First up before the eclipse was Easter! Justin didn't do his big Easter egg hunt for the first time in three years. I think people missed it but it was nice not having to set out close to two thousand eggs! We dyed eggs and Justin invited friends over for a small Easter egg hunt in our yard. The big kids also finished up their basketball season - they were so excited to get a medal at the end.
Poor bub split his eyebrow on the shower tile.
The week prior to us traveling for the eclipse I planned a solar eclipse unit study. It is a beautiful thing homeschooling with so many resources immediately available! I found several crafts and learning activities for us to do all week, and we checked out a few books from the library. It was so fun to teach them all about this phenomenon to build the anticipation of seeing it in real life. In 2017 - when totality went over Arco - I was so sad to miss it. We lived in WA at the time and I was too sick with my pregnancy with Logan to drive home. I vowed to not miss the next one!
eclipse matching game
eclipse cookies!
eclipse drink for tea time
We drove to SLC Friday the 5th and flew out to Indianapolis. We stayed in a VRBO in a subdivision outside Indianapolis near Zionsville/Whitestown. Saturday morning we made our way to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It was SO busy but we managed to stay long enough to appreciate the dinosaur exhibit. After a trip to Costco we grabbed lunch and enjoyed a nearby park. Sunday we laid low all day watching General Conference waiting for Keaton to arrive. His poor family got stuck in traffic so they didn't roll in until about 8PM.
They put solar glasses on the dinosaurs! Hilarious!
Monday was the day!! That morning we took the kids to the park. People were already setting up for the afternoon with their camping chairs. I was happy to have our rental to go back to for private viewing. As it got closer to 2PM I had my solar glasses ready for first contact. Sure enough we watched the moon swallow the sun for the next hour. I pulled my glasses off in the final moments of the sun disappearing with the iconic diamond ring and then wow - we stared at the sun in totality for the next three minutes. We also saw Venus pop out to the bottom right of the sun. Beckham ran away with the binoculars but we managed to track them down and take a peak at it up close before the moon slowly moved away. There was a solar flare coming off the sun's corona that looked like a huge red arc coming off the sun and connecting back again - like the sun had a big pimple that was probably 500 Earth's long. It was truly special and I was so grateful to Justin for being on board with my crazy plan to trek our family to experience totality. It was no easy feat with four kids including two toddlers. But it was well worth it. It was so fun hanging out with Keaton and Amanda all day. We chatted all day while our kids played non stop. What a gift to have our kids be the best little cousin friends.
Early Tuesday we loaded our kids into the rental and made our way back to the airport. The flight home was three hours with poor Colby screaming for a good part of it - but we survived. Then it was another 3.5 hour drive home. I was high as a kite driving home: feeling so grateful we had clear skies to see the eclipse that I was anticipating for seven years and planned a year prior. Originally I wanted to go to Mexico or Texas for the nice weather but most of Texas had clouds and they missed it! Hooray for Keaton convincing me to do Indianapolis so they could drive and meet us for it. I am so so so grateful.
Colby perfectly happy after traumatizing us on that 3 hour flight.
Now we're home and spring is here! Our landscaper came out to give us a bid to fix our driveway. We'll see what other projects we'll have him do this spring. My kids are getting the best playtime outside with no threat of canal or traffic. We live in absolute paradise! This weekend we drove to Burley to support Hudson getting baptized. Chase gave a lovely blessing to Hudson after giving him the Holy Ghost. He is an amazing dad!
The kids have turned my flower bed into their weapon station.
