Summer Montage + Solar Eclipse 2017

Summer Reading Program Kick-off at Clearview Library

Inflatable planetarium

Swimming lessons at Windsor Rec

Tennis lessons at the Highland Meadows Tennis Center

Soaking up books

Soaking up sun

summer hailstorms

Garden strawberries

Trip to Windsor Lake with Activity Day Girls from church (Ramona is third from right in the front)

Dolphin and Sting Ray-shaped pizza

Father's Day

Adventure Camp at the neighborhood park

Trips to the library

Hike at Environmental Learning Center with Activity Day Girls

Bike ride to the park

Family hike in Poudre Canyon

In the photo below you can see where Wylie imprinted his dusty paw right onto Forest's shirt

Wylie's first swim

Ice cream in the backyard

Rescuing toads from the window well

Wylie reading books in the princess tent

Girls in their Sunday best

Wylie chewing on the vertical blinds

Wylie mooching ice cream

Neighbor friends

 Prayer Planes

Chalk dust adventures

Clearview Library Carnival

 Looking Lovely

Tennis Party

 Wylie chewing on his fake cheese

 Wylie chewing on an apple at the grocery store

Wylie in his bath towel

 Forest and Ramona's camping trip with the Snodgrasses

 Playing UNO in the tent

Solar Eclipse viewing in Glendo, Wyoming--August 21

We got up at 4am and joined the line of traffic to Wyoming around 5am.

Our family camped out by Glendo Elementary School near several astronomy enthusiasts with a giant telescope. The kids alternated between the playground and our little picnic spot most of that day.

 Sunlight filtered through trees in crescent patterns:

We got about two minutes of totality just before noon. Photographs cannot capture how surreal and incredible this experience was. The moon appeared as a black circle, completely covering the sun except for the silver glow of the corona. The sky did not completely darken the way I expected--it was more of a bluish purple hue one might see at dusk. Several planets appeared. The wind stopped and the air was chilly. It felt like we had briefly been transported to a different dimension. Then the sunlight broke through on the other side of the moon's shadow and things seemed to return to normal again.

Wylie fell asleep just before the total eclipse. Perhaps he thought it was nighttime. I laid him down in his stroller and he ended up getting a solid nap.

The kids played on the playground for several hours after totality. With tire swings, merry-go-rounds, see-saws, and porta-potties all close by, we had everything we needed for an afternoon.

When the playground got old, we pulled out a board game.

Then, Forest created a makeshift movie theater to try and pass even more time while we waited for traffic to die down.

When we finally ventured back on the road, traffic was still horrendous. We must have left Glendo at 4pm and didn't make it home until about 10pm. Despite the nightmare of crawling along I-25 in a swarm of cars for that long, we were so glad we made it to Glendo that day to see the total eclipse and make one last trip before the end of summer vacation.

Drama Queens

We tried something new this summer. I signed Ramona and Mika up for a one-week theater camp where the kids rehearsed an adaptation of Disney's "Frozen." This particular show is now so ingrained in them, they still occasionally recite a few lines and burst into song. Here are a few rehearsal photos I pulled off of the theater company's facebook page:

It looked like they enjoyed themselves. On the last day of camp, the kids did a little performance for the parents. 

Do You Want to Build a Snowman:

For the First Time in Forever:

 A few pictures from my phone:

 My personal favorite was "Reindeers Are Better Than People."

After the performance, party princesses Elsa and Anna made an appearance

Mika and Ramona with Ms. Michelle, the director:

 Cupcakes!

Mika and Ramona's well-worn scripts:

Once this theatrical experience was complete, the girls moved on to a neighborhood production of "The Magical Land of Candy," a play written by our 10-year old neighbor, Megan. Here is the script:

We held multiple rehearsals in our backyard and even put together a cardboard dragon in our garage.

Rehearsing the opening scene where Zach (played by Kieran) jumps through a portal into the Magical Land of Candy, and his sister Ella (played by Ramona) reluctantly follows.

Paula and Mika as gingerbread people, using our cottage as their gingerbread house.

Dragon building

On the day of the performance, we had handmade programs to give out to our audience. . .

. . . and we even got a makeup crew (who ended up doubling as stage hands)

I provided some background music on an electric keyboard, and there were plenty of parents acting as videographers with their phones. Perhaps the most memorable scene was the battle against the dragon. The kids beat against the cardboard dragon with pool noodles until Morgan and Reilly (our makeup artists/stage hands) knocked it over from behind.

With the dragon defeated and harmony restored to the Magical Land of Candy once more, it was time for the cast to take a bow.

Bravo, my little drama queens!