Storm Damage

Holy smokes there was a big storm that rolled in last night!  I really need to do a better job of paying attention to the weather, one of these times it's gonna come back and bite me!

Let me get you a little caught up, though.  Early Tuesday morning, Royal left for Alaska.

Look at those long sleeves!  I wish I was somewhere I could wear long sleeves.  I talked to him on the phone last night and he said he's already caught enough fish to fill a 50lb box!  Yes!!!!

So, while Royal's away, his mom decided she'd fly in and help me with the kids.  I know she would've preferred me to fly with the kids to Washington, but I have a triathlon this weekend and it's just too close to school starting to drag the kids through time changes.  Jayden starts kindergarten in just 18 days!

Grandma Norma's been a trooper though and trying not to complain about the heat too much. 

Last night Norma and I were down in the basement watching a movie after the kids had gone to bed.  I knew there were suppose to be some thunderstorms, but this time of year I've never experienced a bad storm, so I didn't think too much of it, figured I see some flashes and hear some thunder.  Well, the lights flickered a couple times and then I heard some of the kid's toys moving around under the deck.  So, I finally checked the weather and the advisory said there were going to be like 80mph wind gusts.  Holy smokes!  So, I finally looked out the basement window under the deck and I noticed the kid's pool was not there anymore.  We had lost it one other time earlier this year, but we managed to retrieve it unharmed.  I then heard all our deck chairs moving around, so I ran upstairs to get all the stuff on the deck put away.  I was getting hit with rain and ice pellets and once we got the chairs stacked and the towels and clothes and toys picked up, the wind was blowing so hard I couldn't get the door opened again.  Norma had to push the door from the inside while I pulled on it from the outside to get it open enough for me to get back in the house.  It was really dark outside and I looked for the pool with each flash of lightning, but couldn't see it.  I figured with that wind we may never see it again.  About an hour later the storm calmed down and I went to bed.  When we got up this morning, I looked outside to see if I could find the pool.  I did.  It flew over our 6ft fence and I think the only reason it didn't go any further than it did was because it got snagged on our neighbors iron fence.

It has some holes in it, but grandma and I are going to dry it out and see if we can patch it up and limp it through the rest of summer (a summer that feels like it's never going to end)

Unfortunately there was a bit more damage.  Our slide was ripped right off the slide platform.

And then one side of our fence was pretty much blown off.  No need to use the gate anymore!

Looks like Grandma and I have some repair work to do!