Natural Disasters- Part 2

We are very happy to report that we survived Hurricane Irene with very little damage. The wind and rain really picked up as it got dark. The worst of the storm came through about 9:00 pm to 2 or 3 am. That evening we noticed that we were springing several leaks. First, we had leaking around two of our skylights upstairs. Luckily both were in bathrooms so we just put buckets under the drips and didn't worry much about it. Then, we noticed that water was coming down our chimney. Once the storm really picked up the water really started gushing. We put a couple of buckets under the leaks and we were having to empty them once every 1-2 hours overnight. We're talking a couple of gallons of water an hour! But we stayed on top of it and prevented any water from coming into the house. We also had some water creep into the basement but nothing too bad there. This week we've had several roofers come for estimates to fix the leaks. After talking to the landlord, it appears that there may be a new roof in our future.

The frustrating part of the whole ordeal is that the worst part of the storm was overnight so we couldn't peek out the windows to see what was going on like we had been doing during the day. With the porch light on we could see one of the trees in the front yard swaying but we didn't get a good look at much else. The wind was sure howling though! We ended up all camping out in the living room on the first floor. I kept feeling like I could feel the whole house shake when I was on the top floor so I knew I didn't want to sleep there. Plus we wanted to hang close to the basement in case we needed to head down there, but we never did. Will got his own flashlight and had a lot of fun playing with it. The power flickered on and off countless times but usually came back on within a minute or two. Will also kept looking out the windows singing, "wain, wain, go away!" It didn't help but it sure was cute.

The next morning we got a good look at the yard. There was a lot of tree debris but not much in the way of downed trees. We still had power and thought we were home free! But around 11:00 am, when the storm had really died down, our power went off and was out for several hours. We assumed that the rest of the area was like our yard (not that bad) and that larger town centers would still have power. So the day after the storm, after our power had gone out, we got in the car thinking we'd go out to lunch. Turns out, we really got lucky and the rest of the area had very large trees down all over. Several large trees were blocking roads and the entire area was without power. So we came back home and grilled hot dogs. The power came back on that evening but we had already lost all of the food in the fridge. The freezer food was safe though. All told we really fared very well compared to a lot of people in this area. Since we didn't lose power during the storm it wasn't too bad keeping the kids happy indoors for so long, especially when they slept during the worst of it. Still, we wouldn't want to do that again!

I always heard people say in Charleston that the best weather comes right behind hurricanes. That certainly was true for us here. Last week was really gorgeous- 70s and sunny with light breezes. The kids and Zoe and I went for our morning walks and enjoyed some outside time. David had a four-day weekend for Labor Day so he had last Friday off. We decided to get out and see some sights so we headed to DC. We drove to a Metro station and braved the Metro with two kids and a double stroller. It certainly was an ordeal. From the car to the Washington Monument, our first destination, our odyssey involved two trains, 5 or 6 different elevators and long walks in between. It was especially difficult at L'Enfant Plaza where we had to switch trains and get to the opposite side of the platform, which means we had to search for elevators in the right spots since we couldn't use the more convenient escalators with the huge stroller. I think next time we'll take Luke in the Baby Bjorn and take a small, fold-up stroller for Will so that we can do escalators.

Anyway, Will really loved riding the trains and a few times said, "choo choo" as we were moving. It wasn't too crowded on our two trains coming into the city so we relaxed and enjoyed the ride. It was very crowded coming home, however, and we were really juggling. Once we got to the city, we saw the Washington Monument, but didn't go inside since it's still closed from the earthquake damage. We saw what should have been the reflecting pool in front but it was drained for construction. We saw the World War II Memorial, and passed by the Vietnam and Korean War Memorials. Finally, we went to the Lincoln Memorial and Will got to stretch his legs walking up all of those stairs. I took Luke in the stroller and found an elevator to the top where we met up with Will and David. Due to lack of adequate baby facilities, Luke even had his diaper changed on an outer wall of the Lincoln Memorial. He's classy like that. Since there were no restaurants to be found in that area, we had lunch at a large hot dog stand and then headed back to the Metro station.

It was only about 2:00 but it was the Friday before a holiday weekend so the Metro was already crowded with commuters heading home. There was a large mass of people pushing onto the train and, right as we were getting on, Will drops his little school bus bag full of toy cars. So we're the people holding everyone up with two little kids, a huge stroller and a bunch of toys spilled across the entrance to that particular car. We managed to pick up the toys and get everyone on. We didn't have a place to sit so that was interesting. Since that was our first Metro ride with the kids it was a pretty good learning experience. We know a lot about what to do different next time.

The rest of the weekend we hung close to home and relaxed. We made a lot more progress unpacking and getting things put away. We're almost there! We did have a shopping trip to Annapolis on Saturday and we tried out a local Methodist church on Sunday. The people were very nice but we are looking for something a little bigger with more children and children's programs. We may try a larger church in Annapolis next weekend.

The weather is supposed to be awful this week. It's been raining for the past couple of days and I think it's supposed to continue until this weekend. So we're mostly stuck inside. Today, though, I took Will to a community center on the beach for a preschool obstacle course event through the Calvert County Dept of Parks and Rec. They have a ton of really great programs for kids that we are excited to check out this fall. Will is signed up for a parent and child swimming class on Saturday mornings, which starts this weekend at a large indoor aquatic center. David and I are going to alternate swimming with Will while the other stays with Luke. He is also doing a Friday morning class called "jumpbunch" that is supposed to teach "sports" skills. It sounds like they work on gross motor skills like running, jumping, kicking, catching, etc. That starts next week. The class we did today was our first community center activity and Will had a ball. It was supposed to be on the beach but with the rain it got moved indoors. There were a lot of other kids Will's age (but of course he towered over almost all of them). He loved running around and jumping on one of the mats. He would yell "sump, sump, sump" (which is Will speak for "jump") as he jumped. I was really impressed with his balancing skills. They had a very low balance beam that most kids had trouble with. Will walked across it several times, fairly quickly, and didn't have much trouble at all. He seems to have very good balance, which I had never noticed before.

At one point Will and some other kids picked up pool noodles that were on the ground (that they were supposed to be jumping over). Will liked swinging it around. Then a couple of the older boys tried to sword fight with him. I was very proud that the thought of hitting someone with the pool noodle never occurred to Will and he was confused when the older boys started fighting. Even after watching them hit each other (and take swings at Will) Will still didn't join in. He just wanted to wave his own noodle around in the air. I'm not sure how long we'll be able to avoid toddler violent tendencies but, for today, Will was quite the pacifist.

Below I have a bunch of pictures from the community center. All of today's pictures are from my phone, which I just recently uploaded, so they are all poorer quality that normal. Some are from our cross-country road trip. One of these days I'll figure out how to caption beneath each picture. But for now: the pictures below include Will playing with his flashlight during the hurricane, Will rolling around the mats at the obstacle course this morning, Will on his first Metro ride, Will feeding Luke back in Texas, Will's haircut at the base barbershop in Texas, and pictures from on the road, including Will sleeping in his airbed. The first picture posted above is how we roll in Home Depot.

Luke is doing still really well. He still has some trouble napping in the mornings but usually passes out for 2-3 solid hours in the afternoons. He's still an eating machine and lately has been back to two genuine night feedings. I'm very tired. He is very much an observer when he's awake but when you get him face to face, he gives you the biggest gummy smile. It's adorable. He really stole the show at church on Sunday because he was cooing and smiling. After the service several people commented first on how much hair he has and second on how good-natured he is. He has his moments, like all babies, but for the most part he is a happy little guy. He just would be happier if he could snuggle with mommy or daddy all day and all night. That's all he asks for. He's twelve weeks old tomorrow and growing quickly!