Yikes! It's IKE!

Friday evening after Cole had eaten his supper we decided to go outside and watch for Ike. I knew it could be days before he or April would get to play outside so we took advantage of the calm before the storm.
As the sun set the clouds started to roll in with a forceful wind. See how our neighbor's tree is bending. Ike was just making landfall at this point and we were still hours away from really seeing any effects from the storm.
Our trees stood so strong together, swaying in unison.
Our power went out about 2am and that's when we really started feeling Ike's presence. The wind blew fiercely and the rain was constant. The wind used our crape myrtles like fly swatters against the windows in the front of our house. The sound was frightening. We just prayed that they wouldn't break through . It rained most of the day on Saturday so we were not able to check things out until that evening. God must have put a protective bubble around our house because we did not receive any real damage. Our three pines in the back yard lost a few limbs and one of our crape myrtles and oaks has been slightly up-rooted in the front yard. Our neighbors did not fare as well. You could see several trees like the one below throughout the entire neighborhood.
Our neighbors directly to our left lost both of their pines. When one of the pines snapped in half and fell to the ground it broke a gas main. You could hear the hissing of gas being released and could smell it throughout our entire cul-de-sac. When the firemen showed up we had to evacuate our house for about an hour. We took this time to go for a walk.

Since everyone was without power and was loosing their refrigerated food all the neighbors decided to get together and have a feast. We didn't think and had bought a freezer full of meat the previous week so needless to say we grilled the meat and shared it with everyone. We were able to meet people we had not yet been able to meet. It was great.

After enduring the storm and the muggy conditions for a day; not knowing when our power would be turned back on we decided to pack up all of our necessities and head for refuge Sunday morning. Pa and Grammy were thrilled to say the least and looked forward to their time with Cole (and us).

Monday was cool and beautiful; perfect. Mom & Dad are near the end of building their house so we got to help out a little and learn a few things about construction. Cole hardly ever sits still but he sat in his Pa's lap for a few minutes just relaxing in the comfort of knowing he was safe.

We were visited by several cousins and both of Cole's great Grandmothers. We enjoyed catching up with everyone and our unplanned time with each of them. Tuesday night before bed Cole even got to swing outside. He had so much fun.

Later that night we heard from a neighbor that we had power. I went to the store to get some groceries and started packing up our stuff. Our CRV was packed to the gills when we headed back home the next morning. The drive was smooth sailing and we arrived at home a little after lunch. Cole was great; he slept most of the ride and even took a nap when we got home.

Today was a regular day back at home. Donny went off to work and Cole and I cleaned the house and began pulling everything out of the garage and placing it where it belonged outside. We even got a visit from my best friend, Marianne and her daughter Jasmine. Life is good.