Bruneau Observatory

The boys had a very easy week of corn topping because the new fields are not ready yet. They worked Monday and Everett worked Tuesday (Phillip had percussion sectionals) and that was all. Looks like next week the boys will have incredibly long days. It was nice to sleep in a little more for 4 days. 

Emma and I met with Kellyn last week to go over our fundraising strategy to raise money for our upcoming Guatemala trip in March. Kellyn came over Tuesday to record a video of the kids talking about the trip and what they need to raise money. I spent a good 4 hours Thursday morning setting up accounts for each child and finding email/text contacts to ask for donations. Friday the campaign went live! I am quite reticent because my family is not very generous. I would really love to my children to experience a 3rd world country, open their eyes a bit. Donate if you can! 

I mostly finished the girl’s room on Tuesday. I still need to make and install curtains but at least the floor is clear and all their precious items put away (for the moment). I worked on editing a photo session and got that finished up. Friday morning I worked on cleaning out the game closet in the loft. Amelia, Josie and I went to DI to donate a load of stuff and look for items she needs for college. The best find of the day was a fun whisk that bounces, it’s more toy than tool. Justin and I decided to invest in two e-bikes, one will most likely go with Amelia to college. We got one of the bikes on Thursday. It is very zippy and fun to ride, especially up the steep hills. The boys are very keen on riding the bikes any chance they can find. 

I had a bee in my proverbial bonnet! I really, really wanted to camp out at Bruneau Sand Dunes in order to enjoy the observatory there. I booked campsites for the Ostlers and our family for this weekend. Then summer HAD to turn on the heat blasters, we decided to cancel the trip because it would be over 100 in the desert. I was quite bummed for a few days. Friday afternoon I decided we would just go for the evening and return after the observatory closed. Bucket item checked off! We overpacked the van with chairs, blankets, fans, my telescope, and all the things. I suggested we grabbed Chik-fil-a for dinner because it is yummy and everyone was craving it. The observatory is 90 minutes away, a little past Mountain Home. We checked in and paid $30 for the family astronomy pass for the 10 pm show. We tried out the fun parabola effect in the courtyard where the person standing in the correct spot can hear themselves yell while no one else can. We toured the smaller observatory. The kids wanted to check out the sand dunes so we headed there for 40 minutes of sand fun.  Climbing up a sand dune is no joke, we all had racing hearts and heavy breathing as we made our way up. Phillip’s technique was actually most effective: climb up like a gorilla on all fours. The boogie boards on sand did not work well, it was much more fun to yell “as you wish” whilst twirling down the sand. The sunset from the top was incredible. Sand in one’s pants was NOT incredible. Evelyn about had a fit over the sand in her clothing. We drove back toward the observatories where she changed into PJs. We spent the next two hours devoted to the sky. Bruneau is a level 2 Dark Sky location. We saw a galaxy, star clusters, nebulas, double stars, and learned from very educated astronomers. It’s been a while since the Milky Way was so visible! We all want one of the laser pointers the astronomers used to show constellations. Our geeky hearts were content to gaze at the stars. We headed home around 12:30 am, made it a very late bedtime. The skies will always capture my heart. I am astounded at the vastness of God’s creations. 

The older kids missed the youth temple trip the next day because we were out so late (early). I booked a family session for 3:30 Saturday afternoon. We had a lovely time at the temple. Somehow Everett lost his stack of names, still have no idea where his names went to. Hopefully, someone located them and did the work. We stopped to get doughnuts on our way home. Paula’s 70th birthday is today, she requested a Krispy Kreme doughnut with white filling as a treat! I had to make that dream come true. Josie got two doughnuts because she was very sad everyone went to the temple except her. After dinner we went to Sara’s for s’mores and fire pit entertainment.