Start school, and then ditch it

The first day of school was a big milestone for our family!  Jasmine started Kindergarten, when meant all three were going to school every day.  Jasmine was a bit nervous, but she kept that all under wraps.  On the outside, it was pure joy.  She stood as big and tall as she could, grinning from ear to ear, knowing that this made her BIG.

Her Kindergarten teacher is just amazing.  She leads that tiny little crew with exactness and never ending kindness, and Jasmine just loves every second that she is there.

But after only a couple of days of school, we skipped town again.  There was a total solar eclipse that would pass right over my brother's cabin in Idaho, and my parents drove all the way out from Ohio to see it.

The funny part about this trip up there was that the house was in the middle of a total renovation.  There were a couple of usable rooms for people to sleep in upstairs, but everything else was studs.  So we spent most of our time in the garage, with a very makeshift kitchen.

When my nephew Nick was a tiny baby, he used to call his mom's friend Sara "RaRa".  So when I came to visit, I became "RaRa Do", instead of Sarah Jo.  I hadn't seen RaRa in a LONG time, so I was so glad her family came up to see the Eclipse too!

My dad had been so excited about this eclipse.  He called to tell Scot about it over a year in advance, and is basically the reason we all knew to come and see it.  He hadn't been feeling well that summer, so my mom was worried they wouldn't make it out.  Luckily, he perked up enough that they were able to still make a slightly shortened version of their trip.

My dad has also always been my biggest supporter in all that I do.  My husband usually rolls his eyes at all my sewing nonsense, but I knew my dad would appreciate an eclipse shirt!  And one for Tyler, just so they could match.

And then Scot found shirts at the local store so we could all match!

The eclipse really was amazing.  I'm so glad we drove up!  At our house, people could see it getting darker, and with the glasses on, they could see the sliver of the sun.  But in the "zone of totality", it was 3 amazing minutes.

It got much colder there, so you can see all of us bundled in blankets in August. We could take off the glasses and see the black spot where the sun had been.  But the part we couldn't describe was how different it FELT.  There was a stillness to it all, even as we could hear neighboring cabins whooping and cheering.  A couple of people said they even felt a bit nauseous, though I just felt my stomach swoop a bit.

Totally worth pulling the kids out of school.  RaRa's family headed out as quick as they could to beat the traffic, since most of Utah had driven to Idaho to see this.  We decided to stay an extra day and have a better drive home. We really had a great time with my family.

But then, we eventually did head back obediently.  Tyler started school a day late.  I even sent him with his Eclipse shirt on, just in case anyone asked where he had been.  I was worried about a new teacher for him, since he loved his teacher (and his teacher's pet bearded dragon) so much.  Thankfully, he got a fun teacher with pet geckos!  So all was right in the world.

Bear lake

This year, we replaced the Lake Powell trip with a trip to Bear Lake.  My brother in law was hosting his wife's family on their houseboat instead, and so it was a good year to try out a new trip.  And while the houseboat is always amazing, I really loved this trip!

I loved that each family could pick a spot that worked for them.  We brought our trailer, and then families either got a tent site or cabin, depending on what they wanted to stay in.  Some families had to leave early, too, which was always tricky with the houseboat.  And while it was by far the most we have ever paid for a trailer spot, it really was a great camp.  Our kids were in the pool constantly, even when it had been raining an hour before.

And our fancy trailer spot came with a hot tub enclosed in a fenced yard.  It made a great movie night!

Jasmine and Savanna played mini-golf almost non stop.  She mostly just pushed the ball around, but as long as she loved it, I wasn't going to impose rules on her.

It really did rain and rain, though.  For a while we were worried we wouldn't get to go outside and play much, which made me even more grateful for my sister-in-law's foresight in buying little crafts for the kids to make.  Those smore's crowns were a big hit.

And then, on our last day, the clouds parted and we had a beautiful, sunny day!

The water was colder than Lake Powell, to be sure, but not as cold as I thought it would be. 

I'm so glad we brought along our kayaks. We had a lot of fun with those.

And of course, I made sure that we rented the mega-bikes!  It was a tradition with my extended family, and so I was excited to try them again.  Which is funny, to be honest, because mostly I remember how awful the event always was!  They were ridiculously hard to pedal when your bike is more toddlers than adults.  This time we opted for the "train", and it wasn't too bad.  If it wasn't for Tyler's shorts malfunctions (they wouldn't stop falling down while was scootering next to the bike, and we couldn't catch up), it actually went pretty well.

The shakes made it all worth it.