Our Earth Hour...

We just finished our Earth Hour. This was an international event where you show your support for the earth by turning out your lights for an hour at 8:30PM. For Sierra, the draw was being able to light candles. Because I'm me, I thought we should also turn off other major energy users like the computers and the TV. If you're going to turn things off, why not go all the way?

The first 15 minutes were spent chasing down our cat Hobgoblin, who managed to run out the door when I stepped outside. Luckily he's an orange cat. Much easier to find in the dark than Merlin. We brought him back in and found Sierra and Chase taking pictures with one of their light up lightsabers. Chase did some flashy swinging with it. This lasted all of two minutes and then everyone sat down. My husband was in the middle of a good book, so he curled up with a flashlight, while I started a sing-along with the kids. We sang The Mermaid Song and The Rattlin' Bog and passed around Gobstoppers and carrots. Then Marina curled up with a book near a candle and I started a game of Name that Animal. This is our version of Twenty Questions. You ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no only. I have them get into classifications and biomes as well as the physical appearance to figure out the animals. I thought I had them stumped with mine, but Sierra suddenly guessed "Is it an octopus?" I'm sure she read my mind, because nothing was said that would have led her there. Chase later stumped me with his animal, the cuttlefish.

The game helped to make our last half hour pass quickly. Sierra didn't want us to turn the lights on right away. In fact, she now wants us to do this every night. We shall see...