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Lydia’s Quest and Creativity, Ammon’s Sharky and Walking Date with Lily & Giant Pizza.

Lydia’s Quest and Creativity: Lydia designed an entire quest for Ammon and Clarissa to go on that involved multiple rooms, every family members’ involvement, costumes and props. Below are some videos of the fun we had. Lily and I have been truly marveling at the creativity and fun that Lydia has brought to our family culture again and again:

Ammon’s Sharky: We stumbled upon a photo today of Ammon in a sharky blanket. We were delighted because we had forgotten about it, and he loves his sharky blankets so much today, so the baby pic with a sharky is so fitting. If I remember right, I think Georgia might have gotten it for him. We love you Ammon!

Walking Date with Lily & Giant Pizza: Today Lily and I walked Basil downtown in the Union Square area. It was fun to see the old capitol building as well as the old churches on each corner of Union Square. We also went to a really great pet store and stocked up on things for our two beloved animals. It was so nice to spend the evening together. We picked up a giant Benny’s pizza on the way home (28″) for the family. Benny’s was the first restaurant we ate at in Raleigh when we visisted a couple of years ago, so it was fun to eat their food again!

Hurricanes Game & Exploring Downtown Cary

Hurricanes Game: Thanks to the generosity of one of my coworkers, I got two tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes and I took Clarissa. She immediately started holding her hands over her ears due to the noise, but fortunately they gave out earmuffs for the sound. Clarissa really paid attention to the game and was often torn between going to get treats or staying to watch more of the game. In the end, the Hurricanes lost 5-3 after being up 3-0 heading into the 3rd period. But it was a very fun game to watch and a special experience to share with Clarissa.

Exploring Downtown Cary: After Clarissa and I got home from the Hurricanes game, we all went to a Turksh restaurant in Cary and walked around the downtown park while eating icecream. The kids (especially Ammon) also played on the playground at the park. It was a great evening!

Walking Home, Death & Taxes & Lily’s Pneumonia

Walking Home: Mary has loved her routine of walking home (made possible by her new Gabb watch) and today she walked home with both Ammon and Clarissa!

Death & Taxes and Lily’s Pneumonia: Lily and I have loved having date night every Thursday night and tonight we went to Death & Taxes. It’s another Ashley Christenses restaurant (like Beasley’s and Poole’s Diner). We loved it, perhaps even as much as Irregardless. The beet dish was especially incredible. Unfortunately Lily wasn’t feeling the best and was feeling progressively worse throughout the evening so we didn’t linger. But we did enjoy our date together. Lily has had a lingering cough since her Asia trip. She likely has pnemonia and the doctor gave her an antibiotic. We are thinking Lily must have viral pnemonia because the antibiotic doesn’t seem to be helping much. Some days she feels better than others and today she just wasn’t feeling great from her sickness and also probably from some other things going on. We are all hoping she gets feeling better soon!

XM Day, Orthodontist and Cuddling Stilton

XM Day: Today was a day of service for Qualtrics, so I had the day off. Through our wonderful neighbor Tom’s coordination, my work peers and I were able to pack over 100 bags for children with food insecurity at the local Methodist Church. They even wrote about us in their church newsletter (see below). Lily was able to join at the end and she also joined us for lunch at The Yard House. It was all so fun!

Orthodontist: Today Mary went to the Orthodontist. Apparenty the Orthodontist was incredible, very engaged, and very skilled (the only Orthodontist that works directly with Invisaline). Lily said the whole experience was a bit like Disneyland, including a gift bag with a T-shirt and a giant Stanley Mug. Stanley mugs and Athleta leggings are apparently extremely popular for girls in middleschool at Raleigh. Lydia gave me that report which is why I even know what a Stanley is (although apparently “real” Stanleys have handles!) In short, Lily gushed to me about Mary’s Orthodontist. We feel very lucky!

Cuddling with Stilton: The kids are enamored with Stilton and are trying to make him feel at home and giving him a lot of love and attention: