This past weekend was supposed to be our last hurrah before school starts. We were going to the Connecticut Science Center on Saturday and back-to-school shopping on Sunday. Plus a meal out, a family movie night, something like that. But Hurricane Irene had other plans. So we spent Saturday trying to do everything we were going to do both days plus get ready for the hurricane. We were moderately successful. The science center was great, we’re mostly ready for school, and we survived the hurricane so we must have been adequately prepared (aside: our grocery was completely out of batteries, bottled water, and peanut butter. Only the batteries were on our list but the peanut butter made me giggle. Apparently it is the survival food of choice. We bought candles, seaweed, and a bag of lemons.)
The Hurricane at Our House, by Aeris (6)
Aeris’ hurricane preparation was creating a hurricane party, which we then participated in the day of. We lost power first thing Sunday morning, around 6AM. Aeris was ready to party immediately so I got a preview, but we waited until afternoon to really get into it.
The party, which was really more of an amusement park in the girls’ bedroom, was presented by Thor because he’s the god of weather (my 6 year old is bright). It included a dance floor, a library, a line to see Thor’s hammer, an interactive show in which Aeris dressed up as Thor and told us about hurricanes (proving she paid attention at the science center) and a haunted boat ride that ended with two t-rexes trying to eat our boat (a laundry basket).
Party over we decided to go for a walk in the hurricane. An earlier plan had been to get in the car and drive down to watch it at the shore so, in comparison, that was tame. We got about 20 feet from our house before the fire department told us to go back in our house. Yes, the fire department. It was kind of funny. But we pressed on to the top of the hill, which is really only a half a block away. It was very wet and very windy. We stopped being crazy and went back inside until it died out.
Our evening walk was longer and we saw many fallen trees and few fallen wires. The rest of our neighborhood had power by the time we got back, but our street was still dark (and is still today /whine). So we heated up soup on the grill and played Disney Apples to Apples by candlelight. Our family motto: when life gives you a hurricane, buy a bag of lemons and party with Thor.
On Top of the World 
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