Eclipse

Watercolors: check! Lawn chairs: check! Picnic lunch: check! Special glasses: check! Children: check!

Monday began early at the Hall House as we prepared for a journey to Lincoln to watch the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017. Daddy even took the day off. Eeeeek! We wanted to go to the Backyard Farmer Garden on UNL's East campus so we could nature journal, take pictures of the flora, and enjoy a nice little lunch before the world would go dark. 

We left plenty early so the bumper to bumper traffic on Interstate-80 didn't phase our timeline or spirits. First things first, we loaded up on alfajores, cookies, and bolios at a Mexican bakery close by and then found parking right next to our destination. 

We explored the beautiful flowers and plants to our heart's content, and after taking pictures of our favorites, we picked one to draw and paint. It was so cute to watch Alice run around with her new (my old) digital camera we gave her for her birthday. Just like Mama. Alice chose Echinecea, so we set up our lawn chairs, drew the outline and then filled our water jars and opened our paint palettes.

Before long, the sky grew darker and the crickets and birds started their strange midday serenade. We grabbed our glasses, huddled together, and watched as the moon slid across the sun, only the sharpest outline of light forming the corona. The ambiance around us felt like the kind of darkness that comes before a heavy thunderstorm on a hot afternoon. Visible, but definitely dark. It was so awesome and mysterious and otherworldly to watch and feel. The event of a lifetime, indeed. I loved seeing the awe on Alice and Milo's tiny faces, hands plastering their glasses to their eyes.

Soon enough the rim brightened and the world was light again. We finished our paintings and picnic, packed up, and headed to the Haymarket for granitas at our favorite stop, The Mill. Properly fueled, we made the trek back home through sunshine and clouds.

Such a lovely day with my little family!

Enjoy some pics of our time...