the playground after we drop off the girls.

We have been wanting to backpack in the Uintas all summer but have not had a free weekend, and now it is too cold to backpack. So we are now backpacking this upcoming weekend in southern Utah, but on Sunday we drove to the Uintas for a day hike to Cliff Lake. The Uintas are where Abe would backpack every year growing up, and it was so special to go to this place in Utah that has been such a big part of his own history.

On the way to the Uintas, we ran into a herd of sheep. They were grazing in the Aspen forest and nearby meadows, and we had to slow down because they were also crisscrossing the road! The only time I’ve ever stopped in the road for sheep was in Ireland, so to me the sheep seemed exotic. The kids were enchanted and Basil had fun barking at all of them.

When we got to the trailhead, everyone ate breakfast and then we began our hike. The smell of the Uintas is unbelievable. It is maybe the best air I have smelled in my life. The scent of the pines is so powerful, and everything feels clear and fresh.

Here are some fun videos the kids took:

On the hike we stopped by the cliffs at Cliff Lake and set up to fish for a couple of hours. We didn’t even know that they were used for cliff jumping, but some boys jumped off several times while we were there. That felt like free entertainment! Lydia is currently our only child proficient at fishing and casting, so Abe was very, very busy helping tie and re-tie all of the poles, and the rest of the kids spent most of the time playing pretend in the woods and by the shore of the lake. Abe didn’t get very much time to fish himself, but even so he was so happy to just be back in the Uintas.

The kids spent a large part of the morning playing store. Each kid had a store. Clarissa had a tattoo parlor. Ammon danced for people in his store. Mary sold her art pictures and Lydia had a soda shop where she made orange juice soda with whipped cream and a chocolate drink for people (using chocolate syrup). Abe visited each shop and paid for things with piggy and horsie back rides for the kids. It turned into a hilarious game with Abe trying to give horsie rides while non-riding children put obstacles in Abe’s way and tried to physically prevent him from completing his ride for each kid. Abe pushed through the obstacles and collapsed at the end, but had a very fun time, as did the kids (who giggled and laughed during the ordeal).

Here are pictures from the kid’s stores:

Here are videos from the store:

Here is a video of Lydia saying supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in slow motion:

Abe then spent the rest of the day helping me organize the garage.

I don’t remember anything from this day because I am back blogging, but I did take this picture of Ammon’s cupcake. I loved how his turned out.

Clarissa started her birthday by coming down the stairs and seeing decorations. I think Lydia did a few takes to get this video:

Clarissa makes us all absurdly happy every day. She makes us laugh many, many times a day. We all think she is just the cutest, funniest, most darling little four year old and are so grateful to have her in our family. We love you so much, Clarissa!

Clarissa has been very talkative lately. Here is evidence (I think she says sparkle at least 10 times 🙂 ).

After breakfast we packed up our tent and headed to the lake for a boat ride.

After lunch we drove home, unloaded the car, fried up the fish we’d caught, ate the fish, and got everyone bathed and ready for the week. It was a wonderful, beautiful weekend. We will be back, Fish Lake!

I’m adding this addendum almost one year later. I found a journal entry Mary wrote for school shortly after the Fish Lake trip and I wanted to include it here:

Today Abe got a day off for Qualtrics’ mental health day, so he went biking up South Fork Canyon with Daniel Olsen and a new friend, and all three of them got their personal bests! Then he came home, showered, and took the kids on six hour shopping trip to get prepared for our upcoming camping and backpacking trips.

In their final store, Target, Clarissa spotted a giant motorized princess carriage and threw a twenty minute tantrum when Abe told her she was not getting it. Lydia told me this story between fits of giggles when I tucked her in at night. Lydia said the carriage was the most ridiculous thing and that Clarissa could not be pacified until she convinced herself that she would be able to build it when she got home. I thought this was very funny.

I got up early to help Mary and Ammon with their Zoom piano lessons at 7:15, I fed the kids lunch and cleaned the kitchen a couple times, and then I spent the rest of the day on the couch. I had plans to do so much more, but the post-Covid fatigue is really getting the better of me.

Basil had diarrhea today, so at least I had company!

In the morning Abe took Basil on a run, but I wanted to get some exercise so I took him on a two hour walk. I spent half an hour of that visiting outside with Morgan, Jessi, and Henry. I haven’t seen friends since I got Covid, so that was fun. I also love exploring neighborhoods, and I hadn’t thoroughly walked theirs before so that was also very fun.

Then I got tired and spent a lot of the rest of the day on the couch. Darn Covid. I think I did help Mary with her piano practice and maybe made and cleaned up a meal or two.

Oh, and Abe figured out how our steam cleaner works, so when Basil had a bunch of accidents we both practiced using it. That was very satisfying.