Saturday, March 23, 2013

Mid Winter Break

So I am not sure what one does on "Mid-Winter Break." I mean Spring break, you normally head south, Christmas Break is for family as is Thanksgiving. We have made our fall break a time to spend at the beach as well, but not quite sure what to do for this break in February. I wish we could go skiing or something crazy, but it is not in our budget. So we spent most of the time in the house due to the rain.

Monday we went to see Nene and Mom and Poppy. My sister and nephew were off, so we got to see them as we'll. We were lucky enough to get to see my cousin and her little girl too.

 
These two are just too cute!!!
 
 
Sally got on the trampoline with the kids.

Tuesday was a busy one. Charlie actually spent Monday night with Nene and Poppy. I heard he was showing off his dance moves. Sadie had a dentist appointment. Man, that girl amazes me, she was a trooper, she hopped right up on that chair and did great!

 
 
After the dentist we headed north to meet my dad and pick up Charlie. Then off to meet Daddy for lunch! We found this cute little pizza place near his work. Yummy!!! Then we took a quick tour of the Super H Mart. If you have never been to the H Mart, you must go. It is a place of all things Asian, for the most part. There is an isle dedicated just to saki, an isle for rice, fish, fish and more fish and of course Kevin's favorite, all the Japaneese candy.


  

     



Thursday turned out to be beautiful, so we packed up and headed for the park.










 Sadie even made it up to the big slide. She is getting so brave!
 
The kids had a blast and they were wore out, so mommy got to take that long awaited nap.



Finally, Friday arrived and we were all excited when Daddy suprised us by taking the day off. Just wish the weather would have cooperated a little more, but none the less, we had a great time. Lunch at Shanes' Rib Shack and a little shopping.

Then it was the weekend, it finally cleared up by Sunday and we were all able to go out to the park. We fed the ducks  geese and played on the playground.



 
Sadie and Daddy trying to figure this thing out.

 
 Charlie and Daddy climbing up and down the stairs.

 
I want to feed the ducks!!! geese!!!

 
Charlie attempting to feed the ducks!  geese!!! Whatever!
 
 
I love this picture...Wait for me guys!!!
 

 Overall, we had a pretty good Mid Winter Break. Now we are ready for Spring Break!

Surviving the Storm

Monday's are always a little crazy around here. It is Sadie's dance class night, so I rush out of school to pick up the kids and rush home to get her ready. Leotard...check, tights...check, hair in bun...check!Now to pack a bag for Charlie. Snacks...check, toys...check, Mommy's iPad...check. All things to do while we wait for her to finish dance class. Well, this week was no different, until the rain hail came.
Not so pretty outside
OK, so over the weekend I finally broke down and went to the doctor, my ear had been killing me. Come to find out, mommy had an ear infection, go figure. So, I picked up the antibiotics on Sunday but forgot to get some yogurt. So Monday night I decide to drop Sadie off at dance class and run up to Publix to pick some up, it should just take a minute. We pull in the parking lot at Publix and it is getting DARK, looks like it is about to pour down rain. I look at Charlie and say, "OK buddy, we have to hurry. Are you ready?" He just looks at me, then he looks at the sky and points and says, "Rain?!"

We run inside, nothing but a little sprinkle right now, we should be just fine. I grab a buggy and we make a dash for the yogurt. Before I even get back there, my phone is ringing, it was Kevin.

"Where are you right now?" he asks.
"At Publix picking up the yogurt I told you about, why?"
"Stay there! Hail just busted through my window!"
 "WHAT?!? OMG!!!"

Yeah, so about this time, we hear it. First just a PING, then BANG...BANG, BANG, BANG...WOW! It was crazy!!! Charlie is looking at me like, what the heck is that?!? I just stand there frozen for a bit listening, waiting, thinking...OMG, Sadie is at dance class all alone! I pray she is ok.
By this time, I realize I have to get to her as soon as I can. Then we have to get home to Daddy. I go up front to pay and we wait in the lobby of Publix long enough for the hail to stop and we make a break for it. I load up Charlie, make a quick assessment of my car, nothing broken, good, so we race back to the dance studio.

Thank God Sadie was just fine. The teachers got all the girls in the dressing room and told them there were people tap dancing on the roof. She thought it was hilarious. I am so glad she was ok and wasn't scared at all. I get my phone out and start looking at the weather. OK, I decide, here we go, looks like a little break before we get hit again. So we load up and head home. The closer we get to our house, the more branches and hail we see. I point to Sadie, "Look out the window, see all that white stuff? That is what was falling from the sky, that is what was making all that noise!" She was amazed.

Finally we pull into the driveway and I see it... Kevin's car had about five softball size holes in his back glass. Then I see the house, there are huge chunks of siding missing, window screens torn and limbs all over the front yard that we had just cleaned. Kevin comes to the car to help us out and we all get inside. LOTS of hugs at this point. We were all glad everyone was safe, even though we were not together when it happened.

I have heard that there was such a thing as baseball/softball sized hail, but never imagined I would see it or what kind of damage it can cause. This is serious stuff. Scary stuff. Here are some pictures of some of the damage. Again, we are just thankful everyone is ok.

One Kevin grabbed from the front yard, not even one of the biggest ones.

Kevin's back glass, can't see the hood or the roof, but they are bad too.

Grill cover destroyed

 
Sadie saw their play set and said, "Now I am mad at the storm!"

Pots broken

About an hour after the storm, mostly melted but still pretty big.


Some of the siding damage

Windows

Windows, the outside glass is broken here and a few other places.

Gutters

More siding

More windows

Oh yeah, and then we found this...a baby snake. He didn't make it. 
 I don't think we can claim him on our insurance though.
 
 


Now the fun begins, dealing with the insurance company.