TORNADIC SLEEPOVER

Three tornadoes ripped through Vicksburg last night while Cora was at a sleepover. We knew bad weather was predicted though, so we sent her with her helmet for the occasion! Despite multiple hours stuck in the closet, she had a great time! Sarah and I texted each other throughout (not much else to do when you're stuck in the bathroom!), so I always knew they were safe (didn't stop any of us from worrying about the next hit, but at least we had reception to continually check in with each other). One of the tornadoes went right through their new neighborhood, but thankfully not their street (and their house made it through with zero damage, as did ours - none of the tornadoes were down on our south end of town). It took some planning to get her picked up the next day due to so many downed trees and lack of power throughout much of town, but we made it work (and Jay spent the rest of the day out and about with his chainsaw helping friends and coworkers clear their yards, driveways, and streets).

Tornado warning #1

Tornado warning #2 (came through even before the first was cleared)

A short break in storms gave us enough time to check for flooding around the house and gather some of the animals to safety before tornado warning #3 hit

And then all was well and the girls got on with their playdate (and stayed up VERY late, as per usual with them, but did not sleep in much)

NOT OUR FAVORITE SEASON

Tornado warnings call for bathroom time with every animal we can capture in a split second.

ICY DAYS

It's been just a wee bit cold here the past few days...

POWER'S OUT (AGAIN)

The wind blew (about 70mph, actually) and most of the town lost power (after many of them being without water for 3+ days). Poor Aunt Margie and Grambot... such a wild trip to Vicksburg this time around! We spent their last afternoon playing board games by headlamp and candlelight, then grilled our dinner. At least we're well equipped for these outages nowadays!

10" STORM

While sitting at the vineyard yesterday afternoon, my phone rang with a Code Red Weather Alert, which was quickly followed by a text from Jay and my making a call to Jean (who was home with the kids while Jay was at a meeting, and I worried she wouldn't see the text, since the kids tend to keep her a tad bit busy when she visits). She had just made dinner, so she and the kids rushed to the bathroom to eat their ham and mac-n-cheese while the tornado warning passed.

 But then there was another tornado warning...

 And another...

 So they basically spent 3 hours trapped in the bathroom while I stressed about their safety from 2000 miles away. As soon as there was a break in the intensity of the storm (not that the storm stopped, but it slowed slightly for a short bit), Jay carefully made his way across town and arrived before the next deluge. They ended up losing power before bedtime (and it stayed out for about two and a half days because our substation flooded and there were trees down on lines all over town) and only the kids slept much overnight, since the rain continued to pound (they ended up getting 10" in the 12 hours of nonstop rain), the thunder and lightening kept up all night, and because I called Jay (in a near panic) as I drove up to Sacramento because I continued to get weather warnings (mostly flash flood warnings at that point) and hadn't heard from him (I didn't know he had gone to bed).

 Lack of power doesn't get them down! Gramma knows how to keep them busy ;-)

ZY

We have been puppy sitting for the past few days. Zy is a little 20 lb bundle of energy, always on your heels or under your feet, and sweet as can be with kisses and snuggles. The kids (and Buster) already miss her! But I bet she'll be back...

 Little dogs don't like big storms...

 ...so we broke the rules and let her on the couch to snuggle for safety

 She wore Buster out!

SLEETSTORM

Doom and gloom (had been projected for days, and it arrived just in time to cancel mom and dad's flight and strand them in the 'Burg for an extra day (which ended up being 3 days, since the airport didn't reopen as expected on Saturday, and then so many people were backed up that getting everyone on flights was a challenge). The kids loved it, of course, and we greatly enjoyed our extra "found" time with them! Cora went outside to check out the sleet and ice and snow as soon as it stopped coming down, and James waited until bedtime to go play. It was really slick out there (Buster slipped a few times) and there was no way we could have driven up the driveway to go anywhere - good thing we had plenty of food and wine already at the house!)

 (even the ravine behind our house was iced over)

 Icicles!

 Christmas lights under the thin layer of sleet/snow...

 ...we didn't have a White Christmas, but the lights were still up, so why not take a photo!

The next day brought the opportunity to crack through the ice in the pond...

 Check out the map of snow/ice in the south... no wonder everything shut down for a few days!