April Bits

 The pieces of our April puzzle.

{The laundry room is starting to take shape!}

{Mason’s team is attempting the game of baseball. It isn’t exactly the baseball we thought it would be. Their team says the Lord’s Prayer before each game. No, this is not a Christian league. And praying is not something our children have been brought up with. So I died laughing when Mason said he was all in on the prayers until his coaches started talking about “trespassing” and he had no idea how trespassing fit in to the game of baseball…}

{Mason’s shoe game and model pose are on point this volleyball season.}

{The 8th grade team won their bracket at a local tournament!}

{Camryn spent the night at a cheer buddy’s house. On the agenda: stunting and tumbling!}

Young Eagle

The local aviation club offers children an opportunity to fly—weather permitting—on the second Saturday of the spring and summer months. The challenge is that only a handful of spaces are available each month. After trying to get Mason a flight for nearly a year, I finally got him in! 

The flights take place at an airport that coincidentally is in the neighborhood where we first lived as a family, so we made this into a morning activity with a family breakfast at the airport before sending Mason off into the sky at the mercy of a total stranger. 

I loved watching his excitement!

As it turns out, his pilot was a United Airlines pilot, which is much more reassuring than “dude with a plane who likes to pretend he is a pilot on the weekends.” 

They took a 15-minute flight around the area, and Mason said his favorite part was seeing the city skyline from the air. 

We were able to talk to both Mason’s pilot and another United pilot (whose hub is in Europe—so he flies the big bellies like what Mason wants to fly!) about the commercial pilot career path. While Mason was hoping to avoid college, both pilots agreed that he should get some sort of advanced degree and consider getting his pilot’s license around age 16. Looks like Mason now has plans… 

Molly Bits

 In absolutely no order.

Black Hole Sun

It was my mom’s suggestion that we travel to totality to watch the April 8th eclipse, and I will forever be glad we did!

The kids, my mom, and I traveled to Westfield, Indiana, on Sunday night in preparation for Monday’s eclipse and, ironically, stayed at the same hotel that we had once before for a baseball tournament. We had also booked a hotel near Dayton, Ohio, in case the weather in Indiana didn’t cooperate. But cooperate it did, which gave us the most amazing view of the total eclipse. 

Traffic was thick once we got to Indiana late Sunday evening, and signs on I-65 reminded travelers to “Fill up, arrive early, and stay late.” We pulled in to our sold-out hotel just before 10pm and woke up early the next morning to sunny skies with a promise that the high level clouds rolling in would not obstruct the midday view. A great start to the day! 

Now we wait for the main event. To kill time, we had a leisurely—and delicious—breakfast at First Watch and followed it up with a couple of rounds of Putt Putt under the warm spring sky. My mom and I visited at an outdoor table while the amigos fought it out on the course. Based on pouty-ness levels, I would surmise that Camryn did not win either round. 

As time ticked closer to the eclipse, we headed to the grocery store to grab food for our picnic lunch and set out to find a viewing area. Our criteria: be at a park of sorts within a reasonable distance to a main road and be in totality. We happened upon what ended up being the perfect location—a Lions Club park with a playground, some baseball fields, and gently rolling hills upon which we were able to lie back and view the sky. The icing on the cake was that there were only a handful of other people who staked their claim to this park, so we were able to avoid crowds and all the commotion that comes with crowds. One thing this park was missing: bathrooms. They were there. They were not open. And it would not be a day in my life if someone in the family didn’t have to use the bathroom at the most inconvenient time. So with about 30 minutes before the eclipse was set to begin, we set off toward town in what can only be described as a very rural area. Not many options, so we continued further down the road through the land of nothingness before running in to the most urban and elaborate eclipse set up—live music playing on the bandstand, hundreds of people set up to view the eclipse, cars parked everywhere, and—as if spotlighted by the sun itself—a large bunch of port-a-potties welcomed us in. Two of my kids went to the bathroom while the third one went geo-caching, and then it was back on the road to the park we had just come from. Luckily, it was nearly as empty as when we scooted for the bathrooms, and we were able to pick right back up where we left off. 

{Lying on the hill. It was warm enough to warrant shirtless viewing. But as the eclipse reached totality, it got quite cool!}

{Cam passed the time by stunting a bag chair.}

{We passed time by taking pictures of the sky, playing Uno, and soaking up the sun.}

{As the eclipse neared totality, the sky became a very odd gray color. Almost eerie!}

And then it was time.

Streetlights came on as the sky became this distinctive steel gray. It wasn’t a night color, and I will never be able to describe exactly what it was like because I have never experienced anything like it. Once we were in totality, it was safe to take off the glasses and view the phenomenon without obstruction. And, oh my, the brilliantly neon white of the sun, the blackness of the moon, and the gray of the sky was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Pictures cannot capture the moment, and that moment was so fleeting. Gone in 3 minutes and a few seconds, signified by the blinding sparkle of the diamond in the “wedding ring.”  An event that many people never experience, and one I so hope to see again sometime. 

{During totality, streetlights shining behind us.}

{Totality in our background.}

{5 minutes before totality: 3:03pm.}

{3:06pm. We could see two stars!}

TOTALITY! 

{The boys captured these photos while the rest of us ogled over the sight before us. There really are no words for this experience!}

We hightailed it out of Indiana just as soon as totality was complete. Two kids had to get back for sport practices, and we were hoping to beat the other million cars to the road. Just a few patches of traffic and a ride through my old college stomping grounds before it was smooth sailing back home. A trip well worth the time! The kids have talked about this experience several additional times this week recounting the awesomeness of the event and smiling as they search their minds for the right words to describe what they saw. These are the best memories! 

Baseball Season’s Underway

Mason’s 14U season has begun and, well, let’s just say things can only get better. 

I hope Mason grows as a player, continues to positively manage his frustration, and wins at least one game. Big goals. 

Bedroom Glow Up

While the boys were off fishing, Camryn and I did a very quick bedroom redo. She even helped me paint, which made the process a little less awful!

{Before. Her walls were her favorite robin’s egg blue color, and her bedding is something she picked out a year ago. But she wanted to go with a more neutral pallet.}

{This was the inspiration picture she has been coming back to for a while now, so I tried to model that in her room.}

{We found some of the exact pillows and throw blankets, and accented them with the pink pillow to pull in her rug and curtains—two big ticket items that I wasn’t willing to budge on removing at this time. And, actually, the room is perfect! My mom said the bed looks like a hug, and I agree. Love it!}

{We painted her room the color “calm” and found some fairy lights that float like bubbles during the day when they aren’t turned on. She brought back in a lot of her own artwork, and now this room is fit for a pre-teen!}

March Bits

 The pieces of our March puzzle.

{Fun at cheer!}

{Camryn and I share a mutual love for sunsets. I found this fiery sunset on my camera roll. Photo cred: Cam.}

{Caleb offered to build me a proper laundry room. It was formerly a washer and dryer shoved in a corner of our creepy, unfinished basement. Stay tuned.}

{The cologne game is still strong. And it’s spreading to other male members of the household.}

{All the boys went fishing in Missouri, which left us girls having to eat all of our meals at all of our favorite restaurants. First up: Olive Garden!}

{And we also had a girls day at the ice rink I once spent thousands of hours at. Camryn brought her buddy Delaney.}

{The kids dyed Easter eggs using a variety of TikTok methods. Do not recommend.}