Second to the last day of summer.

Soccer. Family Astrology Night. The Raptor Show. It was a great, big day.

Soccer Game at 9 AM. This was a make up game cancelled for rain. Today, the grass was way too tall, and the other team had only three players (one of which was confusing football with soccer; his dad chased him around the field for a quarter preventing him from tackling our players).

Turner totally stuck with it.

One goal.

Two goals.

We rush home and shower. Turner cleans soccer off himself, and we chat about the Desert Museum and the kinds of snacks we'll need. I tell him I've had fun playing with him all summer. He gets out of the shower.

"I just can't believe this is the second to last day before summer is over, and then you'll be in school."

"Yeah. I know. But, you know mom that I can come home from school and we can still have time to play. I mean after I get my homework done or play my game a bit maybe."

"We'll still have plenty of time to play after school."

He gives me a hug, "I've had a lot of fun with you too mom."

For a few weeks Turner and I have taken turns reassuring one another that Kindergarten is going to be the most amazing fun thing ever. Dropping him off the first day, I anticipate that will be difficult. But for now, the second to last day before summer vacates, I'm keeping the tears inside.

The Desert Museum has special summer programs on Saturday nights. They stay open until 10, and the night's activities reflect themes. Tonight was family astronomy night. Turner and I got to the museum about 5:30 pm. We had our picnic in the car, sang a couple of songs to sharpen our senses and then rushed out into the 104 degree night. More than once I heard others, and thought it myself, what a nice night it turned out to be. The breeze was strong, like it was going to rain; it was so SO hot today that a 100 degree breeze was welcomed company tonight.

As we walked through the parking lot, Turner asked about ice cream. So, from the beginning, we were on a quest. But first, we went to the "Sky Hunters" demonstration where we watched an owl eat a live mouse and we ducked to miss a flying raven. A parrot flew around the room too, and its feathers sounded heavy and rackety where as the feathers of an owl (not sure at all what its species), a white owl that looked like a huge cotton ball, it had feathers that absorbed sound. It is a night predator. The demonstration was 45 minutes long and Turner and I thought it rocked. All of the people involved in the demonstration tonight were volunteers. Amazing.

Owl

Noisy Feathered Parrot

After "Sky Hunters," Turner and I resumed our quest for ice cream.

Detour at the tortoise, who was out snacking. Only the second time we've seen him in all our trips to the museum. We watched him for a long time with great enjoyment. Detour at the sea otter and beaver homesteads. Had to check in the den and found only beavers. The sea otters were too busy playing. Then, ice cream.

Because it was astronomy night, there were docents set up along the path with huge telescopes. On our way to the cave, we saw craters on the moon, and you could distinguish mountains. It was awesome. After the cave and the sand dig - too dark for that so we passed on by - we stopped at another telescope. This guy, had a light/laser/pointer thing that shined light all the way up into the stars. A docent at our very first telescope had shown us this light. But it was still dusk so we could not see how far the light went. At the second station, though, we could see sparkles where the light bounced off of dust.

At third third telescope the docent was so knowledgeable and entertaining that he had a following. Turner and I waited for him to get set up. The docent, of course, explained each step to Turner. 8:00 pm. We looked first at the moon. We saw more craters and mountains and a sea. Then the docent moved the telescope so we could see saturn. It looked just like the pictures. The docent pointed out to us the moons (there are 53 total) that surround Saturn. Turner and I counted two tonight. While we all waited in a line to look through the telescope, the docent pointed out constellations. He told stories about Greek mythology and showed us how the moon was in virgo tonight, and we saw Sagittarius and Scorpio shooting into the heart of Pisces? (can't remember but another astrological sign). The whole night made me want to read.

What. An. Amazing. Summer.