We celebrated Summer Solstice a few days late this year. Friday night Paul made an evening trip to Costco with a few of the kids and then Saturday slipped away from us - we were so busy with catch-up projects that we were almost begging for more daylight. So here we are Sunday night and this is how we celebrated:
During dinner the kids picked out different food items from their plate each representing the sun and earth. There were sliced cucumbers, strawberries, and peaches. Actually, we were informed that the scale of the items was off so James cleared his plate which became the sun and out stretched the other hand holding a miniture strawberry. He then proceeded to demonstate the rotation of the earth but got frustrated because the strawberry was irregular in shape.
There wasn't much more talk about this natural occurence until later in the evening while picking up toys we heard James shout, "quick the sun is setting". The kids sprung up from their scattered toys and raced outside (If only I could get the same quick response when I call for mealtimes). It was just before 9:00 pm and we were all gathered on the north corner of our street, a few minutes later we watched the sun sink behind Antelope Island. Maryanna said the clouds were so pretty, Clara kept running into the street, William and Peter had their eyes fixed, and James was trying to estimate the angle of the sun in relation to a near by lamp post. We then went inside and ate some rice crispy treats. On the short walk to our front door Paul informed me that I looked a little funny out on the sidewalk in my tie dyed jammies, I thought the same thing about Maryanna who was barefoot and just in a shirt and pull up.
It may not have been as eventful as last year's celebration where the boys camped out in the backyard and stayed up late playing Borderline Africa (their favorite card game), but I'm glad we paused for a few moments out of our somewhat chaotic life and reflected on the beauty of nature and passing time. I can't believe we are halfway through 2008!
I also think James is cute - still in the shirt and tie he put on at 8:30 am.
You need to have James line up some huge rocks like Stonehedge. Have James study Stonehedge and see how it relates to the summer soltice... Dad
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Scott and Jerome woke up at 3:00 a.m. to see the lunar eclipse last year. Scott was pretty grumpy about the whole thing, but they still talk about how cool it was. Like you said, we sometimes do have to put some effort into appreciating the beauty of nature around us.
ReplyDeleteJames is quite the scientist. I love SLC sunsets too. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's such a pretty picture of the sun setting.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you get comments e-mailed to you or not, but I left a comment on your "Wild Oats" post.