Thanks to my husband's interest, initiative, and creativity (and in true homeschooling fashion), we took a road trip to view the 4/8/24 solar eclipse in the path of totality! While we technically saw one from our backyard in 2017, it was a cloudy day that did not leave us feeling like we had experienced it to the fullest. So, away we went to chase this opportunity.
We stayed with friends in Jeff City the night before, checked the forecast for cloud cover the morning of, and headed to Salem, AR (one of several locations Bryant had scoped out, based on time in totality and potential cloud cover). In his "scoping out," he had found ball fields (nice wide open viewing space), and the park happened to include some somewhat-necessary amenities, as well, which was a huge bonus - there was a small playground, picnic tables, and even open bathrooms with running water and soap! Our viewing experience was stellar (pun intended), and we were so glad to have made the trip and the memories.
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| We hadn't road-tripped in a while, so they were thrilled to get to break into their road trip backpacks again. |
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| The tiny town had a Sonic next to the one gas station, so we partook of the "limited edition" slush float. It was just ok - haha. The kids were in it for the sprinkles. |
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| the first of the theme snacks |
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| homemade pinhole projector |
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| A "spinny thing" is always a highlight for him. |
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She couldn't believe there was a bouncy ladybug.
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| first contact |
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| The blob in the bottom of this picture is a printout of the Sun I was holding while they covered it with their thumbs from a to-scale-sized Earth 65 ft. away. |
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| We even had a playlist! |
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| He found such fun and memorable experiments! |
We were very thankful to have been able to make this trip. The amount of road time in the 36-hour trip was not all peaceful and wonderful, of course, but it was worth it to have witnessed what we did together. We'll see what we come up with for the next one!
While I'm posting, here are a few other
recent happenings:
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| This girl recently dropped naps and is learning to play independently for longer periods of time. I love seeing what she comes up with when not being influenced or coerced by her big brother. |
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People often ask what Lydia does while Jacob and I do school. It is literally different (and totally unpredictable) every day. Today, she noticed my container of paperclips and asked to sort them.
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'90's day at Sunday school
(Jacob was proud of, yet confused by his outfit. "Why didn't they use the buttons on the button-up shirts?" hahaha) |
We have things coming up in the garden, are reaching the end of our school books, and have already had several picnic lunches. Bring on spring and summer! I am relishing season changes more and more as I age, and I am pondering the reason for this. Perhaps another blog post will come of it, but in the meantime, can you relate? And if so, have you been able to pinpoint why this happens (for you, personally, at least)?
Pondering-ly,
Kensy
Favorites of the day:
when all is quiet in the house and I find both kids reading on the couch
cookie butter
