living in the 1800s

As family and friends know, we were hit by Hurricane Irene and lost power for almost 96 hours.  It was a time of family stress as we begged family and friends for shelter and support, while trying to entertain two very active children.  I kept a photo journal of the Hurricane aftermath, which shows what in the world we did for all of that time.

Lessons learned:
1. When meeting a new neighbor, you should greet them as such, "Hi. Welcome, blah, blah, what they said.  Do you have a generator?"
2.  When preparing for the storm, beat the rush and grab 4000 D batteries because a) they will be nowhere to be found, b) you'll use them like water, c) they're a great bartering item.
3.  Before shit hits the fan, buy alcohol.  Nothing worse than no power and no booze.
4.  Buy an ample supply of Kleenex, so when you lose your entire refrigerator and freezer, which is worth hundreds of dollars, you'll have something to wipe your tears.
5.  Practice diapering in the dark: little annoying, and consequently messy, to learn on the fly.

Here's us the night Irene hits the beach:

First night without power.  This is before the laptop battery died (obviously).

Photo shoot with Reagan and her new pony tail.  Ashton's asleep, but no concern about being outside while he snoozes, since every window possible is open. 

Out to dinner with Keshia for her birthday.  Visit was extended, so that we could enjoy the sand and sculptures for entertainment sake.

Had to take advantage of McDonald's play place since every park was closed for tree removal and inspection.  How convenient.

Trip to PetsMart, which is much like a zoo, but has air-conditioning.

Our preference is to have one of us stay home with the kids while the other one plays softball, especially since these games start at 8:15 p.m.  However, the kids didn't sleep much through the debacle, so we brought them along.  They were so covered in dirt by the end that they looked like no one owned them.