Scenes From An Eclipse, Rachel

Theo had the right idea by wanting to run to WY to catch the total eclipse - it lives up to the hype. I wasn't that set on going until I figured out that I could finagle my schedule to get Monday off, and then I figured I had no excuse. But I wasn't sure what to expect - all the news reports were about how many people were going to be swarming to these little Idaho towns, how terrible the traffic was going to be, how we should pack extra food and water and gas, etc. Also, the weather report said “partly cloudy,” which made me afraid that we wouldn’t even be able to see it. But the drive up there had zero traffic, the day dawned with not a cloud in the sky, Rigby was small enough that we had no trouble getting around, and the lake we found was perfect and had just the right amount of people. We got my camera set up just in time, though that was a little stressful - the tripod I brought is not the best, it was hard to find the sun and focus it on full zoom, and we had to jerry-rig a solar filter for my lens by dismantling a pair of solar glasses*...it was just a little embarrassing to be next to all these pros with their high-tech equipment. But hey, we did it! 

The total eclipse itself was SUPER cool. I had seen a partial eclipse before, but I was surprised by how different it was between even 95% eclipsed and the totality. It got suddenly drastically darker, the temperature dropped 15 degrees, and the fish freaked out right beforehand (who knew?). It was otherworldly to look at the sun completely covered - the colors were all off, the corona was mesmerizing, and it felt awe-inspiring to stare wide-eyed at the sun with the naked eye. The 360 degree “sunset” was incredible and eerie, and even though it lasted 2 minutes 17 seconds it felt like it was over in 30 seconds. It was so overwhelming I forgot to even look for the stars, but people around me said you could see a few of them.

Everyone cheered and whooped and hollered, and it felt like a bonding experience - afterward, everyone started chatting excitedly with each other, looking at each other’s photos, trying to describe the experience and how they felt about it. Our neighbors consisted of a family from CA, a father-son duo from AZ, a couple from the Netherlands, a man from Germany, and a couple from the UK. So crazy that people from all over the world all converged on the same small town in Idaho for this unifying event. As a result, the traffic back was admittedly crazy, but was still better than I was afraid of. All in all, it was totally worth it!

*Thanks Krissie!

Scenes From An Eclipse

Waiting for the real action to begin.

Eclipse based snacks.

At the last minute, Theo decides to run to Wyoming.

It was worth standing in a field for. Kinda wish we'd run to Wyoming with Theo and Rachel though.

Settled In

We are feeling settled. Some things I like about our new place:

The Colorado State marching band practices 2 blocks away and the music carries so nicely on the afternoon breeze. Is there anything more American than a university marching band?

Our house is nice. We are going to ruin it, but right now it's great.
drawers- they magically close by themselves.
leaves. There are a lot of them around.
lucas. Is hilarious and friendly. "Do you guys want to have a rotten tomato fight?"
biking to school. Feels healthy.

Summer 2017

Let's just make note of a pretty awesome summer. Some things that happened:

Summer started with Sarah's birthday trip to San Francisco. Wonder Woman (Beth sitting on the edge of her chair, punching her fist in the air), breakfast at Nini's, Magic Show (How did he DO that?! "I don't know, I don't KNOW!" - Claire), Vivian tickling Sarah ("I. WILL. KICK. YOU."), Rachel unable to wear her contacts and trying to play games while blind.

Carrie/Beth/Viv and crews went camping near Santa Cruz. Jackson tried to drown in the ocean but didn't. Hugo "I threw somebody's keys" Thomas almost caused a vehicular disaster but then fessed up. After spending most of the rainy second day crammed into Vivian's tent with 9 kids ("so, what are we going to do now, Mom?") we packed it in and drove home.

Carrie and Jerry went to see the Mountain Goats. Jerry was so inspired that he quit his job and got a new one in San Diego.

Eric came out to Colorado and behaved himself very nicely.

Theo picked up the wrong thermos and got a mouthful of beer by mistake.

I think there were some scout/sport camps. (Eric went to pole-vaulting camp)

Beth and Viv both went to girls camp. Viv developed a love for giant creepy bunny suits.

There were multiple trips to Big Pools and the river and the caves.

Rachel had a work conference in LA that was pretty terrible but the trip was saved by the weekend visit to the Rees's before.

The Gregorys came to Utah for the 4th of July and met up with Rachel for Mexican food and fireworks. “Remember Thailand? There may have been government censorship but at least they didn’t have this song." - Lucy, re: Proud to be an American

Gregorys took a rafting trip down the Main Salmon river. Carrie rescued a drowning guy.

We all went to the beach. Viv and Tim took the teenagers to jump off of Cayucos pier. Everyone went on an epic kayaking trip. Sand snow-boarding. Hal made the ladies wait to pass him on the path until he finished dancing. Mae was consistently adorable. We saw a whale, otters, seals, sea lions, a baby elephant seal, dolphins.

The Rees family bought a new (to them) car. Welcome to the family, Toyota Prius.


Beach trip quotes:

"Popsicles. Well, they're a thing, but so is salad." -Sarah

Eric: What do you call a cow with 3 legs? Tri-tip!  What do you call a cow with 2 legs?
Lucy: Your mom!
Eric, eyes huge: She's. Standing. Right. Behind. You.

Carrie, punches Rachel in the face.
Rachel: "Mo- om!"

"Hufflepuffalo!" -Rachel, in a series of amazing buffalo jokes

"I think I'll sit here on the chair's lap." -Hal

"Hal, can you count to 10?" "Yes. H-A-L-7...I mean 12!"

"Water Cans!" Carrie, under pressure, trying to name something found at an elementary school.
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Cousins camp was pretty good. Most notably, an amazing game of charades. Ed Gruberman/Boot to the Head skit, the confessional board: "I used the Haskins toothpaste".

After some concern over where Mae was, Carrie finds her in the upstairs bathroom with a toothbrush she has used to slick back her hair with toilet water.

Thomases were homeless all summer, having moved out of their apartment and still being in escrow for their new house in San Diego. Who wants to sleep on the couch?!


What am I missing?