A very sad John came home Thursday night and I tried to be sad for him, but I was mostly just glad he was safe from harm. We did a lot of nothing after work Friday, but Saturday morning we headed to his parents' house before the weather got bad.
The whole family came together and we ate a boatload of crabs. Love crabs! The power did go off for a bit while we were eating, but it came back within an hour. Then, as it continued to pour down rain and blow tree branches all over the yard, we just had good family time. Caroline proved herself adorable. John and I stayed up late with his sister and her boyfriend playing Cranium and cards, part of the time by flashlight. The weather was crazy, but really nothing more than a 14 hour thunderstorm. Sure we lost power on and off, but we had an amazing time being trapped indoors.
The next day was beautiful. I started the day with a 2 year old yelling "Lissa! Apple Jack!" (her favorite My Little Pony) which was followed promptly by coffee. Then we wandered around to see what kind of damage there was. There were leaves/branches everywhere...a very green yard. A few bigger trees feel behind Uncle Glen's house, and some minor trees were across the road. Luckily everyone has tractors so the road was quickly cleared. Some leaf raking happened later in the day.
John and I decided to go fishing at the pond behind his grandparents' house. Caroline ended up there with us. She was pretty excited. Until the first fish John caught flapped around wildly when she tried to pet it. Scared the life out of her! She ran away screaming. I'm yelling at John (who had wandered to get more worms) because I think the fish actually jumped out of the bucket and was flapping on the ground (it was safe in the bucket). It was a mess. Caroline was terrified of fish from then on and hide behind me every time we caught one. Of course, she was thrilled when Mom came home with a kiddie fishing pool...which she then pretend fished with in her kiddie pool all night long.
And somewhere in there Caroline bashed her face in by jumping off a pile of couch cushions. I'm pretty sure John and I will be allowed to babysit again, but seriously, I would be worried if I came home and my kid was afraid of fish and had a gash on her forehead. I think Shannan forgave us.
So, I'm pretty sure I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I love John's family, they're happy I'm back in the picture, and there's nothing more amazing watching John with Caroline. Well, except maybe for crabs. They're really good. There was an insane amount of love in that house that weekend and I felt amazing for days afterwards. Who knew a hurricane could be some calming and feel so great.
