Solar Eclipse and Back to School

During the last two weeks before summer break ended, I really wanted to fill our time with fun and memorable activities.  We went to Thanksgiving Point several times, which was so nice.  At the Museum of Natural Curiosity, the girls' favorite part is Kidopolis.  In that section of the Museum, there is a little child-sized town that includes things like a veterinarian's office, a bank, a theater, a puppet house, a gym, a library, etc.  Kidopolis provides so many opportunities for children to use their imaginations.

Here the girls are pretending to be pterodactyls on stage.

Another section of the Museum that they are enjoying these days is the room that teaches them about how the body works.  There is a ball pit there with red balls that are supposed to represent red blood cells.  Interspersed throughout are just a few white loofahs, and they represent the white blood cells.  Of course, the real highlight is simply playing in the ball pit.

Playing in the red blood cells

On another day we went to Farm Country.

Sitting on a wagon wheel bench

Reagan riding a pony

Kirsten riding a pony

Reagan with a sheep  (It's not real, fyi)

One evening we went with Daddy to dinner at Denny's--always a family favorite.  When we go we often take a picture with some breakfast food or other while Daddy pays for the meal.

The girls with an egg cooked sunny side up.

 The day that Madelyn turned five months old she woke up with a cold.  Poor baby.  She is so easy-going though that it's not really that stressful for her to be sick.  We just stayed home, so that she could rest, and in a couple of days she was all better.

Sweet Madelyn is 5 months old!

One Monday evening we went to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point for a family night activity.  There were a couple of activities to learn about the science behind a solar eclipse, and since Matt and I really wanted to see the eclipse, we thought it might be a good idea to inform the kiddos about what we were actually going to be seeing, so that they could be more excited about it.

Here are some alien pictures they drew.

Here they are learning about how the moon crosses in front of the sun during an eclipse.

Later that week the Springville Museum of Art held a Western Celebration to introduce their new Western art exhibit.  There was live music, food, horse rides, cowboy poetry, art projects, and of course, art.  These girls have ridden horses more times this summer than I have in my entire life.  I almost felt a little jealous!

Reagan riding a horse.

Kirsten riding a horse.

Petting a cow

Sitting next to a tissue paper fire while listening to cowboy poetry.

Kirsten, Reagan, and Gracie

The next day we went to Farm Country again with my Dad.  That was fun!  The girls love their Grampa so much, and naturally I do, too.  We decided not to do the pony ride that time since the line was ridiculously long and they had ridden a horse the night before.  We waited for 20 minutes, and the line didn't move at all.  Boo!

Petting a guanaco, which is not a llama, just so you know

Reagan in a gardening shed window

 A new Smith's grocery store has opened up here in Springville, and it is fantastic.  The girls came with me one Saturday, and they got to push child-sized carts while I pushed Madelyn in the stroller.  They were so happy to be my little helpers!

With their shopping carts

We went to Ashton Gardens to explore the gardens last Tuesday.  It was so amazingly beautiful, and I was grateful that we had a little cold front come through that day, so that it wasn't in the 90s.

In front of a little creek

A beautiful vista

 One of the gardens was a sculpture garden with sculptures from Christ's life.  As we walked among the sculptures, we all felt the Holy Spirit testifying of Christ's life, ministry, Atonement, death, and resurrection.  The girls were allowed to sit on the laps of the sculptures, which they really enjoyed, and I think it helped bring the sculptures to life for them.

Reagan sitting on Christ's lap.

Kirsten sitting on Christ's lap

Women at the well

 The statue of Christ with these hens and their chicks was my favorite.  I've always loved the scripture where Christ says that He will gather us like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and the gentle, caring expression on Christ's face in this sculpture touched my heart.  I know he cares for each of us with a deep, abiding love, and I felt that love while looking at these hens with their chicks.

Another sculpture that touched me was when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead.  I'm glad Kirsten took this picture because I was so impressed by the perspective.  Usually when I see renditions of this miracle, it is from outside of the tomb, but in this sculpture, we see the event from Lazarus' perspective.  We are in the tomb with him, and when Christ comes to Lazarus, he is also coming to the viewer of the sculpture.  I felt the Holy Spirit testify that just as Christ called Lazarus from the dead, He will resurrect me someday, and in the mean time, He is constantly inviting me to lay aside the shackles of spiritual death by repenting and following Him.

Ashton Gardens also has some spectacular human-made waterfalls.

 On Wednesday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity with our friends Brett, Alana, and Lizzie.  Thursday evening we went swimming with my Dad, and then on Friday we went to the Kangaroo Zoo, which is a bounce house in Pleasant Grove.  The girls somehow still had energy and jumped for over two hours.  I love how they make friends with other children everywhere they go.  They are so friendly, and it's so nice that they never worry that other children might think they are weird to try to make friends.  It's amazing to see them walk up to someone and say, "Do you want to be my friend?"  I was often too shy to do that as a child.

At the bounce house

That afternoon Madelyn participated in a study on BYU campus for the Psychology Department.  One of the professors is researching how genetics influence a baby's visual attention span.  She watched some images on a computer screen while I filled out an extensive questionnaire about my diet and Matt's diet during and after the pregnancy.  How may drinks of water have you had during the last 30 days?  Blah!  Who can answer that?  Anyway, the research assistant who administered the test was really impressed that Madelyn didn't cry at all while watching the images.  She said that she usually had to start over three or four times.  Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they find that Madelyn has a good visual attention span.  After all, she is related to Matt and me, and we can both pay attention with the best of them.

On Saturday morning, we went to Costco and filled up on samples.  Then we went to Brett's birthday party, and the girls played in the water.  They had tons of fun, but we were exhausted from all of the fun.  I mean exhausted.  At this point I was starting to think that I never wanted to leave the house again.  There is apparently such a thing as too much fun.

Fortunately, we had a relaxing Sunday.  We went to Church, lounged around the house all afternoon, and had dinner at my parents'.

Then on Monday morning we woke up at 3 and got ready to go to Rexburg to watch the Solar Eclipse.  A month before I had told Matt that I really wanted to see the solar eclipse, but as we got closer to the actual date, I got more and more nervous.  Everyone was telling me about the traffic and how awful it was going to be.  A couple of times I told Matt that I was nervous about going, but thankfully he reminded me that I really wanted to see the eclipse.  So we went.  The drive up was easy.  There was almost no traffic.  We got to Rexburg around 8:30, and there were plenty of places to park on the BYU-Idaho campus.  We ate breakfast, and then we went outside just in time to watch the eclipse begin.

For an hour and fifteen minutes we watched it progress.  It slowly got darker, colder, and stiller.  I was fascinated by the slow changes in the sky, but nothing I'd heard or seen prepared me for the moment of the total eclipse.  During that last second before totality, the shadows danced on the ground like a magic spell was being cast on the earth.  Taking off the eclipse glasses and looking directly at the moon-covered sun was a breath-taking two minutes for me.  Everything was nearly dark.  We could see Venus and Mars.  Then as totality ended two and half minutes later, the shadows danced across the earth again, and the light returned.  The eclipse was magical.  I feel like I will remember it for the rest of my life.

Then we got back in the car to drive home.  It took us about 12 hours, and that was everybody's least favorite part of the trip.  Yet, we were all in awe from what we had seen.  God's creations are spectacular and life-giving.

Kirsten put her eclipse glasses on Madelyn while we were waiting.  So cute.

Waiting for totality

It's getting darker!

Reagan found a tree with at least a dozen ladybugs, and the girls were wild about it!

Our family waiting for totality

It took us about four hours to drive from Rexburg to Idaho Falls, which is, let's face it, ridiculous.  So, we got out of the car at Idaho Falls to eat, stretch our legs, and for Matt to get a little sleep.  We thought the traffic might clear out a little if we stayed, but it didn't.  Too bad.

The falls in Idaho Falls with the temple in the background.  Beautiful.

 It took another five hours to drive to Pocatello, and then we got home at 1:30 in the morning.  I was so worried about Kirsten starting school with so little sleep the night before.  They didn't even have a half day!  But I prayed that Christ would carry her exhaustion, so that she could enjoy her first day of school, and He did.  She was energetic and happy!

Before leaving for school

Reagan, Madelyn, and I stayed home and took it easy, and later that morning Daddy left to go to St. Louis for work.  I can't believe my little baby Kirsten is in 1st grade.  All summer I've been worrying about her being there for a full day of school.  It is a big change for us, and I know I'll miss her.  But it feels right in my heart.  She has her best friend from Kindergarten in her class, and her best friend from Church is in her class, too.  She is so happy and keeps saying she can't wait to go to school tomorrow.  I am happy that she is happy.

Reagan building with blocks.

Madelyn sucking her toes.