Mommy of Two : 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.