The Storm

Maybe you heard that there was a series of storms that swept from DC to the Jersey shore. Around 3 million were out of power at one point, then there were some who were out of power for seven days, our complex was among the less fortunate. 

Friday June 29th, we woke up to some crazy wind. No warning at all. I've been in tornado weather before and it sounded like a tornado. In an instant the rain, lightning, and thunder hit- hard. Doug and I decided we ought to keep away from windows and almost instantly we heard and felt a huge thud- think Jurassic Park, T-Rex style.  A tree had just fallen right on our patio.

The storm blew by in about 30 minutes, taking our power with it, as well as any breeze. It was hot and sticky and a miserable night trying to get our kids back to sleep.

I had planned on running at 5:30 Saturday morning but slept until almost 7 since we had just gotten back to sleep. I set out for my run, not knowing how badly Vineland was hit by the storm. As I got farther into my run, I quickly felt guilty for being out running and not helping everyone. Trees, poles, wires, transformer boxes, were down everywhere. I ran by a friends house and saw a huge tree on all four cars (apparently they had two trees in their swimming pool and two holes in their house as well). 

It was crazy everywhere! I decided to cut my run short and go back home but ended up running 10 miles because roads were closed all over the place.

Once I got back, I told Doug that he and girls need to see what had happened. We checked on a few friends and then stopped at the store for some essentials. Now that was a mad house! The lights were out and everyone was stocking up on bread, water, ice, batteries, etc. It was crazy!

The best part about the power outage is that there was already a heat advisory in effect for the next week. Nice. 

So we spent the rest of the day cooling off in our friends pool and using the butane burner from our 72-hour kit to heat up some food from the freezer that was going bad, which was actually kind of fun.

Church was canceled Sunday due to no power, not to mention you couldn't access the church due to trees. We ate breakfast at the hospital where the AC worked great, then hung out in the residents lounge to charge cell phones and our DVD player.

Lucky for us, we already had a trip planned to go to the Doug's family reunion. We went home to try to pack and I can honestly tell you I know what miserable now means. It was over 100 degrees, 90 % humidity. Trying to get anything was 100% impossible. Then add miserable, tired, crabby mom, dad, and kids and use your imagination.

One of our good friends had power restored so they invited us over for dinner, where I was able to do one load of laundry in preparation for our trip. So nice and so grateful for them!

Using headlamps, I emptied the fridge and finished packing around 11 and we all slept down stairs since it was at least 20 degrees cooler. The word sleep can be used loosely. 

Doug dropped Leah, Syd, and I off (Paige and Doug flew out the next day) around 6:30 am Monday morning. Traveling with kids, I usually sweat the whole time but this time I actually stopped sweating once we arrived at the airport. I was so happy to be on that plane and so grateful to get away from the mess but felt bad for all those still suffering. 

We had a six-hour layover. Lucky for us it was in Phoenix. Laura and Chad were so sweet to pick us up. We went to Erika's hospital to have lunch with her. I really enjoy seeing people in "their element."

Then we went to Mill Mall and met up with my besty Brittany. Very fun to see them, even for a couple hours.

Aunt Erika...she's such a cute nurse!

Brittany and Me

Laura, Chad, and I at Mill Mall...these two are a hoot!

The plane ride went well until 30 minutes to land in Utah. Syd screamed so hard. Inconsolably. I seriously had no idea what to do. She screamed so hard the she puked all over me. Four times. And two of those times where while everyone was waiting to get off the plane. I had to laugh because I didn't want to cry. 

I wish I would have thanked the lady more for waiting and helping me get Leah and all the carry-ons off the plane. She insisted when I said I can manage, and you don't want to touch this anyway. 

After an hour of walking around with vomit all over me while trying to locate my misplaced luggage, I changed and drove away from The Storm. All of it. We got to Grammie's house and the three of us slept better than we have in a long time.

We are so grateful that our friends let us come and relax in cool water.

Syd chilling after cooling down at the pool

This is the scene on almost every street at one point or another.

In the neighborhood behind our house.

Syd in front of one of the many trees blocking the back entrance into our complex

Cooking some Mexican Bean soup...a real adventure!