Solar Eclipse

 The solar eclipse was on August 21.  It was a Monday and the girls' school was going to watch it, however it was too far south to be in the path of totality.  We are serious about science, so obviously this was no bueno.  Of course we do not plan far enough in advance to get tickets to a viewing party somewhere, but this time our procrastination paid off.  Because we weren't tied to any particular place we were free to go anywhere!  Our plan was to go north, but when it was cloudy Monday morning we headed east instead.  We kept a close eye on the weather as we drove across the state.  Luckily the girls are good with road trips and adventures.  Most KC people we knew stopped in Sedalia or even Jeff City, but Steve was too worried about the clouds.  We ended up in Portland, MO right on the Katy Trail and the Missouri River.

We brought along our bikes to ride while we were waiting for the eclipse...and Olive learned to ride without training wheels!  By "learned" I mean "decided to do it."  Because she just got on and started riding!  She had tried a few times over the summer and declared it too hard and refused to try anymore.  So we didn't push it.  If Olive wants to do something she will, if she doesn't...she won't.

Olive's bike looks tiny because we lowered the seat to make it easier to put her feet down.  We've raised it back up now that she can bike.

Olive always makes sure to dress for the occasion.  Of course she needed to wear a space shirt today.  She explained the skirt was yellow for the corona we would see during the eclipse.  We watched a lot of youtube videos to prepare so she knew all about it!

We had 2 1/2 minutes of totality when we could take our glasses off.

This was the river in totality.  When it got dark the cicadas started making lots of noise.

Then we went on our first family bike ride with everyone biking!  It was also the first time for Hannah on the Katy Trail.  The girls are looking at the turkey and chickens on the side of the trail.  The rooster started crowing when the sun came out.

Eclipse shadows on the trail.

Although we ended up driving more than halfway across the state, it was worth it.  Olive was super excited to learn how to ride her bike on such a special day.  And weeks later when I asked both girls about their favorite summer memory, the both said eclipse day.