Eclipse!

The big news of this week was the total solar eclipse, which passed through Vermont yesterday.  There was a lot of excitement and anticipation leading up to the big event, and we weren't sure how the influx of visitors would impact traffic and other logistics.  School was cancelled for our kids, and many businesses shut down for the afternoon.  I didn't have a ton of knowledge about eclipses ahead of time, and the experience absolutely blew away any expectations I had.  Words can't fully describe it, but we gathered with some friends and family at Aunt Pea's to watch together.  It was slow at first, taking about an hour to go from the beginning to totality (Noah was complaining about how boring it was at first), and we kept checking on the progress as we felt the temperature cooling and the skies dimming.  We had our eclipse glasses on until the last sliver of light disappeared, and then removed our glasses to admire the stunning sight of the eclipse in full totality.  It was unlike anything we had ever seen before.  Pictures and words can't do it justice, but it gave us all a sense of awe and gratitude for the opportunity to witness such a miraculous event.  We thought it was crazy that people were traveling to see the eclipse, but now we understand!

Fun eclipse-themed snacks

Practicing staring at the sun

Our attempt at eclipse cookies

Science experiment on Eclipse Day - popping a balloon using a magnifying glass plus the heat from the sun

Practicing some more

Just the beginning...

Still watching...

Watching with a great crew of family/friends

Notice I'm now wrapped in a blanket!  It got cold!

The sky at totality. It looked like it was about 15 minutes after sunset!

He's not bored anymore!

Celebratory cookies

Matt got some amazing pics of totality

Family selfie!

Aside from the eclipse, we also had a good-sized April snowstorm on Thursday (12+ inches!).  It was a logistical nightmare, because they called a delay for the middle school after the kids had already headed to school on the bus.  Evie and a few other students ended up spending 3 hours at school before her school day began, but thanks to her amazing teachers, they made the most of it and had some fun.  We knew the snow wouldn't last long, so we went out for a snowshoe and the boys built the most giant snow-woman, who they aptly named April.  As it often goes with Spring snow, most of it was gone in 3 days!

April snow, and it was no joke.  Look at the fence!

There were some seriously grumpy moods this AM

At least someone was excited about the snow!

Hopefully this was our last snowshoe of the year!

Frankie LOVED the snow!

By Saturday, April was starting to lean...

Uh oh!

Oh dear...

Bye Bye, April!

We are also starting to think about Spring, getting ready for Little League season to start and dreaming of warm, sunny days ahead!

Noah lost a tooth this week!  It's been a while since he lost one, so this was exciting!

New baseball cleats for Little League season

Dusting off our Pickleball skills at an indoor court.  We can't wait for outdoor games!

Then and Now...we handed this stroller down to our friends!  Evie (age 2 on the left), and Evie pushing our friends' daughter on the right.  Time flies.

I'm not sure if Frankie would prefer the snow to stick around forever, or if she wants it to melt so she can play ball!