WIW 5/19-20--Science weekend: Cal Academy & Solar Eclipse

This weekend was a very "scientific" weekend!

Yesterday we watched the solar eclipse (did anyone else see it)? DH made a pinhole camera out of a cardboard box (4-5) so we could see the eclipse (you are not supposed to look directly at the sun). We walked up to a lookout area near our house and there were lots of people from the neighborhood there also watching the eclipse. Someone let us borrow their welding mask to be able to look directly at the sun (1-3). One of our neighbors had some cool goggles (6). DH took a cool picture of the eclipse, with the moon covering most of the sun so the sun looks like a moon (7). He used a telephoto lens (you can see the camera setup in 5). I wore the polka dot blouse (which kind of reminded me of little suns), red cascading cardigan, Gap Always Skinny jeans and red Converse.

Saturday we went to Cal Academy (8-13). I wore my White House Black Market navy and white floral peasant blouse, Paige Hidden Hills white bootcut jeans, Tulle navy peacoat, Ugg wedge sandals, and my favorite Kate Spade orange slice bag, because they feed orange slices to the butterflies. I remember taking DD there when she was 8 months old and just starting to sign (before she could talk, we taught her sign language and she started signing at 7 months). We were at the top of the biodome looking down and she started signing "orange" excitedly. I looked down and way at the bottom was a plate of sliced oranges for the butterflies. I remember that because it was one of the first times when I was impressed by what a smart cookie she is (and by how good her vision is--she still notices every small detail even now--she takes after her radiologist dad)! She still loves oranges--she kept wanting to carry my orange slice bag!

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17 Comments

  • Angie replied 11 years ago

    Look at DD in her yellow Converse. So cute!!

    Looks like the family had fun :)

    You are a very stylish MOTG, Natalie!

  • goldenpig replied 11 years ago

    Thanks Angie! DD really likes her yellow high top "Cons"--I found them at H&M. Really cute and easy for kids to wear with the fake laces and velcro. She likes to push the tongue under and wear with her sock showing--doing fashion her own way!

  • mrseccentric replied 11 years ago

    Wonderful pictures Natalie! sounds like you had a fantabulous weekend! I can't believe i haven't been to the new Cal Academy yet - it really looks amazing. I love the blouse you wore for the eclipse. I always like to wear 'appropriate clothing' as well, it puts everyone in a good mood :) oh, and your kids are adorable AND quite stylish - look out world!

    i tried to do the pinhole thing yesterday, i'd done it before successfully but i couldn't get it to work. I was online, looking to find a 'live eclipse stream', when i glanced over at my closet door and (pic one). I was so excited! i ran next door and pounded on my neighbor's door.....woke her up from a nap, i think! But she loves these type of sky-happenings as much as i do and we admired the crescent suns all around us. In dappled shade, apparently the gaps between the leaves act as pinhole cameras or camera obscuras do, focusing images of the sun onto the earth.

    Luckily i got a few pix before my camera ran out of juice. I had a 'nature' weekend as well, saturday we went birding along Mines Road in Livermore
    http://tinyurl.com/bq423kk
    and on up to Lick Observatory. My Sunday outfit was not worth photographing, heehe! steph

  • Sara L. replied 11 years ago

    Yes, we watched the eclipse too! So cool to see! We had a welding helmet and some special glasses. Both worked well. Here in Albuquerque, it was a complete eclipse with the moon completely in front of the sun for a "ring of fire" effect.

    Your outfits are so stylish! I love the long red sweater and the fun orange purse.

  • Transcona Shannon replied 11 years ago

    Looks like a fun and stylish time for the Goldenpig family!

  • Kirti replied 11 years ago

    All four of you look great :-)

  • Isabel replied 11 years ago

    Years ago, science lovers were considered nerds. You and your family totally change that notion. You DD yellow converse as she is looking at an "astrophysics" phenomena makes my heart sing. YOU are just looking more and more fab.

    I am so bummed that it was too late here on the East Coast to see the eclipse. Thank you for the pic. I will show my kids when they get home from school !

  • Diana replied 11 years ago

    Fun weekend and yay science! =) You are all looking very stylish. I am sad that the eclipse was not visible here on the east coast - they were always very exciting when I was a kid! (Also, I totally remember crying once because it was cloudy and I would not be able to see the lunar eclipse.) I never could get those pinhole cameras to work.

  • rae replied 11 years ago

    Wow, how fun! I can't believe I've never heard of teaching kids to sign before - WOW, how many moms would have loved to know what their baby's mind before they could talk?? You are a family of smarties for sure.

    We didn't know about the eclipse, and it was very gray by the time it was underway. We stopped at the grocery store and said, "Why are all these people staring at the moon??" We stopped and stared with them... oops, we felt pretty dumb to realize later that we'd been looking straight at the sun.

    I love that red cascading cardigan - reminds me a lot of my gray one, which I love and wish had been purchased in more colors. DD is adorable as always, doing her own fashion thing!

  • Sylvie replied 11 years ago

    Great pictures, especially the one with the welding mask. ;-)

    Is #7 an image of the eclipse on the paper inside the cardboard box? How did you get the edges to be so bright/well defined? Also, where was the camera in the setup? We used a pinhole in foil and the image was very small/faint.

    Sorry for all the questions - we had a very similar weekend - Cal Academy plus attempts at photographing the eclipse on Sunday. Wish I'd gone on Saturday, then I might have bumped into you.

  • Kiwichik replied 11 years ago

    I love when you post photos of your family outings. You look cute in solar eclipse red waterfall cardi & matching cons. Those white jeans make your legs look a mile long & I love the blouse & jacket.

    Big thumbs up to mini fashionista in her yellow cons.

  • modgrl replied 11 years ago

    You look beautiful!! Awesome picture of the eclipse. It was not visible here. I'm jealous!!
    That WHBM blouse is amazing on you. It looks just perfect with the white jeans. Did you change your hair? It looks really pretty.

  • christieanne replied 11 years ago

    Lovely MOTG choices! That blue peasant blouse with white jeans looks so polished.
    Cal Academy is one of the best outings - I absolutely love the roof.

    We saw the dappled effect that Mrs. Eccentric posted pics of - my DH and kids tried the pinhole thing but it wasn't working for us. I have friends who did the welding mask too - def. the way to go!

  • cheryl replied 11 years ago

    You have such a beautiful family! Looks like some great times and you always look fab! DD is too cute for words in her yellow cons!

  • goldenpig replied 11 years ago

    Thanks Steph, Sara, Shannon, Kirti, Isabel, Diana, Rae, Sylvie, Kiwichick, Rita, Christianne & Cheryl!

    Steph--cool pics, thanks for posting them! I did see the dappled effect from the leaves, but forgot to take a picture of it. And also when we made an OK sign and held it up, the O part of the shadow had a black circle in the middle, very cool. Steph, you look quite stylish in your hiking clothes!

    Sara, that is so cool that you saw a complete eclipse with ring of fire! We only had a crescent shape here.

    Isabel and Diana and Rita, sorry that you couldn't see the eclipse (and that you missed the lunar eclipse when you were little Diana!). Yay for science is right! BTW if any of you have kids who are science fans (or are one yourself), check out the They Might Be Giants album Here Comes Science! Lots of catchy fun songs about science.

    Rae--hope you didn't hurt your eyes! Baby signing is getting more popular nowadays. I learned with my daughter by watching Signing Time videos. It's neat to be able to communicate with your babies before they can talk. And she taught my son signs too. I think they have always had a large vocabulary for their age and I think it's partly due to learning signs as babies.

    Sylvie--the pic of the eclipse was taken by DH using his telephoto lens, with two circular polarizers on to protect the sensor. The pinhole camera image is very tiny (you can see the dot in #5), but it is possible to see the crescent shape if you look closely. I'm so glad we were able to borrow other people's welding masks though--that was really cool to see it directly! Too bad we missed each other at Cal Academy! Although I'm not sure I'd recognize you since your face is blurred in your WIW's.

    Christianne--glad you like Cal Academy too--maybe we should have a YLF get-together there someday!

    Rita--thanks for the compliment about my hair! But I did nothing special with it--in fact I'm overdue for a trim!

    Kiwichick, Cheryl and Rae--glad you liked the mini fashionista! She does insist on doing things her own way and I just get to sit back and enjoy the pattern mixing fun!

  • CocoLion replied 11 years ago

    I love the navy and white outfit worn in 8-9-10! So crisp and I like the pant leg style on you, is that a boot cut? Your legs, already long to begin with, are super extended in those.

  • goldenpig replied 11 years ago

    Denise, yes they are bootcuts--Paige Hidden Hills. I had them hemmed.

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