I have always tried to nurture a love of science and especially space with my girls. They love to play on NASA Kids Club building rockets and driving the Mars Rover. When I heard that there was to be a total solar eclipse in North America this August, I just knew we needed to go. Luckily, the closest point of totality to us was only 3 1/2-4 hours away. Salt Lake City was going to experience 94 percent but I wanted to experience totality.
So this weekend we packed up the car and drove to Idaho. Unfortunately, everyone else in the western United States thought the same thing. My husband and I thought about renting a camper but there weren't any available in the western United States. Most of the hotels were booked. I found a 2 star for $750 a night! No thank you.
I knew quite a few people who were going up and camping out in their extended family's backyards and many farmers decided to open up some space for people to set up for the night, but usually with no utilities. That wouldn't work for us since we would have both our babies with us.
Luckily, I found the Sun Shine Camp on Facebook. A woman decided to turn some of her dad's farm land into a camp ground and they had some vacancies. She had cleared the land and had port a potties dug and it was right in the path of totality. Not only that, but it was in the most idyllic spot.
It was gorgeous! Wide, open views of a property surrounded by the famous Snake River with lots of shade for trees. Fire pits stocked with wood and lots of peace and quiet. Which was amazing given that over 300,000 people traveled to the same area to view the eclipse. That's in addition to the people who already lived here!
The kids had an amazing time. There were horseback rides available.
I even risked an allergic reaction and joined in. The hour or 2 of itching after were totally worth it. Saddest day of my life when I realized I was allergic to horses. But that's a story for another time.
The girls got to float in the calmer part of the Snake River that wound through the property. A perfect way to cool off during the heat of the day. Wasn't my dad the sweetest to take them? Totally made their day.
Lots of shade to sit out and relax. Aaralyn brought along a book of course. She's a girl after my own heart.
This was the first time we had gone camping with both babies. Needless to say, we got very little sleep and a VERY early wake up call.
Now it was time to pack up the site and get ready to watch the eclipse over the next few hours.
Unfortunately, the solar eclipse fell on the first day of school so we had to make it a quick trip back to Utah so the girls wouldn't miss any more days. Otherwise, I would have loved to combine this trip with a few days in Yellowstone.
My husband was hoping to hop in the car right after the eclipse to hopefully get a head start on the aforementioned 300K other people but while packing the last few things in the car a few minutes before the eclipse he realized our car battery had died!
Luckily this Japanese family near us had a cordless car battery jumper. Have you seen these things? They are awesome. Tiny, and best of all if your car dies with no one around, you can now jump your car yourself. We totally bought one after this trip. What a life saver!
Next thing we knew, Bailey's beads appeared. Which is when all the mountains and valleys are backlit by the sun and it looks like little beads of sunlight shining on the edge of the moon.
Totality was awe inspiring. There really are no words to describe the feeling and visual. It got eerily silent and the temperature dropped at least 20 degrees immediately. It looked like there was a 360 degree sunset. It was beautiful. I am so glad we made the effort to go. I hope it will be something my children remember forever.
It was so worth the 7 hour trip home. Oh, and there was the cutest old lady standing in the middle of one of the back roads we tried to take out of there. Do you want to know what she was doing? Handing out hundreds of homemade cookies that she had baked and frozen just to hand out to us travelers. She was so excited and said it was the best day of her life. What a selfless act of kindness to show to so many people she had never met in her life and would most likely never see again. I mean just think of the hours and hours of baking. What an example. I want to be like her when I grow up. She definitely made our long, crawling trip back to Utah more bearable.
Did you see the eclipse?
Today was a blustery day in the Big Apple so I decided to choose an indoor venue. We have walked past the National Museum of the American Indian a few times and so I thought this was the perfect time to check it out. And the best part, because it is run by the Smithsonian, admission was free.
The building the museum is housed in is amazing! Check out those statues. I love all the architectural details. It is a US Customs office and the upper floors are still used for that but the first 2 are the museum.
The American Indian Museum is definitely kid friendly. They have this huge tipi that children can go inside and explore. An employee in the tipi room was doing some traditional beading while we were there and there was a buffalo skin the girls could feel too.
Aaralyn loved the interactive room. There are also free activities held every Wednesday afternoon for children as well.
Check out this lobby!
I was expecting more of a history of the different peoples covered but mostly the museum was just a collection of artifacts. There was a lot of clothing and other objects as well as pictures taken of Native Americans from the Artic Circle to Tierra del Fuego in the Western Hemisphere.
It was fun and interesting and you can't beat free. I had been telling Aaralyn about Indians. How they lived in tipis and rode horses so as we were leaving she started yelling, "wait, wait, I didn't get to ride the horse yet."
Oops, guess she thought we were going to a Merry-go-round again.
Today we had tickets to the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero. We had to go through airport-like security checks before being let through.
I didn't know what to expect. Last time I was here, they were still tearing down all the buildings. But I was blown away.
I remember the debate about what should be done with Ground Zero. Should they rebuild the towers? Make them taller? Build something else entirely or make it into a memorial? At first I felt like I wanted them to rebuild the Towers or build something to show that the terrorists didn't win, that they couldn't break us.
I think what they did was so much better.
In the footprint of the Twin Towers are two pools with 30 foot waterfalls around the entire perimeter. It is surreal to look down and see the spot where the Towers once stood.
In the middle of the pool is a black void where all the water drains. It was so eerie to see how still the water in the pool was, then to watch it be sucked down into this massive hole to the depths of who knows where. It was almost as if part of myself were being sucked down with it.
I thought of us Americans and especially those personally affected by the attacks. About the void in our lives, what was taken away and the holes we have that will never be filled.
It's very fitting that around the railing there is about a 3 foot ledge inscribed with all the people who lost their lives that day. The passengers in the airplanes, the pentagon employees, the 1st responders to the attacks and of course, those that were in the World Trade Centers.
This was such a touching memorial. It showed that yes, the terror attacks did affect us. It doesn't make us weak to acknowledge the fact.
It shows that out of the ashes of our tragedy we can rebuild. We can get up, mourn our innocent dead and continue to live, stronger for what we have been through, and cherish what we have while never forgetting what we lost.
The Freedom Tower being built in the shadow of where the Twin Towers once stood.
God Bless the USA!
Today we braved the subway and went to Central Park. Before I moved, I called the MTA and asked them to mail me a list of all the subway stations that are wheelchair accessible stations since I found out that not all of them are.
Even with that list in hand we managed to get off at a station without an elevator and ended up having to lug the stroller up 3 flights of stairs. I have no idea what went wrong but thanks to the guy who helped me carry the stroller while Mimsy carried the girls.
Aaralyn was actually excited to go on a 'train' but she's just in the refusing to smile stage. At least she's looking at the camera.
Olivia is always happy to give a great smile for the camera though.
It turns out Olivai is quite the tease. She grabs Aaralyn's sweater, hair, hand or anything with in reach and yanks while laughing all the while.
Aaralyn tries to tell Olivia to leave her alone and put her arm back where it belongs.
But she doesn't listen and is right back at it. Then I hear
"Mommy, Livie is touching me!"
I say, "It's OK, she's just saying Hi"
B: "No, she is pinching me" cue the cry, she yells, rips her arm back and then Olivia screams at the top of her lungs for Aaralyn ruining the fun.
Man I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this until they were like 7.
Luckily their seats recline far enough down that they are out of reach from each other. Aaralyn isn't the innocent one here either, I'll look down and she'll be leaning across the divider practically on Olivia laughing her head off while Livie is screaming bloody murder.
Our trip for the day was Central Park. It is beautiful of course. But the most surprising thing I learned about it is that it is entirely man-made. The only thing that was natural are the big rocks that kind of look like cooled lava. The designers created everything else and wanted to showcase many types of landscapes from forests, lakes, meadows and waterfalls.
We chose a path and just went for it.
We ran into Balto standing watch atop a hill.
After a little wandering around and a tip from a conservancy worker we ended up at the famous Central Park Carousel.
Central Park has had a carousel since the 1870's and this one has been here since 1950. It is one of the largest carousels in the country and was made in 1908.
The carousel was fun and fast even for me. The girls had a blast seeing all the animals, going up and down and keeping an eye out for Mimsy. I was surprised that Olivia loved it as much as she did. I'm glad I decided to take her too.
We thought it would be fun to have a picnic while we were in Central Park so we decided to grab some 'organic, natural hot dogs' from a street vendor. I don't know how that works out but it was definitely good. Mimsy got a feta and spinach sausage one that she said might be the best she's ever had.
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| Olivia up to her old tricks |
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| Watch Out! |
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| Timber |
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| Olivia sounds like this the whole time in a really high voice "hee, hee, hee, hee" |
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| "It stopped!" |
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| "Where'd she go?" |
Man life is fun and crazy with these 2.
I love this picture. Livie is happy and Aaralyn's expression is totally put out and saying like "Another picture? If you must." With her eyes closed in disdain.
Around the bend we came to a water fall emptying into a big lake. I love all the surprises we were met with throughout the Park.
We decided to exit Central Park onto 5th Avenue.
It was crazy to walk down the avenue with these beautiful, towering buildings full of amazing shops and stores and think of all the other people who have done the same over the years. There were so many things that I wanted to stop and look at but it was impossible not to just get swept along with the crowd.
Mimsy took control of the stroller giving me a chance to snaps some pics. After getting our fill of the high-end shops we decided to veer off onto a quieter road and head for Grand Central Terminal.
Grand Central is busy! Grand Central Terminal is the largest terminal in the world by number of platforms (44). Over 750,000 people pass through it daily.
Originally built in 1913 it fell into disrepair and was almost was torn down in the 60's. But it was saved from demolition by being designated as a historical landmark. Jackie Kennedy played a key role in preserving it.
It was restored and rededicated in 1998 featuring the original astronomical ceiling that was uncovered during the restoring process. There are constellations all over the 'sky'.
A fun fact is that the stars on the ceiling are the reverse of where they are found in our sky. Many people speculate that the design was flipped but the artists insisted that they made it from God's perspective when looking down at us.
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