Star Party!

I am thankful for the Star Party some of us went to one night because of my son's Earth and Space Science class.

Members of the community brought telescopes so we could see different galaxies and stars, Saturn with its rings and one of its moons, and our moon when it finally made an appearance.

There were hot chocolate and donuts.

My sons had friends to talk to.

I got bad pictures with my phone because I was not going to use my flash at an event that requires darkness.

I did get decent (enough) pictures of the moon with our good camera.

 

When we got home that night, Jeremy and Jet were trying out some lights that would "dance" to music. Jeremy needed them for yet another balloon build out of state. He didn't need them to dance to music for the build but that was one of the modes of the lights. Jet sure enjoyed it.

 

Annular Solar Eclipse

The morning after "Creatures of the Night," we got up really early and drove down to Fillmore. The reason? Another solar eclipse.

The last one we went to in 2017, we drove to Idaho (that was a long day) because it was a total solar eclipse and we wanted to be able to take off our eclipse glasses during the time of totality. That was an amazing experience.

This time, it was an annular eclipse, which meant in the path of totality there would be a "ring of fire." We weren't able to take our eclipse glasses off at all this time while looking at the sun but it sure looked cool through them. We got to experience a similar eclipse with friends back in 2012.

Because this eclipse was also a big deal, numerous places were planning on having eclipse viewing parties. We were able to get a couple eclipse glasses at events in September at the Orem Library then Jeremy bought us a few more for not too much.

Orem wouldn't have the "ring of fire" so that's why we headed down to Fillmore. Jeremy's done balloons at Fillmore Library a number of times so he got a hold of his contact down there to find out that they were having an eclipse event there for the public (and where it was because it wasn't in the main library building) and we were absolutely invited. Such nice people.

So as I said, we drove down to Fillmore early to miss traffic (not as early as when we went to Idaho) and to make sure we got parking, then napped until it was time for the fun to start.

The library had some great activities. We made beaded bracelets that glow in the dark and change color in the sun. 

We used stencils and a black light to create images on paper.

We made an annular eclipse simulator that showed the path of the moon over the sun to create the ring of fire.

Lucky popped a balloon using a magnifying glass.

There was an inflatable planetarium we went in to see constellations and planets.

Outside, there was a telescope set up with a special filter to look at the sun. Lucky was the 200th person to look through the telescope.

The eclipse was of course awesome and a great family activity. Outside we were again in a park with many people like the last big eclipse. There was music playing, people getting excited when it was getting darker (not as dark as a total eclipse obviously, but enough to be noticeable), and when the ring of fire part of the eclipse happened, whoever was in charge of the music put on "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash. I loved that.

Lucky managed to get pictures with his little camera and eclipse glasses. Way to go, son.

We had fun looking at the shadow crescents made from the light shining through the tree branches when the sun had moved again.

We had lunch in the van before heading back toward home. The traffic wasn't too bad heading back. It got busy at some places but some places were pretty clear. It was definitely easier than our Idaho eclipse trip. 

On the way, we ate Oreos, and I made a "ring of fire" out of mine. Ha Ha Ha. I am so cute.

We got home in the afternoon, not the night. Yay.

For dinner that night we had breakfast burritos because October 14 is Breakfast Burrito Day in Denver. How random can we be finding reasons to celebrate?

It was a great day and well worth the effort.

Little Mini Date

A week ago, Tuesday morning early (1 something), Jeremy and I had a little mini date.  There was a lunar eclipse going on.  Jeremy was up balloon twisting.  Lucky had a late night.  When I finally got him down, there wasn't that much longer to wait.  Jeremy and I took the telescope, camera, and baby monitor outside and enjoyed a little glimpse of the moon for a few minutes.

 The best part about it of course was taking this time together.  I'm happy for our little mini date.

Poor Abused Little Pluto

February 18th is Pluto Day. The day we celebrate the poor little planet that so many have tried to downgrade to nonplanet status. Pluto you may be more ice than rock and you may be smaller than the Earth's moon, but your heart is big and you will always be a full fledged planet in our book! (To point out the unfairness, Ganymede is bigger than Mercury but Mercury gets to keep its status as a planet.) (Ganymede would be one of Jupiter's Moons.) (For that matter Jupiter is much more gas than rock.) (In fact there is a debate if Jupiter has any solid mass at all.)


...


Anyway...

We celebrated Pluto Day by putting stickers on a Solar System sheet Jeremy brought home from the library last month (we actually saved them for today).

 

And then we introduced the kids to our new telescope by pointing it at the wall and letting them see their planets.

They were excited, they were thrilled, they took a quick peek and went back to reading.

Pluto, we are sorry, it looks like the excitement of Pluto Day just did not translate well for them.

But we will always love you this much!

Note the rocket and planet pajamas Jr. Jr. is wearing.

P.S.  Thanks for writing this blog post for me, Jeremy, so I could take a nap.  Here's a little bit more I'll add-
As we were preparing for Pluto Day, we got into a discussion about Pluto and what the kids learned about it at school.
Nichole:  Pluto used to be a planet but then it was called a dwarf planet for no reason, just because it was small.
Jr. started thinking up fairy tales involving Pluto.
Jr.:  Cinderella and the 17 dwarf planets.