Rain Event

Local weather forecasters called the storm that woke me up at 3 AM on Saturday morning blowing sustained 55 mph winds, dumping huge amounts of rain, churning up 20+ foot seas, downing fences, and uprooting trees a mere “rain event”.  In actuality it was an unnamed tropical storm that formed right on top of us and stayed there for 48 hours.  The gust were strong enough to break away three huge pieces of soffit from beneath the roof on the back of our house.  I found the giant puzzle-like pieces littering our yard when the sun rose on Saturday morning.

I had to go out into the squally weather to teach Zumba.   While my in-laws watched the kids I decided to run a few errands after class.  You would think nothing was going on by the looks of things inside the stores I visited.  Beall’s was hosting a darn fashion show and Publix was bursting with the usual weekenders clamoring to stock up on barbecue supplies and beer.

I spent the rest of Saturday cleaning our house from top to bottom in preparation for J’s homecoming.  He had been in DC for four weeks only coming home for two days early in September.  He was driving home from three straight weeks away and I wanted him to find the house in good order.  Unfortunately, he had to drive in the “rain event” from Savannah, GA all the way to our door.  The nasty weather made his drive miserable.  He managed to finally get here at 3 AM on Sunday morning.

When J woke up on Sunday, I suggested that we assemble the 1000 piece puzzle that I had bought this summer in the event of a hurricane.  It seemed like we were living through such a storm and I didn’t want to just plop the kids in front of the television all day.  So, as a family we worked all day to get the puzzle 75% complete by bed time.  I was amazed at what a fun family activity this was.  It was something everyone could participate in and it held the boys’ attention for quite some time.

I had picked up this cool sandart kit from Walmart a while ago thinking that the boys might like to do this as a Halloween craft.  It came in handy as a rainy day project as well.  Wildman convinced J to help him with his bottle while we waited for our pizza to arrive.  Cutie Pie opted to do his later in order to play the DS…

I think Wildman’s bottle turned out great!  He proudly took it to school on Monday to show his friends.  Thank goodness for fun rainy day projects like these!

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Stormy Skies

Every afternoon for the past 4 or 5 days this is how the skies have looked around here.  Dark, ominous clouds filled with lightning and the rumble of thunder rolling in from the west or north.  A gust of cool wind blowing in to relieve us from the stifling summer heat.  Torrential downpours usually follow filling the pool to the top and flooding a few streets.  The lashing winds have whipped my poor hibiscus trees sideways in their pots by the garage door.  Even the rack that we use to dry pool towels and swimsuits has been toppled on the back porch.  The power has gone out a couple of times only to return a few seconds later.  The children have hunkered down inside with movies or games waiting the storm out.

I watch the rain fall sideways and in swirls as the wild wind blows, thankful that our drought is over.  Man, I love a good summer thunderstorm!

4th of July Party Weekend Recap

It was an atypical 4th of July holiday for us this year as we normally host or attend a family party.  Since Steph was in Mexico and half of our relatives are divorced we ended up going our own separate ways to celebrate Independence Day.  I have to say that it was a pleasant change of pace.  No stress.  No drama.  Just good times with good friends.  That is how it should be!

We went to a small barbecue at a friend’s house on Saturday to say good-bye to Geeg and her family (again).  They were officially moving out of state on Monday so we tried to squeeze in as much time with them as possible over the weekend.

J entertained everyone with his whale riding skills.  Is there any doubt why I married him?  Don’t be jealous.

I was asked to participate as a guest instructor at a Zumba Jam on the morning of the 4th.  I was happy to help out since I knew I’d be gorging myself later on some yummy food.  It was so much fun and a great workout to boot!

We headed over to another friend’s house for a get-together late in the afternoon.  I brought some sassy, patriotic watermelon to share 🙂

The weather was pretty crappy all day.  The constant drizzle did not stop the children and the kids-at-heart from going bananas in the street with fireworks.  Some of us chose to watch the activity from the safety of the dry living room.  As you can see from the smoke cloud outside, there were quite a few fireworks being lit that afternoon.

We left the party after a couple of hours so we could light some of our own fireworks on our driveway.  J donned his Viva Mexico sombrero for rain protection.  Again, don’t be jealous!

I sat on the front porch in my lawn chair alternately watching the rain fall on my flowers and the fireworks display that J and the kids put on.

Eventually we packed it in and headed over to the causeway to watch the various fireworks displays on the river.  I was surprised that they were not canceled on account of the rain.  I chose to sit in the car and watch them.  J and the boys, however, ventured out into the drizzle and mosquitoes.    Brave souls.

All in all, it was a great 4th of July weekend.  Hope you had a great one too!