As everyone knows, Hurricane Irma was quite the ordeal for Florida. That was true for us here in Tallahassee as well. I'll start by saying we really dodged a bullet. It was supposed to be and could have been so.much.worse.
We were out of school Friday-Wednesday of hurricane week. The Thursday night beforehand, Governor Rick Scott issued a statewide school closure for all public schools for Friday and Monday. Dustin was home from work as well. Because Dustin and I are such planners, we were prepared well in advance and these days off were truly vacation like. We had spent the previous weekend stocking up on supplies such as ice, pantry items, candles, batteries, flashlights, lighters, etc. We kept our gas topped off all week as well and Dustin filled up our extra gas jug that we use for the mower as well.
So, I spent Friday morning at Dustin's office getting a massage and IV therapy and then headed to the gym while Dust played at home with the babies. It was a nice morning of being pampered and the babies loved having a special morning with daddy all to themselves.
That evening, we had Sydney come watch the babies so that we could go on a much needed date night! Vacation like, I am telling you! LOL
We went to dinner and then took our time driving from store to store. We did some shopping, stopped for some yummy green tea at Starbuck's and even delivered some wine to our dear friends the Walkers.
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| Boarded up in preparation |
Amy in turn gave me some goodies to take home. Homemade banana muffins for the babies and Halo ice cream for me.
We spent the rest of the weekend monitpring the storm. It was supposed to head up the east coast of Florida but at some point on Saturday, the track changed and it was heading straight for Tampa.
While Dustin and I have never watched so much weather channel (and held our breath for such a long weekend...) we did enjoy these stolen days at home with our precious boys!
We were even able to hit up the gym together!
The weekend was actually beautiful! It was eery actually to know such a storm was on its way.
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| X got lots of mail! |
Weather channel, national hurricane center app, dress up, checking supplies and repeat. For 4 days!
The babies said that spaghetti for dinner Saturday night would make them feel less scared of the storm :)
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| We even sat at their special table |
Sunday morning, things got real. It did not look good. At one point, Tallahassee was predicted to get a category 3 hurricane. It was possible that if it continued on its path, it would miss Tampa, build steam and hit Tally with a vengeance. We were scared. I won't lie!
Waking up to this alert was not fun.
Sunday, we told ourselves that we were prepared but if the worse were to happen, we would evacuate. This storm was so unpredictable that by the time they realized it was heading for the west coast, they had evacuated the wrong portion of the state. The resources (gas) were dwindling and it was too late for the people who actually needed to evacuate.
Ultimately, it hit Tampa and we knew it wouldn't be as bad as it could have been. We had lots of old friends from that area that STILL don't have power! We did not evacuate but seriously considered it for a few hours. I am thankful that we stayed. We had lots of friends that evacuated and getting home was hellish. 3 hour drives were taking 18 hours.
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| Luke found his safe spot! |
Sunday, the last thing we did was pull a car in the garage, put all of the porch items awaya, film every room of our home and outdoors incase we needed it later for insurance purposes. It was crazy.
Dust and his helpers placed the sandbags and all that was left to do was wait.
Oh, and eat cupcakes that the Walkers dropped off. All we did was stress cook and stress eat teh whole week!
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| Midnight's hurricane bath! |
Just in case it was our last cheat meal for a while, we ordered some pizza before it closed for the weekend at 4pm.
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| It was worth it! |
We went to bed Sunday night and the wind came around midnight. Limbs started falling and it was loud and terrifying. It was just like Hermine last season. Ultimately, we all ended up sleeping in Luke's room which is the farthest from any trees. Our biggest fear this time around was a tree falling on our home. We have so many in our yard.
We made it safely and soundly through the night and woke up to a messy yard and lots of limbs but no damage. The worst of the storm was supposed to hit at 2PM Sunday but that was definitely not the case for us. The worst was at night and though there were strong winds during the day, the worst had passed by 11AM as the hurricane shifted once again.
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| Baby Storm Watchers |
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| Stress Cleaning |
After the mayor made the "all clear call" via social media, we all breathed a collective deep breath. We had not realized the mental exhaustion a week of hurricane worry and prep puts on you! Now it was time to assess the damage.
We went for a little drive that evening and saw lots of big trees down.
We were more thankful than ever for no damage to our home!
The next day it was beautiful outside once again and it was cleanup time!
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| Daddy blowing of the driveway...and the big boy :) |
Overall, we were prepared and ready for the worst and are so thankful it wasn't bad! Our hearts go out to those friends whose home in the Keys and Tampa were destroyed. South Florida took a beating but everyone we know was safe and sound and for that we are grateful!
