Wild Times With Wild Kids: Hurricane Irene 2011

On August 28th Hurricane Irene hit Rhode Island. It was definitely interesting to listen to the coverage. Being from South Louisiana I am no stranger to hurricanes and they don't really scare me. I do take them serious and prepare, but I don't panic. Up here in Newport you had two different types of reactions, the people who went into panic mode and the ones whose took it as a joke. Now, for the record, it made land as a Cat 1 and by the time we woke up the next morning it was a TS. So it really wasn't a major threat here. We lost power for 2 days and thankfully no damage other than a screen on Anders window...and that's such an easy fix it's not even worth counting. Originally the report was that the lines that bring power to the island were knocked down and we would be 2 weeks without power. I don't know how 2 weeks ended up only being 2 day...but I'm not complaining. However, around 9am on the morning of the 28th the power flickered off for about 5 minutes. I was actually upset when it came back on so quick and I was happy when it went off for the longer period at about 10am. We had so much fun for those two days. I think being "unplugged" is a nice change of pace. Other than sleeping in the "heat" (and I say "heat" because compared to other power outages I've done in South Louisiana this was nothing) there wasn't anything about no power that bothered me. I was prepared and we ate well and not just peanut butter and jelly. Dinner that first night was fish and chicken with veggies and potatoes. That's the kind of stuff we eat on a night we have power. I have to say I was disappointed when the power came on (not that I wanted it to be 2 weeks, but more than 2 days would have been fine by me), not only because because I was enjoying the lack of power, but because we had just spent a ton of money on ice and a few other items that weren't necessary. Oh well!

This year was not the first time I spend August 29th without power. August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and changed so many lives forever. I feel blessed, and I know that I am in the minority, to be changed by Hurricane Katrina for the better. Jon and I had been dating for just a month when Katrina hit. We were told by my cousin that if we could survive a hurricane (and being trapped in her house with my uncle, his wife, my cousin's brother and her husband) then we could survive anything. Almost 5 years later we have been through so much and we are still dodging hurricanes (literal and figuratively) and surviving it all. I also got to see so much in the weeks and months following Katrina that I never could have imagined seeing in my lifetime. Shortly after the storm I was hired on by FEMA, 11 days after the storm I was sent into New Orleans to live on a cruise ship (no as glamorous and it sounds) and work from there. 15 months later (my FEMA stories are a blog unto themselves and I will save them for a time when I can sit down with a glass of wine and tell you face to face) I left my job to move back to Mobile with my new husband and start our lives. I am thankful for all the twists and turns that life has brought me...and even more thankful for the blessings that path has brought me.

I digress, and as expected from me, here are a ton of pictures. I am truely blessed!!!

We were cleaning up the backyard and as usual she was being a ham!

We went to the water to show Anders the waves. His reaction was priceless.

Hailey was pretty awe struck too.

They love birds and airplanes. Not sure which they were pointing at.

Anders ready to go stand on the porch and take a few pics.

We have this same picture of Jon and Anders during Hurricane Faye in Jax.

Winds

I wonder what she was thinking?!?!

You can see where the wind sprayed him with the rain.

The Tent!

Puzzles in the tent (I think I am still trying to track down all the pieces)

We spent hours making words. He loves to spell, he has had his name down for a while, but learned lots of new words while the power was out.

Two of his favorite word, mainly because he knows them so well. We did have to stick to words that didn't have the same letter twice since we only have one ABC puzzle.