Ring of Fire

Since we are lucky enough to live a mere 13 miles away from the "sweet spot" of today's solar eclipse, we not only got to see something pretty cool, we got my sister to come visit as well. (She says that she likes us, but we all really know that if it weren't for the eclipse, she wouldn't have been here).

They came down yesterday afternoon, with the intent of joining us at the city's eclipse party. Unfortunately, the city didn't plan for the hordes of people who descended on the aquatic center (where the party was held) and ran out of free eclipse glasses within the first 15 minutes. My friend and neighbor, who was in line before 11 (when the party started) said that they didn't get any--you'd have to have arrived about an hour before. (We--actually, Jeni--ended up buying two pair from someone who posted on craigslist and ksl.com. We're pretty sure that they got free glasses at the aquatic center--they were the same kind--and then jacked up the price, but in the end it was worth it).

Needless to say, we didn't get free glasses--but the kids did get to go to a few of the stations and, best of all, got free passes to the aquatic center (which we promptly used). Unfortunately for the kids (not so much for the parents, who were ready to go), our swim got cut short by an accident in the pool. The kids consoled themselves pretty well by playing with cousins--and getting out almost all the toys Andrew owns.

After dinner and bedtime, Jeni kindly offered to babysit for us, so Dan and I saw our first movie in the theater in ages. We saw the Avengers, and both enjoyed it. I liked that the characters were reasonably fleshed out and that the pacing never flagged. Not a particularly deep movie, but a lot of fun.

This morning, we introduced my sister to grits (which she liked!) and fed the kids pancakes. We whiled away part of our morning by making solar eclipse viewing boxes.

Church with all those kids was . . . interesting. They were pretty good during Sacrament meeting, but Jeni's kids were a little shy of going to a new primary. Especially Emi, who cried for several minutes before getting reconciled to the idea of staying. (Last I saw of her, she was volunteering for something, so she must not have fared too badly). Jeni came with me to Young Women, where I gave a lesson on keeping personal records (something I actually feel really strongly about).

The best part of the day was, of course, the evening. Bubby and Poppy came over, along with Jodi and her kids, and we had a nice dinner (hot dogs from the grill with all the trimmings--peppers, mushrooms, etc.--Austrian potato salad and corn, avocado and tomato salad with corn chips, roasted jalepeno peppers, and fresh chocolate chip cookies) and hung out in the yard for a while. Jodi stayed for the start of the eclipse before taking her kids home; Evelyn went to bed early, and the rest of us headed out front to wait for the "ring of fire."

The kids entertained themselves while we waited.

 

Modelling the awesome eclipse glasses. (They may have been a rip-off--in fact, I'm certain they were--but they were much cooler than the viewing boxes we made).

The funny thing is, we originally planned on heading up to a large, flat field on top of a nearby hill as a better viewing point. But had we done that (instead of opting for the path of least resistance and watching from home), we would have missed one of the coolest parts of the eclipse, which was the way the shadows cast by the leaves took on the distinctive ring shape as the total eclipse occurred.

I had no idea that happened during the eclipse--but as the moon moved in front of the sun, the shadows moved from crescent shaped to circular shaped.

And here's a shot during the "ring of fire." I love the sun-shadows on the bricks.

We also discovered that if we stood close enough to the tree in front, we could get the shadows on us as well.

 

I still remember watching a solar eclipse as a kid (through a hole cut in paper, casting shadows on the cement). I'm hoping these kids remember this eclipse as vividly. Especially the shadows.

Mother's Day (with pictures!)

This was a busy week for us: grades were due on Wednesday and then we had a very important birthday to celebrate on Thursday (and again on Saturday, for her official party).

 Evelyn turned four! Just like Andrew was the best Christmas present I've ever had, Evelyn was my best Mother's Day present (she was born the day before MD, in 2008). Someone brought mother's day gifts to all the new moms at the hospital--I don't even remember what it was, but I remember thinking the sentiment was sweet.

She's a lot bigger now than that tiny baby we had (at 5 weeks early, she was just over 5 lbs), but we couldn't love her more. Here are some things I love about her:

• She'd rather dance than walk.
• She makes up her own songs when she plays by herself.
• She waves to everyone on the back row at church when we come in--every single Sunday. (And she hugs a few special favorites).
• She makes up knock-knock jokes that make absolutely no sense.
• She's a generally happy kid who loves her family.
• She's especially sweet when she sleeps.

We gave her a few family gifts on Thursday (her own bike, some Princess Polly dolls, a scooter from Bubby and Poppy), and then planned the actual party for Saturday.

As per usual, I went overboard on the cake. I was planning on cupcakes, since they're much less time consuming, but Evelyn wanted a cake--so cake she got. She had a fairy birthday party--but it wasn't necessarily a sure thing. At various times in the last several weeks she's also wanted a pirate princess birthday, a ninja party (I talked her out of that one since I wasn't sure how the other little girls would react to that one), a princess party, etc.

 Here's Evelyn at her party. I love that she's the only one who noticed the camera.

 Later, getting ready to blow out the candles. And yes, she has changed clothes between the first and second picture here. She started out as a "lady bug fairy" but then decided she wanted to be a "garden fairy."

I think she enjoyed her party, but afterwards we were all pretty worn out. We put both kids to bed, and then Dan and I took naps too. It was the first family nap we've had in a long time!

Of course, the main reason Andrew was tired was the late night he'd had the night before at the Father/Son campout. poor Andrew. He'd looked forward to this campout for a long time. But that night, after the dinner festivities, Andrew had some "intestinal issues" and blew through both sets of pants he'd brought with them. Dan decided it wasn't worth staying, so he packed up camp in the dark and brought a very sad little boy home a little after 9 p.m. (Mostly Andrew was sad he missed the marshmallows). And contrary to whatever rumor you may have heard on facebook (here's looking at you, Sarah!), this wasn't a case of deliberate sabotage on Dan's part!

Apparently, Dan's early departure meant that Dan missed out on winning a 4 foot spork--prize for winning the Dutch Oven cook-off. (Dan made cinnamon rolls, which baffled the other contestants who didn't realize you could make bread products in a Dutch oven.) The spork was awarded to the second place contestant, who was thrilled to get it.

And then there's today.

Our Mother's Day program actually wasn't too painful--partly because our friend and neighbor made a point of talking about how mother's day can make some mothers feel guilty because they don't live up to some unrealistic ideal. And the Primary kids singing was also classic: you could hear Evelyn belting out "I love Mommy, she loves me" from the back of the chapel. (Seriously, even the people sitting around us recognized her voice). The kids also sang "I often go walking," which is apparently tradition in our ward since the composer lives in our ward (and is one of the funniest people you'll meet.)

Andrew was assigned a talk in primary--but he wasn't assigned a topic. So we had him speak on mothers--particularly, on Mary the mother of Jesus. Mostly he talked about the different ways that Mary does what all mothers do (love her child, teach him correct principles, exercises faith in God). But Andrew also wanted to include some pictures of what Jesus was like at different stages of growing up.

So here you have it: this is what Jesus looked like at age 6, 10, and 26 (I particularly love the mustache/goatee look). I actually think this was the best part of his talk. (Although both Dan and I confess to being secretly proud of how well he read his talk--several of the teachers commented afterward about how smart he was. The only problem is: he knows that).

 

After church, we had Dan's cousin Jodi come over with her kids for dinner, which gave all the parents a nice respite from the kids (who entertained each other). All in all, a lovely Mother's Day.

We hope that our readers enjoyed a lovely day as well!