a handful of hatchlings: Total Eclipse of my Heart!

When I learned about the eclipse last spring, I made a mental note and said to myself

"I want to go" but did nothing about it but write it down on the calendar.

About two weeks before the eclipse, I started to realize we should get some glasses.

In all the months leading up to the "Great American Eclipse" I hadn't seen any around town and by the time I got serious they were pretty much sold out...EVERYWHERE!

I was put on a waiting list at the Maverick gas station (of all the places???) and

after waking up one night in a panic, they called the next morning to say they'd gotten some in and had a few reserved in my name.

Hallelujah!

The next stress was where to watch.

Should we just stay home and enjoy the 95% totality we'd see here in Benson?

Throw a little eclipse party, chew eclipse gum and make the giant orange cheese balls that look like the sun disappear on our own and call it good enough?

Or brave the crowds, the hoards of people, and traffic and congestion to travel the

normally 2.5 hours north to get into the zone of totality?

By myself,

with five kids,

in a massive beast of a vehicle

that to date I've managed to strategically maneuver into

three stationary objects.

To be or not to be....

that amazing mom that gives her kids once in a lifetime opportunities...

Plus if we got in trouble Hannah would miss her first day of school the next day, Mark would miss orientation at his new school that evening and I would obviously be a basket case.

I've never been more anxious.

If only Jotham could have gotten work off and come with us.

But you see, I have some pretty amazing sister-in-laws, who always bring out the best in me.

Melanie called and invited us to go to Wyoming with them and then I talked to Kim and she invited us to join their family at her Aunt's house in Ririe.

It gave me confidence, a safe place to land and cousins/friends for the kids.

So, we woke up early Monday morning, hit the road by 5 am and arrived in Ririe, Idaho, without any trouble, just before 8 to eat breakfast with the cousins who had slept over.

We watched as the moon took a bite out of the sun.

As the sky got darker, an eerie light tinted everything a little bluer.

I had thought the moon would move horizontally over the sun and

was surprised to see it start from top/left and move down to the right.

And then about an hour after watching the sun, it happened!

It was incredible, the ring of fire, the day that became night.

It forced a cheer, a yell, and shout of acclamation!

To keep quiet would have been impossible.

You couldn't capture it on the cell phone camera.

and pictures in general don't do it justice!

But we were there!

And then just like that it was over,

and I almost felt like it hadn't even happened at all.

But it had.and.it.was.pretty.dang.amazing!

I quickly rounded the kids up into the car and hit the road attempting to beat the traffic.

I thought I'd be early enough to try the freeway but at the next off ramp, I quickly fled that madness and took the back roads that were only slightly more congested by that point and got ahead of most of the traffic and made it home in time to go to Mark's orientation and put Hannah to bed early for her first day of school --- But not before we celebrated one of our favorite holidays