Summertime brings some pretty powerful storms around here.  Last Friday evening we got hit by a BIG one.  We had thunder and lightening and rain and 80 mile an hour winds.  the Mr. and I had just put the Littles down for bed and watched out our window just how powerful the winds were.  Things were blowing around all over outside and we considered packing the kids up and running to the basement just in case.  Well, the storm blew out just as fast as it blew in.  It was calm by about 10:30 pm, but by then we had lost power.  If you know anything about our family, you'll know that we EACH have a small fan in our bedrooms that runs all night.  It helps with the air flow and the sound.  We will go to crazy lengths to make sure we have a fan or bring a fan even when we travel.  It was a VERY long night as it was too silent to sleep and WAY TOO HOT in our upstairs.  By morning, the whole state of West Virginia was declared a "state of emergency".  Trees were EVERYWHERE broken and uprooted.  Power lines were snapped and damaged by trees.  We set out to find a place to eat some breakfast as we didn't want to open our fridges or freezer as to preserve the cold that was in there till the power kicked back on.  We found that there were crazy lines everywhere even as far as Martinsburg as others had the same plan.  I've never seen as many cars on the road in Charles Town at one time as I did that morning.  We hit one of the BEST begal places in town, and just in time before the crowds hit too, and got a yummy breakfast bagel sandwich to eat.  The temps were already in the 90's and so it felt like they were in the 100's in our home.  It was cooler for us to keep all the windows and doors shut and the blinds down, instead of trying to open them up to give a cross breeze through the house. 

The clean up process began and so did trying to think ahead about where we going to sleep and eat till the power came back on.  It was, I can say now that it's over, a fun time for our family to think of how very lucky we are to live in such comfort with all that we want and need at the end of our finger.  I have such gratitude for those who go without those simple comforts such as power, air conditioning, fridges and freezers and White noise at night. 

The Littles were a huge help in the clean up of a tree that went down in our yard.  We had planted this tree after rescuing it from a nursery that was going out of business.  We were so proud of how big and full and beautiful this tree had become only to loose half of it in the storm.  Not a big thing compared to some who lost 3 to 6 trees and cars and trucks and houses where trees had fallen. 

The Littles were having so much fun playing Legos in the dark with their headlights and little lanterns.  What a fun memory this will be for us all.

We all camped out in our basement that night as it was the coolest place in our house.  They Littles all made beds on the huge couch in the movie room while the Mr. and I hit the spare bed. 

After we all were settled in for the night and laying there just relaxing from the day, we HEARD a most wonderful sound...THE POWER KICKED ON!!!  You could've heard us a block away as we were hooting and hollering with joy at the sound of our air conditioner come back on!  It was funny that we could hear some of our neighbors outside hooting and hollering too!!! 

Since thi upstairs was about 90 degrees and it was take some time to cool it down, we all decided to just stay in the basement for the night and have fun with it.  I love these guys and their great attitudes towards the little trials that come our way.