Tornado Scare



This last Wednesday night we had a little bit of a tornado scare. At about 12:00 am the approaching sky started getting very active with thunder and lightning. I grabbed my camera and headed out to the back yard to see if I could get any cool lightning shots, but didn't get farther than a few feet when the tornado sirens went of. Within a minute we had grabbed the girls and headed down to take shelter in the basement. I came back upstairs and turned on the TV to hear the meteorologist report a possible tornado a few minutes outside the city. The graphic on the screen showed the area of rotation heading strait for our part of the city. Within seconds the house was shaking with thunder and lightning striking every couple seconds and hail and rain pounding the windows. Quite a rush. I love big storms (Sarah doesn't share my enthusiasm) but I have to admit, this one had my heart pounding. Here's a picture of my girls taking shelter between the couch and the wall. Cozy, eh?



After about a half hour the tornado warning was lifted (there weren't any that touched down) and I went out to the garage to try to capture some of the still active sky. The pictures below show a flash of lighting that lit up the sky right as I took the picture. It was the loudest and closest lightning I think I've ever experienced, and pretty much blinded my camera.

Camping

We went camping this past weekend up at Alum Creek Reservoir. It's only a half hour away from us, so it was perfect for an over nighter. We went with the Johnsons, Williams, and Hagbergs. We had awesome weather, which we were happy about since we were going to go the weekend before, but we had to postpone the trip due to severe thunderstorms. Another thing that was perfect about this trip was the food! I love eating outside around a campfire, and let's face it, everything tastes sooo good when you're camping!

Our girls eating breakfast with the Johnson boys.

We slept great in our brand new tent. It was Dan's Father's Day gift. Well, I basically told him that he could buy a tent for Father's Day. I really don't know anything about tents, so he picked it out. But he picked a good one! I like how big it is. We had tons of space for our queen sized mattress, Annie's twin, Leah's port-a-crib, and plenty of room to spare! Dan took this picture right after we woke up. Notice Leah's face. She's saying, "Cheeeeeese!"

So this is Cornhole. We had never even heard of this game until we moved to Ohio, but it is HUGE here. Everyone plays it. It is similar to horseshoes, except you have to toss beanbags into the holes. So, of course, no camping trip in Ohio is complete without a few games of Cornhole!

Saturday afternoon, after we had packed up camp, we headed over to the beach at the reservoir. It was actually pretty nice. Who knew?! A beach in Ohio! Leah wasn't sharing my same enthusiasm. In fact, she was quite the little chicken. The only way she would finally get off the beach blanket to walk on the sand is if she had her shoes on. And this is how she acted if I tried to dip her feet in the water:

She also didn't like it when I held her and waded out knee-deep into the water. She kept pointing for me to go back onto shore!

The kids had a great time trying to build their own little lake in the sand. Oh, and don't worry, Mom. That's my IBC bottle Leah's sucking on, not some old beer bottle she found on the beach!

It was a great weekend. It definitely got us excited for two things: more camping trips, and our trip to California for some real beaches!!

Annie's New Ride

Annie LOVES her "new" bike. It's pink, has training wheels, and princess decals are plastered all over it. What 3 year old girl wouldn't love it?

A few Saturdays ago, we decided to go out garage sale-ing in search of a bike for Annie. I was a little skeptical that we would find a good bike since we were getting kind of a late start in the day. We hit up a neighborhood garage sale in a nice area of town, and we hit the jack pot! We found this perfect bike for Annie for a killer price, along with a few other great items. It was our very first time going to garage sales, and I have to say, it was actually really fun!

Annie is getting pretty good on her bike. She goes pretty fast and is getting better at using the brakes, but still isn't great at turning sharp corners. She's catching on quick though, and asks to ride several times each day. She's getting to be such a big girl!

Father's Day

"Fathers, draw close to your children. . . . This means giving a father's most valuable commodity - Time." ~Elder A. Theodore Tuttle

Every evening the girls anxiously wait for Daddy to come home. The second they hear the rumble of the garage door opening, they both run to the door, frantically open it, and then yell, "Daddy!!" as he gets out of his car. As he comes into the house, they greet him with arms up and open, begging for him to hold them. He kneels down, scoops both of them up in his arms and gives them hugs and kisses. I watch this happen day after day, with a big smile on my face.

A father's influence in the lives of his daughters is of utmost importance in their young lives. I am so grateful for the righteous example Dan is to our girls. He is a wonderful father, so caring and patient with them, and loves to spend time with them. These girls love their daddy, and I know they will grow up knowing that he loves them and the gospel. And nothing could make me happier.

Happy Father's Day, Dan. We love you.

A Little Relief

Last Day of Preschool

Annie's last day of preschool was last week. Miss Cara invited the fire department to come on the final day, and the kids loved it!

After the firefighters left, Miss Cara had a little activity for the kids to do outside. This is the Thursday and Friday class combined, plus some little siblings, plus a few others that came for the fire truck.

Thanks for a great year, Miss Cara!! We love you and Annie will sure miss coming to preschool on Fridays!

Chicago

For Memorial Day Weekend we went to Chicago. The Storeys went with us and we all had such a great time. I loved Chicago. I was really impressed with how clean and well maintained the downtown area was. It's a very aesthetic city with lots of parks, courtyards, fountains, and stautes.

Favorite Things about our Chicago Weekend:

1. Walking around Downtown - We did a lot of walking. But it was such a fun city to walk around, I don't think any of us minded one bit.



2. Hancock Tower - not the tallest building (we'll have to do the Sears Tower next time we go), but a great view nontheless.



3. The Beach at Lake Michigan

4. Architecture - Chicago is known for its amazing architecture. My favorite was the Chicago Tribune building . . . very gothic in style. The new Trump Tower is pretty impressive as well. We would have liked to do an architecture tour cruise, but again, we'll save it for next time.

5. Navy Pier - A big touristy spot with rides, shops, restaurants, etc. (the Pier 39 of Chicago). We ate Chicago style hot dogs and went to the Chicago Children's Museum (thank you Cosi pass for free admission!).

6. Giordano's Famous Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza - the picture speaks for itself.



7. Dan & Ross's "Night Shots" - After dropping all the girls off at the hotel and getting the kids ready for bed, Dan and Ross went out to wander around and take "night shots" of the city. This was probably Dan's highlight of the trip. He learned some cool photography tips from Ross and the two of them had fun running around Chicago "Bourne" style. They didn't get back to the hotel room till 1:00 a.m.











8. Millennium Park - Sunday after church we explored this huge park downtown. It's a must do in Chicago.











9. Sunday Night Dinner - We decided to eat Sunday dinner at the Hyatt's fancy restaurant (where we could eat for half price thanks to Ross's employee discount). We ordered the Sunday night special: a family-style, 3 course all-you-can-eat meal for $24 (so$12 for us). Oh, and kids ate free. They brought us soooo much food, it was unbelievable. I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face. First they brought out appetizers. A huge bowl of ceasar salad, 2 big pizzas with mozerella, tomatoes, and fresh basil, a deli tray with lots of different lunch meats, olives, blue cheese, etc. and tons of yummy garlic french bread. THEN, they brought out the main course. The menu had only said chicken and salmon. But when the waiter came out for a second trip with 2 dishes of pasta with shrimp, and 2 more dishes of a red pasta with meatballs, we about died. Even the waiter was laughing trying to fit all the dishes on our table! The drinks were all included as well and we even ordered free chocolate milk shakes for the girls. It was just all too funny. The dessert was a little dissapointing, but after all the food we ate, none of us had much room for dessert anyway. The other nice thing about it was after we were done, our waiter packed up all the food we hadn't eaten and we all ate it for lunch the next day. So for $24, we had a great Sunday dinner in a fancy restaurant (and that was our only meal we ate on Sunday, besides cereal in our hotel room that morning) and then we had plenty of leftovers for Monday as well. It worked out beautifully. I look at the picture below and can't help but smile. Good times, good times.



10. The Museum of Science and Industry - We went here for a few hours on Monday before we drove home. It was rated the best museum in the mid-west, and it's not hard to see why. It's a very impressive museum, with lots of different exhibits. My favorite was the U-505, the only German submarine in the U.S. The girls loved watching the baby chicks at the chick hatchery.





All in all it was a great trip. We had a blast with the Storey's. The theme for the weekend came from a Jack Johnson song we listened to on the way up "It's always more fun, to share with everyone." We shared transportation, hotel room, food, and occasionally children. (Spouses were the only things off limits.)