Solar Eclipse. August 21, 2017

 We prepped for the Solar Eclipse.  From what the news people said, it would be bumper to bumper traffic, and everyone would need somewhere to go.

We got our signs ready, and set up on Blanton's ridge.

The day we were prepping, Brook's mom and dad were doing a "night before" concession stand on main street in Troy.

We even had time for a nap!

The day of the Eclipse was a little disappointing, but still fun!

It was kind of cloudy, and rained off and on.  Made it hard to see all of the eclipse...

As much as Jace wanted to experience the whole thing, Connor could have cared less...which was fine since everyone was so worried about looking at the sun and causing eye damage.

The clouds parted JUST IN TIME for us to see the eclipse happen.  And it was amazing.  Everything got quiet, you could hear coyote's howling in the middle of the day, it was a neat feeling.

After the eclipse happened, we packed up and headed to Grable's where they had been hanging out all day.  Funny things happen at Grable's sometimes...Gracie got dipped in the pool, and Connor went swimming in her panties...

Nothing like a mid-day drive to get a nap in!

And--have to throw this birthday photo in!  Colton's party wasn't on the Eclipse, it was the weekend before.  But, his 10th BIRTHDAY was on the same day as the ECLIPSE!!  Talk about once in a lifetime!

Squeeze it in...

It's getting close enough to school we are trying to squeeze in as much fun as possible before we go back!

Some outside painting...

A Friday night dinner-boat ride...

Some fishing with Jay and Jena and the whole crew at the pond!

Visiting Grandma Lucille....

Breakfast at The Big Biscuit....YUM!

After having this Farming Edition gun, we finally got a case and got it hung in the office!

Nap times.  :) 

Even for a Princess...

This time Jace "wasn't tired", but went outside to play with the kittens and this happened...

We went to the Troy park and the Bendena park with Brook and Jena....

Every time we drive by the Bendena park to go to the bank Connor begs to go to the Bendena park, so we finally went!

And Jace used up some of our strawberries and made some awesome strawberry shakes for us!

Johnson Family Vacation at PERRY!!!

We got to Perry on a Thursday afternoon, and our kids wasted no time getting in the water and swimming a LONG ways to the beach to look for shells!

On Friday everyone was there, and as a surprise--we got a set of trainer skis to use, so Jace could try to ski!

He gave it a few tries and was SO close, but man that wears you out!  And I think he got whacked by one of the skis the last time he fell down so that doesn't help!

Uncle Jay was up next!

Jace was still excited to tube!  But you can see how much that wears you out too!

Yep--this is Jace, snoozing on the boat!

Jena and Brook took a turn!

You can tell from his face we had a parent fail with even-sunscreen application...

Just the four of us went out for a night cruise--honestly scared the heck out of me getting the boat in and out of the water, but it was really neat being out there.  And a little cold...but worth it!

Saturday was rainy and cold, all day.  So, off to Legends we went.  Actually, we went because I needed to find an urgent care place...for a spider bite...but that deserves it's own post.  

Saturday afternoon when we were back at the lake, we walked to the beach and tried to fish...

Grandpa caught a good one!

That water was so tempting though.  What started as "can I get my toes in" quickly escalated to this...

The cabins were tiny, but had little lofts the girls liked to play in.

On Sunday, the Boeh's and Grable's were down there and met up with us--handy for us to get a good group picture!

Sad to go home...the cold/rainy weather sure put a damper on things, but it was still nice to get away and we always love hanging out with family!

Tired and cold on the way back to the dock!

As we were pulling out, I realized I didn't have a picture of the kids in front of our cabin, so I made two tired kids get out and run up there...which was a fail.

Connor fell walking up the steps and scraped her knee.  So this was our picture.

After all that, it felt really good to be home!

Angus.

Outside picnic in August?  Sure!

With our bestest dog Angus?  Of course!

We love our Angus, but he has a bad hip and doesn't feel very good.

So we give him lots of love... 

And here's a random picture of "I'm not tired" Jace...