Comet Hunting

You know we've had varying levels of success with viewing comets in the past. We decided to try our luck again since there was supposed to be a comet around in October. So on Saturday, October 12, we went out in the evening to search for the comet. We went up West Mountain to where we saw the other comet in 2020. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy evening and we got up there later than we wanted to. We saw no comet but there was a gorgeous sunset.

We did, however, see the Y lit up on the mountain in the other direction. Nichole let us know this is the 100th anniversary of "Light the Y." I remember participating in "Light the Y" way back when I was in college.

And the moon looked cool as it often does.

That day was also International Moment of Frustration Scream Day. Often when that holiday comes around, I don't feel like celebrating in the way it's intended. That's a good thing. This year, I did feel it. I had my moment. I went back to my room, had a silent frustrated scream, then put together a shopping list and went shopping.

It was also Breakfast Burrito Day in Denver so we ate breakfast burritos to celebrate.

The next day, October 13, I wore my bow earrings because it was my cousin's birthday.

We had an at home potluck. It had been a while since we had one of those. These were the contributions from oldest to youngest: Stuffing, onion roasted potatoes, mint lemonade (not pictured), apples, and sour strawberry peeps. Jet didn't contribute.

Then we went for a relaxing Sunday drive up West Mountain, this time all the way to the top, to look for the comet again. As we drove, I mentioned that it was International Skeptics Day and Jeremy said, "I don't think the comet's actually a comet. I think it's a projection on the dome of our flat Earth." Heh heh heh. 

It became even cloudier than the day before sadly. We actually did get a glimpse of the comet through binoculars during a little break in the clouds. We weren't able to get pictures, though. We couldn't wait for the comet to come back into view, though, as we got chased off the mountain by lightning and thunder. Not so great on the top of a mountain.

Both nights had beautiful sunsets at least. The observatory was cool to look at.

What a view.

Both nights we drove by a house with some pretty fun decorations. Jet is really into Halloween decorations right now.

Jeremy and I did go out another night with Jet down to the lake and were able to see the comet again way up in the sky... without us being way up in the sky that time. Still no pictures.

Fun With Peeps

After our birding meeting on March 21, one of our birding peeps gave a package of marshmallow peeps to Lucky to take home. She didn't want them. He was okay with that.

Jeremy and I were talking one day and we realized we'd never shown our kids peeps in the microwave. So... the boys and I tried it out. We found a package of really old peeps and tried one of those first. It didn't expand very much. 

Then we took one from the package Lucky got (new peeps) and it expanded much nicer than the old one.

Now we know.

 

World Puppetry Day 2024

World Puppetry Day was on March 21. Jet likes puppets. We had puppets around and he even took one while we were picking kids up.

At the end of the day, Jet and I were watching 9 Years to Neptune, a show with puppets on BYU-TV. I kept telling Jr. Jr. to go to bed. This was his response. "It's not me watching the show. It's the dinosaur puppet." Heh Heh Heh.

That same day, Jeremy, Nichole, Lucky, and I went to a UCB Meeting at the Bean Museum. Club members were presenting about different shorebirds. Jeremy and I were asked to present on Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs. Jeremy put the presentation together and I presented it.

Because the meeting was about shorebirds, and little sandpipers are known as "peeps," the club officer in charge of meetings brought marshmallow Peeps for refreshments afterward. Tee Hee. She had fruit punch flavored. We'd never had that kind before. It was fun. I liked the flavor.