Images

Yet Another Eclipse Pic

Moon, partially occluded by eclipse
This was a “super moon” (full moon at perigee) eclipse. I took this about 45 minutes after the start, and the moon was mostly occluded. Notice the detail of the shadowed area; this was taken with a cell phone so this much detail is surprising.

A total lunar eclipse isn’t that rare, but one with perfectly clear skies is.  We let the kids stay up until 10:30 (on a school night, no less!) to watch the moon get swallowed.

Star gazing is so much more stylish in a convertible so we drove down to the lake and bundled up under blankets with the top down.

Cold night, was about 50° F when we drove home.

Altitude, the Trampoline Park

Beta on the climbing wall
Beta on the Altitude climbing wall. She dropped into the foam pit a moment after this photo was taken.

The morning after a sleepover, I took Beta, Alpha, and Alpha’s sleeping-over friend Rho to Altitude, an indoor trampoline park.  (Fun fact: once upon a time they were called “jumpolines” until your mom got on one.)

They have a field of unadulterated trampolines for jumping, plus dodgeball (on trampolines), basketball layups (on trampolines), long jumps with trampolines (landing in a foam pit), climbing walls (over foam pits), and pugil sticks on a balance beam (again, falling into foam pits).

It’s pricey, as you’re charged by the half-hour and it’s $9 per person per half-hour (discounts apply for longer blocks of time).  You also must bring special Altitude-branded non-skid socks or buy them for $2/pair.

It’s a really good time despite the price.  I recommend not more than an hour at a time – the kids really started to flag after about 45 minutes.  They slept well that night, too.