Eclipse Post

 

At the spur of the moment we decided to drive down south to see the eclipse Sunday.  According to my sister-in-law this happens once every 14 years or something - we did not want to miss that.  

 

It did not disappoint.  So cool.  I couldn't believe how dark and cool it got as the sun became more and more eclipsed.  My kids thought it was pretty impressive.

 Our Aunt and Uncle have a farm down in Beaver so a few of us Wollenziens decided to camp down there.  If you remember back on my birthday one of my goals this year is to take my kids camping because that is their most favorite thing in the universe.  Well, I kind of did it.  We left Ivy with my Mom and Dad because she is so unpredictable and just took the bigger kids.  Kind of cheating but infinitely less stressful for me.

 

 My kids slept all night long so that makes it a successful trip.  We put all 3 of them in the tent and then John and I slept outside under the stars with our sleeping bags zipped together so he could keep my toes warm all night.  I didn't sleep much but I didn't mind really because the view was so beautiful.  The next morning the kids and I ate our powdered donuts while John put all the camping stuff back in the van.  Then we explored the farm.  I had never been down there and it is so cool.  A tree house, tire swing, sauna, a camper if you want to sleep inside, an old tractor to sit on and this charming little creek to cool your feet off in. 

On our way out of town we stopped at the cheese factory.  Ice cream at 9:15 in the morning?  Why not!  For some reason my children love pistachio ice cream.  It's what they order every time we go out.  I think it's because of that part on Cars 2 when Mater thinks the Wasabi is Pistachio ice cream and he eats a whole bowl of it.  Maybe we've seen Cars 2 a few too many times? 

John and I just wanted to eat cheese all the way home.  Sometimes we get into a cheese mood and we can't seem to get enough of it.  Well, we finally got enough of it around Salem when we had eaten all of the "variety" pack and most of the cheese curds.  Ugh, too much cheese.

I'm so glad we decided to do the less easy thing and take our kids camping.  It took an enormous amount of energy to get us going after church when it seemed like a much better idea to just make all the kids watch a movie so John and I could take a nap and then make mac and cheese for dinner.  But, let's face it, that's what I do most other days.  Sometimes it's good for everybody to do something different.  I really enjoyed my kids down at the farm.  They were crazy and cute and fun.  Once we got home and I had to face the laundry that I had left all over the couch and the beds left unmade and a looming dinner time they became less cute and fun, but that's ok.  We made fun memories and that's what I'll look back on, not the mess.  Hopefully.