Is it Spring?

Here in Central Europe we get these time periods throughout the year that are apparently called "seasons". Coming from Texas this doesn't really make since to me but I do enjoy the varying weather conditions each new time of year brings. And if you had to make me choose, Spring is probably my favorite. 

Here are just a few reasons why!

For the record, there is another person in the family who really like spring too...

Total Eclipse of the Heart

People travel to witness solar eclipses for several reasons: awe and wonder, to witness a rare occurrence, to check something off as a bucket list experience, scientific interest, spiritual significance, or just the adventure of explore new places, meet fellow eclipse chasers, and to share the experience.

I guess, in a strange way, we did all these things.

Flashback to 2017. In August of 2017, Dallas was in the 75% eclipse ban for an eclipse. I was on maternity leave after having Charlotte and I remember I was at a Mommy & Me exercise class. We paused class for 15 minutes and all went outside. I just thought it looked / felt like a cloudy day & didn't quite understand all the hoopla. The news that evening talked about how in 2024 Dallas would be in total eclipse zone and it would last 3 minutes and 52 seconds. I then remember talking to my parents and telling them this and saying they should come up to visit me in 2024 for it. My dad quickly pointed out that where they lived it would be 4 minutes and 14 seconds of totality so really I should come down to him (and bring his granddaughter with me). I laughed and said that Charlotte would be in first grade by then, but maybe I'd pull her from school for it.

This conversation was pretty much forgotten about as we packed up and left Texas in 2022.

Flashforward to 2024 when we were trying to figure out when to go home. Charlotte gets two weeks off at Easter which this year was March 28 - April 14 and we decided that was the best for us to travel home. When we told the families that we were coming back, my dad quickly reminded me that the eclipse was on April 8th and I'd promised to come to his house for it. I did point out that the longest duration of totality was near Torreón, Mexico, lasting 4 minutes and 28 seconds. He was quite convinced that the extra 14 seconds of totality was not worth traveling 600 miles to see.

In the meantime, six of my aunts/uncles, five cousins & their children and my brother & sister-in-law also decided to come ... to see me? to see the eclipse? to not be left out of the party? Pick your own ending of the sentence.

Can you fit 19 people in your house for dinner?

Don't mind my confused look. I was trying to capture everyone in the photo & still missed a cousin!

It was a busy weekend leading up to the main event. We playground, we read books, we "raked leaves", we did crafts, we played dominos & card games, and we ate. ALOT.

Grandmother would have been so proud of everyone's flower arranging (then quietly fixed them in the background).

Aunt Kristy loved it when all the kids got excited about science!

This is called "helping".

In the 20+ years Adam has been part of this family, this is his 2nd win at dominos

SPLAT! was one of my favorite games as a child. I'm so grateful my parents saved it for the next generation!

We made it to Monday the 8th. The eclipse began at 12:23. We all headed outside see what we could (or couldn't) see. 

Over the weekend we had made eclipse viewers (Pinterest for the win!). We also made several attempts on explaining how Earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the Earth to those who haven't taken 7th Grade science yet. The reenactment portion of this explanation may have lacked the backing of the general science community.

After attempt #1 of the eclipse viewers, we decided more instruction might be necessary.

We got there ... eventually

Between 1:36 and 1:40, it was completely dark. The strangest part to me was all the birds stopped chirping. It was completely silent. An eerie, what is happening here??, type of silence. The sky was pretty cool too.

Though I don't know that I would consider myself an eclipse follower & doubt I'll ever travel internationally to see another eclipse, it was a pretty cool 4 minutes and I'm glad this event brought 15 of my family members + my crew of 4 together so we could see everyone.

You May All Go to Hell, and I Will Go to Texas

It's Easter Time! Which also means it's time for our annual return to the US. School break for Easter here in Liechtenstein is 2 weeks so it's the perfect time for an extended stay back home to see family and celebrate one of our favorite holidays.

Is it time to go yet?

Our journey this year was a little different than last year as we decided to take a direct flight out of Frankfurt rather than departing from Zurich and fighting through a layover in Philly. The change in route also meant a longer train ride which my daughters thankfully still enjoy.

Unless we miss our nap time.

But we made it to our hotel without issue and tried to get some sleep before the big flight. But not before a room inspection!

The next morning we got up early and out the door on time. Go us! However, we might have been a little too on time as we made it to gate security before they had started checking passengers for our flight.

But after about 30 minutes we breezed through security and tried to relax in the waiting area. Charlotte and Wilbur found a private chair to mentally prepare for all the family fun and favorite restaurants they were planning on visiting. Pretty sure Wilbur is focused on family while C is thinking about tacos!

Meanwhile, Olivia and Baby Doll were practicing their next death defying circus routine.

I'm not at all certain how she got Baby Doll in that position but she did it multiple times after I inspected Baby's grip and couldn't recreate the trick. We may have a future magician on our hands! And this mystery provided a good distraction until we could finally board the plane and settle in for the long flight to Dallas.

We weren't going to miss a nap two days in a row!

We even flew over the entrance to Red Route One!

We arrived in Dallas late afternoon on the Friday before Easter so we visited a bit and then got to bed for a big Easter weekend.

On Saturday the girls went down to one of the local department stores to see the Easter Bunny!

And Olivia tried to do a little shopping...

While the girls were being pretty, Dad and I crossed Bar-B-Que off my list of visit accomplishments.

And then it was time to dye Easter Eggs!

Easter Sunday we made our way to Easter Mass.

The next few days the girls got to spend some much needed time with my parents while Amanda and I went into the office. Pretty sure they had a lot more fun since every other word out of the 3 year old was either playground or ice cream! 

We even worked in the most critical stop during our Dallas time: our annual pilgrimage to La Hacienda Ranch! To say it's our favorite restaurant doesn't do our feelings justice. But I feel like their role in bringing the world frozen margaritas more than justifies their standing!

All is right in the world again.