Time Flies...

It doesn't SEEM like it's been getting away from me, but when I uploaded pictures from my camera I realized I had a ton that I had taken with the intention of posting here but just haven't gotten around to it. So here we go.

This is why I don't need air conditioning.



This past weekend we had our first severe weather of the season. Severe is the codeword for tornado. Kids don't get freaked out by severe, but the panic flashes to their faces when you say tornado. On Saturday when the kids heard there was a tornado watch, they apparently thought they were personally responsible for watching for it.

(What you can't hear on the video is Devon's adorable way of saying tornado- mataydo. Kind of like how he says potato. He had no idea what we were looking for, what was coming to get us. "Mom? What does mataydos say?" If you crank your volume you might be able to hear him say it.)

They ran out the back door to watch from the deck, then through the house and out the front door to watch from the porch. Back and forth back and forth scanning the clouds and looking for the sure sign a tornado was approaching, according to Kennedy's friend who was here at the time- orange bubbles in the sky. Just as we convinced them a tornado was not imminent the tornado siren went off. Wanna talk about panic? The sky was full of thunderheads,



but nothing else seemed too worrisome. No wind, no hail, not even a bad thunderstorm upon us. Later that afternoon we were in Madison. Lincoln was at a meeting at church and I was shopping and killing time with the kids until he was done. Wouldn't you know it, another tornado siren. The weather at the time was a little more stormy but it passed quickly with nary a funnel cloud.

Saturday night at about 10, Lincoln and I were watching a movie. Even above the sound of the movie we suddenly realized the wind was howling. We ran upstairs from the basement and the wind was whipping through the house howling and knocking stuff over. We ran around closing windows, wondering if we should move the kids to the basement. Lincoln stood at the back door for a minute watching and then turned with a wild look in his eye and said, "Let's just move them." So we ran to the kids rooms and pulled them from their beds. Jesse was drenched in diarrhea and by the time I cleaned him up and we changed his bed it seemed the threat was over. We put everyone back in their beds and none of them had even awakened enough to realize what was going on. We tucked them in and went back to our movie. It was funny that there was no siren that time. So we are whole and well, though not all of Wisconsin's residents can say the same.

We have the most beautiful sunsets here. Remember through the winter when I kept posting pictures of the snow? Well it looks like the summer thing will be fabulous sunsets.




I mentioned in an earlier post that Julia learned to ride her bike. Here's the proof.



Yesterday, Day #2, was a very pleasant day. I was able to go for a bike ride in the morning before Lincoln left for work. I thought I was going to die. Wisconsin is very hilly. We went for a walk mid-morning and then at 1 we went to the park for a playgroup. The kids had a fabulous time and I am pleased to report there were no injuries on the death-trap merry-go-round that got Jesse last time we were there. I was too busy following Jesse around to get any photos, but I made up for that in the evening when I took the kids to the state park to play at the lake. I really enjoy watching them play at the lake. When I was a kid we did all our swimming in the river. The only time I ever swam in a pool was in school or at a friend's house. Funny thing though, I actually preferred the river and lakes. Especially the river. Pools seemed so boring. There were no currents to swim against in the pool, no rocks to play on, no rapids to sit in as the water rushed over your shoulders. One especially fun spot was called The Dynamo. There were two channels in the river here. One was a small section 8 feet wide that we would cross to get to the small island between them. The other side was the main portion of the river. We would stand on the flat rocks which dropped off abruptly on either side. On the river side you could jump off the rocks and the swift current would carry you down a bit. When the rocks started to rise up out of the water again we would scramble up them back to the flat rocks. We'd run back up to the beginning and do it again. You can't do that in a pool. So when I see my kids swimming in the lake I remember the sound and taste of river water. I love the muffled sound under water of rocks rolling and crashing against each other. I also love to hear the sound of a rock galumping into the water. I think I could maybe do a whole post on swimming holes. Maybe I will. For today, you have lots of pictures to look at. Enjoy.











Oh, and I finished yesterday with a fun Girls' Night Out.