Ooooo-klahoma...where the wind comes sweeping down the plain

We had a very exciting evening last night. It started when the tornado sirens went off just as we were starting dinner. The news wasn't showing anything but we pulled up the weather radar and there was a nasty storm on it's way with rotation. Because we live in a rural area, our local meteorologists don't always interrupt the broadcast to tell us exactly what's going on but living in Oklahoma, you have a pretty good idea of what to look out for when the sirens go off. So, while we waited for Gary England (our local go-to weather guy) to explain the situation, we threw a collar on the dog, packed up the laptops, my camera, some diapers and put shoes on everyone all within about five minutes and all while still eating dinner. There's a sense of pride in the ability to get everything that matters most together and ready to run into the storm shelter in a matter of minutes that comes with living in this area of the country.

Thankfully we never ended up needing to go to our trusty "safe place" but there was some really beautiful rotation and some down right crazy hail. 

Crazy strong rotation that never fully developed.

After the first wave...baseball to softball sized hail.

The boy and all the kids in the neighborhood made the rounds to gather the biggest pieces. This wasn't the largest (and it had melted a bit before I got a pic) but it was his favorite.

Even the boy was getting into the "cool clouds" and it provided a great teaching opportunity. So today, we're going to the Science Museum to learn more about tornadoes and all things weather before more storms break out this afternoon.

Disney World In The Rain

(as long as there's no lightening, the water parks are a great place to go on a rainy day...you're getting wet anyway)

Anyone who's been to Florida for any length of time will tell you, it rains. Often it's just a 30 minute shower in the afternoon but there are times when the rain just doesn't seem to end.

Some of the more common questions I get when people are planning their first trip to Disney World revolve around hurricanes and the question of when is hurricane season. It officially runs from June 1st through November 30th but the "peak season" is from August to October with 96% of the major hurricane days. And the pinnacle of that season is early to mid-September...but don't let that stop you from planning a trip during those dates. In fact, we prefer to go mid-September because the crowd levels are lowest and outside a bit of rain here and there the weather is great.

Keep in mind that Disney World has only shut down completely due to hurricane weather twice. Ever. Once in 2004 and once in 2005. If you plan to go during the hurricane season, there's a couple things you can do to ensure you have the best possible vacation. First, and probably most importantly, look into travel insurance. If you book your trip through Disney-either online or via phone, they will gladly add travel insurance to your package. Secondly, plan. Be aware of the attractions and activities you can do if you're caught in an unending rain. 

Something you may want to do even before it rains is try to do all the "must-dos" for your group that are outdoor and will naturally shut down (ie Big Thunder Railroad...Expedition Everest...etc) during a storm so that if, like on our most recent trip, your last day is a monster storm, you won't have missed anything. For the record, this most recent trip of ours is the ONLY one we've ever had where the rain didn't let up after a little bit of time...it just rained and rained and rained...it was kind of metaphoric since it was also the last day of Joshua's R&R and we had to go back to deployment life.

If it's just another 30 minute Florida afternoon storm, consider doing something like the Hall of Presidents in Magic Kingdom or Finding Nemo Musical in Animal Kingdom to pass the time. Just remember to cover your stroller before you leave it so the kiddos won't have to come out to a wet stroller.

One of our favorite rainy day activities is the Character Meet and Greet inside Epcot. If it looks like a storm won't let up, Disney will bring in extra characters and put them in the hallway. Generally, the fab five...Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald are there but Disney will add Chip and Dale, Daisy and even some of the Princesses to help give the guests something to do. We had a great time playing with the characters on our last day when everything else was either a 60 minute wait or shut down due to the rain. We bought a cheap football from Walmart, threw it in an "ice bag" from the resort room and had all the characters sign it. The "ice bag" kept the signatures from smudging in the rain and gave the characters something to do with the kids...Goofy even spent about 5 minutes playing catch with the boy and another kiddo who was in line behind us.

Running from indoor attraction to indoor attraction and waiting in longer-than-usual lines is not as easy when totting small kids. Instead, you may want to head over to Downtown Disney. You can let the kids go crazy inside Disney Quest-an indoor, interactive Theme Park with five floors of virtual reality, state-of-the-art 3D games divided into four zones: explore, create, score and replay. It would be easy to classify Disney Quest as an arcade but there's so much more to it than that and unlike an arcade, almost all the games and attractions are free (with paid admission...which btw, comes included in a water parks and more option on your Disney ticket package). If you are traveling with little ones, the 4th floor is particularly geared toward them and also has a dining area with booths which I can attest are great for nursing. One caveat, Disney Quest, by it's nature is loud and full of bright flashing lights. It is not something I would recommend for children with autism or a seizure disorder. The other big draw for Downtown Disney is the AMC Downtown Disney Theatres. If you've never tried a "dine-in" theater before, this is a great one...of course, they also have showings without the "dine-in" option.

One of the biggest disappointments that a rainy day will bring is if the nightly fireworks and light shows, Wishes in Magic Kingdom, IllumiNations in Epcot and Fantasmic in Hollywood Studios are canceled. But fear not, there are other fun things to do. One of our favorites (Weds-Sat nights) is at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside Resort. Inside the lounge is a family-friendly piano entertainer/comedian Bob Jackson...better known to us as Piano Bob. The show starts at 8:30pm and features great sing-alongs for the entire family. Bob manages to get everyone from 6 to 86 involved. It's a great place to sit, have a drink and laugh with friends and family...or at friends and family as is often the case. Please note that I do have photos of our great times at various Piano Bob shows over the years but I'm holding onto those for future blackmail purposes.

All in all, it's disappointing when rain invades your Disney World vacation but it doesn't have to ruin the fun. Have a great time and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Ear Infections, Elephants & Earthquakes

It's been a crazy week.

We started it off with a trip to the family doctor because the boy was having a hard time sleeping and that is not the norm. This is the same kid that slept through the night on the night we brought him home from the hospital. I'd like to say we only had to wake him to nurse but honestly, we didn't. He nursed. We changed his diaper. But the boy never really woke up. All that to say, he likes to sleep so when he doesn't, even just one night without crying, I KNOW something's up. Sure enough. He had a double ear infection...again...this is #6 in his short two and a half years but it's only the second over the last year so although we've considered tubes, it's not something we're leaning towards at this point.

Sadly, as a result of the ear infections, we have to nix this week's swim lesson but we did have some fun yesterday at the zoo. Our local zoo recently got their elephants back from a fairly long visit to another zoo...they were on "dates" with some of the other zoo's elephants and the zoologists have been happy to report that at least one of the dates was successful and there will be a new baby elephant at our zoo sometime this May. In addition to the elephants being back, the zoo was opening a whole new elephant area complete with a demonstration pavilion, and a long winding bridge which overlooks the new savanna. I have to give the zoo credit, they did a great job...but it's hard not to compare any zoo experience with Disney World's Animal Kingdom. If you or your kids have never been but love animals, you NEED to go. (And when you do, check out the safari first thing in the morning, it's breath-taking!)

The trip to the zoo was tempered with the sobriety of what was going on in Japan. I have two close friends from high school ( married now, as well as their daughter) stationed on a air base outside of Tokyo and a college friend who was a foreign exchange student and my roommate for a semester from northern Japan. My American friends are safe and I know that the Air Force will take care of them if anything further happens but once I heard where the epicenter was, my heart dropped. It took some time but I got in contact with her and miraculously not only was she safe but her family has all been accounted for as well. There were some injuries but nothing it seems too serious. I pray that they all remain safe and the government is able to get control of their nuclear facilities as soon as possible.

Weather Review

It's been exactly three months since Joshua left for OSUT at Ft Leonard Wood today. I could write about a ton of stuff that the boy and I have done and all that I've learned in the last three months but I'm not in a nostalgic or sappy mood right now so instead, I'd like to recap the weather we've had to endure...(around here, the weather is always a good topic of conversation because it's never boring but these last few months, it's been even more adventurous than normal).

We have...

*been snowed in, twice-once was more ice than snow but same principle

*had the worst hail storm in the state's recorded history

*had 2 tornado watches for our area and one warning which was close enough to send us to the storm shelter (another first in recorded history)

*experienced triple digit degree weather beginning in April (not at all normal for our neck of the woods)

*had a handful of electrical storms-one of which came close enough to bring the neighbor's tree down (kind of glad they're on the other side of the street)

*lost power for at least an hour on 4 separate occasions

and yesterday, we saw the metro area flooded. Over a foot of rain in many parts and one creek near a popular lake rose an estimated 30 feet...yeah, FEET. The local news broadcasters are saying that it was a once in 500 year flood.

Thankfully, through it all, the boy, the dog, the house and I managed to stay undamaged (well, apart from our wind chimes which were taken out in the tornado warning).

I'd like to say all this record breaking weather surprised me but I pretty much expected it as soon as Joshua left. I also expected a plethora of mechanical issues to come up and so they have. My hope now, is that when deployment comes, it'll be boring.

OKLAHOMA...

...where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain...

Well, this state that I love has been living up to it's name as tornado alley (I never understood why Dorthy was from Kansas...they don't get half the tornadoes we do but whatever).

Yesterday was an adventure to be sure. We live precisely in the middle of no where and to live in the middle of no where in the middle of Oklahoma, is truly the middle of no where. That being said, our particular corner of no where just so happens to be a rarity-there has never been a tornado (in recorded memory) to touch down within our town limits. One of our neighbors informed me of this great distinction and went on to say that it's because "we're surrounded by water like a horse shoe." I'm not sure if she was suggesting that the water keeps the tornadoes away or if it's because it's in the shape of a horseshoe...she's kind of special like that and since we've only lived here about a year, I have no idea how true the distinction of no touch downs really is. That being said, it wouldn't surprise me, but mostly because of the size of the town than anything else. It's easy to miss even when you're not a violent rotating column of air.

Yesterday nearly changed all that...even before the meteorologists began their 24 hour coverage and while they were still just trying to update people during the commercials, we saw the signs that all Okies know. The temperature was hot all day and even humid and then it quickly changed, the skies got lower and darker and we knew something was coming.

I should say that I have family in California that think I'm crazy and one (of many) reason(s) is that I LOVE living in tornado alley. I love hearing the sirens go off and running outside to see if I can spot, or even better photograph, a wall cloud form a funnel cloud. I love knowing what "hook echo" and "take your tornado precautions" means. Also, I think they're crazy...earth quakes don't give you dark skies to warn you. You can't feel the pressure change and know it's time to take cover with an earth quake. I have to qualify that although I love the power and the excitement tornado season brings, I hope and pray every year that no one will get hurt...that the touchdowns and damage will be in the middle of a field (preferably not rain-wrapped or at night so we can see it). Yesterday, that's nearly what we got. There were some minor injuries and several buildings were damaged but considering 16 tornadoes hit Oklahoma and 8 touched down in Kansas, it was a good day.

By the time our sirens went off (just for those who don't or haven't lived in an area with tornadoes, when storm systems are suspected of coming in and look to have the same conditions as a severe storm with the ability to produce a tornado, we go into Tornado Watch...when a tornado is suspected of either touching down, about to touch down or conditions are prime for a touch down, we go into Tornado Warning) I knew we'd end up in the storm shelter before the night was through. I had already put our emergency bag together and got the dog's collar on him. The sky was spinning before the sirens went off and when they did, I took a couple pictures with my phone and went into the shelter. Thankfully the tornado closest to us touched down a couple miles north (which in tornado language is pretty far...our meteorologists are the BEST!-they can warn people mile by mile, even block by block to take shelter or be assured it has passed your area and you'll be ok). We came out of the storm shelter to discover we had no power. It took about 4 hours for the power to be restored but I can't complain, I love living in tornado alley.

This (not my picture) was the tornado closest to our home...

right where it should be...it the middle of a field (in the day and not rain-wrapped).

Snow For The Weekend!

Well, it's nearly 9am and my beautiful baby boy is still sleeping (I LOVE that child!). God knew what He was doing when He gave me a kid who also isn't much of a morning person. The hour I get in the morning to read, watch something I DVR'd a week ago or hop online and see what my friends are up to is often my favorite part of the day. Today, it's even more appreciated than most days...yesterday which I previously, erroneously, prematurely labeled as OK didn't end so well but I'll get back to that later.

Just for those who don't live in Oklahoma, we don't get snow (real snow) very often...we do get slush that falls every year and those of us who are not natural-born Okies laugh at some of the locals as they FREAK out. Well, this year's been a bit different. We've had real snow and actually quite a bit of it. The last week has been beautiful...the kind of weather you go outside in jeans and a t-shirt and play "catch me if you can" until the toddler collapses of exhaustion but alas our meteorologists who have all been predicting a blizzard this weekend (in Oklahoma we don't have weathermen, we have meteorologists who all went to the the best meteorology school in the world, the University of Oklahoma-BOOMER SOONER, ok I'm biased, I went there but it really is the best...we have pretty much every weather situation known to land-locked mankind). Of course, alot of people will dismiss our meteorologists predictions but that's most likely because they've never lived somewhere with "weathermen." We have. It was unpleasant. In Oklahoma, when we get a tornado, we're warned mile by mile what's safe and often they break it down to the street level. When my husband was in college and we had to move 750 miles away, the "weathermen" weren't quite so accurate despite the fact that the city we lived in could trump every city in Oklahoma by two fold easily. There was a tornado warning, there was a tornado...unfortunately, the warning and the tornado were about 40 miles apart.

Tangents aside, we knew a blizzard was coming so I loaded the boy up and we headed to Walmart for milk and bread (I normally like to bake my own but sadly, this week hasn't allowed that to happen). There was the typical mayhem before a storm but additionally there were unruly teenagers everywhere waiting for midnight so they could purchase New Moon. I'm a fan of the movie and I admit I went to the midnight showing but I just have to say, if my child EVER behaves like some of those children behaved, his world will end. I'm talking he'll have 3 meals a day, a mattress and maybe a sheet on his bed but not much beyond that. After fighting the crowds and saving my son from being trampled by teenage hooligans who I'm certain were doing some sort of primitive mating ritual, we loaded up the Suburban (yes, I have one child and a suburban...the 90 lb dogs have a little to do with it but mostly I like them). When we got home, I got the boy inside and went back to open the back window...not sure why I didn't just open the hatch but I didn't and when I opened the window...it broke. Not the glass, just the hydraulic arm things that hold it open (btw, "hydraulic arm things" is the most scientifically accurate term). I should mention this has happened once before and my loving husband fixed it in less than 5 minutes...sadly, I'm not so skilled. One side was off and the other side's hydraulic arm thingy wouldn't close so as much as I really just wanted to lay it on the open whole, forget it and go inside, I couldn't. After about 20 minutes of crying and pulling and really not doing much of anything, I think I broke the other side. I'm not really sure but I was able to lay it in the hole and it seems pretty secure...the thing is, in Oklahoma we have really strong winds and as my home and garage were built in 1948, my lovely Suburban must live under our carport. Every couple of hours I would go out and check to make sure the wind hadn't pulled it off and shattered it. I was able to eventually get ahold of two of my husbands friends and it looks like I am going to take it into the shop on Monday which just means that I'm stuck at home for the weekend (probably would have been anyway with the snow...predictions of 6-12 inches is pretty severe for our neck of the woods).

On a positive note, last night was the first night since Joshua left for BCT that our son didn't have a nightmare...I think we may be finally adjusting to our new (temporary) life without him. It's still so strange to have your heart living somewhere else and having NO contact. I'm hopeful he'll get a mailing address soon and maybe even earn some phone privileges. Meanwhile, we have snow to play in!