Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season

Hurricane Season: It's one of my favorite things about living on the gulf coast.  It's also the source of a lot of frustration.  By the time you can read this, you will no doubt be aware of my affinity for any kind of storm, but particularly hurricanes.  As much as I enjoy a good beach day, with blue skies and tons of sunshine, I feel a rush of excitement over a driving rain and blustery winds.  Hurricanes and tropical storms are just part of life when you live in Florida.  I am just in awe of their power.  And who wouldn't love an excuse to throw a hurricane party?  I don't even mind losing electricity for a while.  That's just a chance to bust out some board games and crafts.  So when they announce that a storm is on its way, I watch the news with anticipation.  I avoid buying perishable foods and plan which foods will thaw first, if it comes to that, so we can barbecue accordingly.  I pre-make some sandwiches, cut up fresh fruit and buy drinks in individual servings so we can have a cooler full of food at our disposal. The planner in me makes a rare appearance during these situations.  So when these fickle storms change their mind at the last minute and head elsewhere (as often happens), the storm-chaser and hurricane-party-planner in me is understandably disappointed.  

Barely windy.  We've had gustier days without a storm off the coast.

Tropical Storm Isaac was no different.  We were expecting it to become a hurricane and make landfall by Monday.  Daddy acted accordingly and pulled the outdoor toys and furniture indoors.  

"Helping" Daddy take down the trampoline.

I went through the motions of making sure we had what we needed to get by for a few days, if necessary.  We made an all-important (to Sydney) trip to the craft store to grab a few crafty things and buy fabric to make clothes for her toy sheep.  For some inexplicable reason, this was extremely urgent.  

You've heard of a wolf in sheep's clothing?  Well, here's where the sheep got the clothing.

But, as usual, the storm passed us by.  I watched in annoyance as the weather anchors announced that we had "been spared."  Sure, we had a little rain and some mild wind, but honestly we have better storms all summer.  What a bummer.  I keep joking that a hurricane is a Florida baby's right of passage.  You need to experience one to be a true Florida Cracker. So I suppose you aren't 100% Floridian just yet.  But all was not lost.  Your dad and I have made it a habit to try to head to the beach just before a storm.  The gulf is magical when there's a tropical system brewing in it.  The air is filled with electricity, the waves are surging and the wind is cool, yet humid.  And, usually, only the locals show up, which is kind of a recipe for beach perfection.  We headed out to take a walk on the beach on a particularly overcast Saturday, not expecting to see a sunset at all.  Imagine our surprise when, just above the horizon, the sun found a spot to make its escape and shower those hazy clouds in the most glorious light.  It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen in my life.  And that's saying a lot, because I've seen quite a few.  Pure magic.

The skies were grey and overcast.

But then the sun decided to make an appearance.

Saying goodbye to the sun.

Ad it just got prettier and prettier.

All in all, much of the weekend was spent preparing for a storm that never came.  While we were figuring out how to take apart the trampoline, you were figuring out how to say some new words.  You now say "dog" and "no" (the actual word accompanies the head-shaking) and "I love you"...I know what you're thinking.  That no way a 10 1/2 month old baby can say a three-word sentence yet.  But nobody has told you that it's a three-word sentence.  You think it's just a really long word that we say all of the time.  And, perhaps because you hear it so much, and, perhaps because you are part parrot, you have begun to rattle off a three-syllable sound that sounds just like "I love you", minus the actual proper pronunciation.  It's happened on four separate occasions now, so I feel confident in saying that it's intentional.  No way it's a fluke.  Other big girl things are happening, too.  Your baths are now officially taken in the big tub, with Sydney.  You are a slippery little sucker and you slip and slide all over the place.  I can't take my hands off of you for a second.  It provides much entertainment for Sydney and an arm workout for me, but I really need to invest in some of those sticky tub grippy-things.  I'm pretty sure that's not the technical term, but it'll have to do for now.  We've also made a complete jump to finger foods.  You were going backward in your food progress, so I started giving you actual table food, diced into miniature pieces, to gain your interest.  It's really important to me that you like a variety of healthy, whole foods.  We'll figure out how to get your eating back on track.  I really don't think you will want me showing up to your kindergarten lunch to nurse you.  

This little guy must've blown out of its nest.  We (and his momma) watched over him all day.

Checking out the mess the storm left behind.

This week has been all about getting your room ready to actually move you into.  Sydney has been very patient with me, but the blank walls were making me crazy.  I'm finally making some progress and will post some pictures once I'm happy with the way it looks.  You absolutely love playing in there, which makes me very happy.  I feel like your whole world is our living room right now and I'm kind of looking forward to the days when you can toddle around so that at least we can start exploring.  August is coming to an end, and even though the calendar insists that fall starts in October, I have my own way of thinking of the seasons. I consider September-November to be fall.  If only the weather would cooperate.  We had a few cool mornings last week that were both exciting and depressing.  It will be a while before the weather cools down, but by then we should be taking nature walks together.  I think I'll light an apple candle on September 1st, in honor of the imaginary beginning of fall, however.  Happy "Almost Fall", little pumpkin!