Ring of Fire Eclipse, May 20, 2012

We were so excited about the Ring of Fire, or annular, eclipse! I spent the days leading up to it learning all about it, making home made box and poster viewers and scoping out the best spot for viewing. I should mention that in Salt Lake City we were out of the path to see the ring of fire. The pathway for that went right through Bryce Canyon. The reason it was a ring of fire eclipse is because the moon was at it's farthest distance from us so it didn't cover the sun entirely. A total eclipse happens when the moon is at it's closest position to us. The next nearest total eclipse of the sun will be in Idaho in 2017. We'll be there!

We went to Donner Park, which is just above Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. The upper half of the park gave a perfect view, unobstructed by trees or power lines. And the bonus was the play grounds kept the boys busy after their 30 seconds of interest in the eclipse was used up. This picture was taken in the middle of the eclipse. As you can see it doesn't look much darker. You could definitely miss the eclipse if you didn't know it was happening.

Here's a straight picture of the sun. It doesn't look much different.We had a lot of cloud cover. So not only did you have to know it was happening. You had to have the right equipment to see it. 

The best way to see it was through the cheap solar viewers you can get at science museums. Unfortunately the Salt Lake Valley was sold out. But other people who were sharing our primo viewing spot were very generous to share. This picture was taken through the solar viewers. Lame. The camera does not see the way the eye does.

This picture was taken through the viewing hole in our shoe box viewer. Not too bad, actually. You can see how the moon is starting to take a bite out of the sun's profile.

This gentleman and astrologer was really ready. He had a telescope with a solar filter. It was trickey to see through it and it turned the image, but it was very sharp. I prefered seeing through the solar glasses.

Clint took this photo through the telescope with my Android phone! It took a far steadier hand than I have.

More progress.

Even thinner.

This picture shows how every small spot of light took on the shape of the eclipse--that smiley face.

Here's a picture my friend Melissa Seamons took of the same effect.

It was a great evening. We were so lucky to have had such a great view, thanks to our instant friends/fellow geeks!

300 Things to do this Summer

http://itswrittenonthewalls.blogspot.com/2012/04/gotta-see-fun-summer-activities-to-keep.html

I promised my sister Edith I'd post this great website. I've also created this list below for my wall to consult whenever someone says, "I'm Bored!"--this happens about a dozen times a day. In spite of this, I LOVE SUMMER! I wish it were longer!!

Summer Activities--Free

 Home Fun

Stop-motion films

Pull Taffy

Act out a play

Card Games

Bean Bag Games—Greg and Steve Kids in Motion CD

Play Dough Charades

Homemade Caramel

Sleep on the Tramp

Jump Rope

Make Rain Sticks

Make Oobleck

Side walk chalk

Hammered leaf prints

Rock Pets (after hike)

Plant the garden

Pressed Flower Craft

Fly a Kite

Weave with cut up T-shirts

Tin Can Stilts

Make Kaleidescopes

Milk Carton Bird feeder

Sprinkler and Soap on tramp

Slip and Slide

Pick a Country Day-Japan, eat sushi, wear gis, speak Japanese, etc.

Scavenger Hunt

Lava Lamps

Make Giant Bubbles

Trace shadows w/ sidewalk chalk.

Murder victim tracing with chalk

(solve murder above)

Backwards Day!

Draw a Flower or rock or tree

Enter a Contest!

Make a Boo tradition for the summer! ("You’ve been Shined!")

Learn the Macarena or electric Slide!

Make newspaper or comic strips

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Make Cards

Straw painting, watercolor and blow on paper

Playground Crawl-wasatch hollows, Davis, others?

Modge Podge Treasure Boxes or Art

Marshmello Scuptures with toothpicks.

 Salt Lake Valley

Letter Boxing

Sprinkler park

Donut Falls

Skate Park

Living Room hike

Bike or hike Brighton Lake

Zoo

Aviary

Bird watch (library book/hike)

Antelope Island-Buffulo Round up, Float in the GSL!

 Ogden/Huntsville

Promontory Point

Pineview

Bike around Huntsville

Star Gaze Tube South Fork or the town ditch!

Fairy Houses

Swim in McKay’s Pool

Horseback Riding

Hike to Malan’s Basin

Frisbee Golf on Kinderfarm or Basin

Utah Valley

Cara’s Saratogo Hot Springs heated Pool

 Summer Activities that cost $$$$$

Home

Buy a Hummingbird Feeder

Tie Dye Shirts

Make 4^th of July shirts

Ziplock icecream

Make a Kite

Friendship bracelets

God’s Eye’s

Koolaid Hair Dye

Water Gun Fight

 Salt Lake Valley

Farmer’s Market

See a children’s play

Bike to Baskin Robbins

Dollar Theater

Go to Festivals

Alpine Slide

 Ogden

Trax to Union Station

Rent jet skis for Pine View

Crystal Hot Springs

Utah Valley

Thanksgiving Point

Southern Utah

Pan for Gold in the Henry Mountains

Vernal Trip, bike, swim, dinos, camp, visit Browns.

Manti Pageant

Wyoming/Idaho

Yellow Stone

Granite Hot Springs

Lava Hot Springs

Daddy Workouts

     The ward (two wards actually) made Clint the new 11-year-old scout leader, just in time for Talmage to begin scouts. It's a good thing because if you know Clint, you know that when it comes to scouts he does it the right way, 100%, as Boy Scouts of America intended it. And let me tell you, those boys are getting a fantastic experience. It's also a good thing that Clint is his leader because Talmage was getting to where he didn't want to attend scouts at all. It's very difficult for him to join in and participate in group activities. The first week the boys did a physical fitness challenge. Being that was at 7 p.m., Tal was not medicated and refused to even try (since then we've given Tal a half dose of his meds before meetings and he's done beautifully). So, we had to schedule a make up the first Saturday morning Clint was not drilling. He put the three older boys through the fitness challenge. They did pull-ups (thank you to whoever installed that bar in our basement)...

Navy-style sit-ups. No whimpy curl-ups, here.

     And push-ups. These the boys have been doing for years. Push-ups are Clint's version of time out. And no, this actually doesn't come from the Navy, but from our fitness fanatic cousin, Adam Legas.

     After the plyometrics, the boys hopped on their bikes and rode to the school where they did a timed run on the track. Now we just have to keep doing this so we can see some improvements on the boys baseline results.

Mother's Day 2012

 My Mother Kept a Garden -- Author Unknown

My Mother kept a garden, 

a garden of the heart,

She planted all the good things

that gave my life it's start.

She turned me to the sunshine

and encouraged me to dream,

Fostering and nurturing 

the seeds of self-esteem...

And when the winds and rain came,

she protected me enough-

But not too much because she knew

I'd need to stand up strong and tough.

Her constant good example

always taught me right from wrong-

Markers for my pathway

that will last a lifetime long.

I am my Mother's garden.

I am her legacy-

And I hope today she feels the love

reflected back from me.

I'm normally a cynic about sappy poems, but this one really got to me. Maybe because of the beautiful flower garden, above?

Trace, I'm hanging on to this one. I'm sure you're girlfriends will love to see it. 

And wasn't it nice that the Primary presented me with this lovely flower garden to look at as I gaze out my window?

It was a great Mother's Day. I got lots of lovely art and nice notes from the boys. Tal's said, "Even the grumpy old garden gnomes love you, Mom." Jack's said he loves it when I make dinner, that I look prettiest when I go on a date, and that he likes jumping on the trampoline with me. Tal made me a wonderful breakfast of his special recipe of nachos. Clint made me a delicious dinner of clam linguine.

Jack versus Soccer, Round Two!

Do you remember Jack's first foray into soccer? It was mostly about wearing a cool costume and discovering his shadow for the first time. What a difference a couple of years of maturity can make! Jack has become a real contender! Whenever his team had the ball, the majority of the time it was Jack making the contact and getting the ball turned around in the right direction. I admired the way he could get to where he needed to be right on time. He had a blast and he and Trace will be playing in this league this summer. All the games are in a field house, which I like because the weather is always good. The other brothers enjoy horsing around on the AstroTurf sidelines.

Itty Bitty Baseball

Cara talked me into signing Trace up for Itty Bitty Baseball at the Lehi Recreation Center. It was two weeks, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Trace feigned shyness for the first hours the first day. Trace shy? Yeah, right. But then he got on board and had a blast every time. He and Tyson loved hitting the ball hanging from a string best. I loved having an hour to walk on the track and chat with Cara. Definitely worth the drive!

Air Med Helicopters with the Bear Cubs

On April 19th we took the Bear Cubs to see the Air Med helicopters at the University Hospital.

Hi, Cole. Look at the view from this office window.

This is Greg Hilker, a dad at our elementary school. He was nice enough to give Clint a tour of all the facilities and told him he'd be a great candidate for the job if he were to apply.