Eclipsed

So we woke up at 445am (or I did at least) and then packed into the car at 5am to head to Vermont Monday morning to see the eclipse.  We brought breakfast, lunch and dinner because we were paranoid based on all the hubbub that things would be overwhelmed.  Despite a vomit incident and a bathroom run we made it to King Arthur flour 5 minutes before they opened.  We bought some delicious baked goods and I got King Arthur flour merch (did I mention I’ve been buying like 2 bags of KA flour a week?!). It was a slice of heaven for me.

Then we headed over to Ben and Jerry’s and managed to get there 20 minutes before it opened, but they turned us away.  So we found a spot in the Best Western parking lot next door for 20 minutes making our sun masks (great idea from my friend Katie who is a teacher!)  Then we left and got a parking spot in Ben and Jerry’s!  What a great spot to spend the eclipse.  We checked out the grounds (no factory tours).  Then we had a nice picnic lunch overlooking the mountains.  After lunch the kids played in the playground and then we had some ice cream before heading to a picnic blanket on the hillside.  For the eclipse we watched from the parking lot where there were no trees to eclipse our eclipse view.

Julius took this picture!

Yes even I needed one of these plates. My glasses kept falling off!

Holy cow it was so cool!!  I’ve never seen anything like it!  The sky was black, all the streetlights came on and we could look at the sun without the glasses (for a second we were confused because you couldn’t see anything through the glasses anymore).   Then the sun looked like this bizarre dark orb hanging in the sky backlog by fire (of course it was actually the moon but you know). The moon looking unnaturally dark with the  juxtaposition of the halo of light from the sun’s corona.   It was super surreal since you have been told never to look at the sun directly your whole life.  And there it is smoldering there behind the moon the whole effect was like some dark angel crowned by light.  (Basically my favorite male character archetype right there.)

It only took us about an hour and a half longer than usual to get home too so it wasn’t so bad!  I have been exhausted all week though!  No excuses I’m sorry I didn’t post Monday.  I should remind everyone that this is Earth Month.  While we should treat everyday as Earth Day it is nice to set some goals for the next year in honor of our mother and home!  I thought this craft would be a good one to show you during Earth Month… this is how I made the goody bags for Patricia’s party!  As a bonus I’ve been using these as gift bags for birthdays.

Mermaid Gift Bags

What you’ll need:

• Brown paper grocery bags
• Teal and purple paint
• A foam roller and spouncer or sponge
• A piece of thin plastic (like those from vinyl backing)
• Spray adhesive (that can be repositioned)
• My cricut pattern here

1. Using my cricut pattern cut out the stencil on the thin sheet of plastic
2. Spray the back of the stencil with adhesive then position in the middle of the bag
3. Using the roller roll a small amount of paint onto the foam.  Roll around until it is mostly absorbed and evenly dispersed (not wet looking) then start rolling on top of the stencil.
4. Continue rolling until the entire tail is covered, being sure to add more paint as necessary.
5. Switch to the purple paint.  Using the spouncer or sponge get a small amount of paint on the foam.  Sporadically dab the purple over the scales as desired.
   1. Remove the stencil then let dry.