Thankful

In the 12+ years since we moved to Florida, we have been extremely fortunate to only endure 3 hurricanes - Hurricane Matthew in 2016 (2 weeks before Lil' Miss' due date) thankfully we didn't lose power, Hurricane Irma in 2017 where we lost power for a week and now Hurricane Ian. I'm heartbroken to see the devastation on the gulf coast, but am confident they will rebuild and be stronger than ever. 

We were hit with the worst part of the storm overnight on Wednesday (why can't they ever roll through during the day?), and woke up on Thursday to still having power albeit flickering a lot. The yard was covered in debris, the pool was brown and we had a lot of standing water. Thankfully our neighborhood wasn't flooded, but a lot nearby were. We did end up losing power around 10:30 that morning, and were extremely relieved when we came home from dinner the following evening that it was back on. We were prepared to be without it for several days again, but are thankful that wasn't the case. It's incredible how much we rely on electricity - internet, lights, garage door openers, the pool pump, charging our phones, the refrigerator, watching tv etc... Even though we did our best not to buy a lot of perishables leading up to the storm, and eat what we could beforehand I was upset to throw away so much food. I am not a fan of waste.

Someone was excited for an excuse to break out her rain boots and umbrella to stomp in the puddles before the storm fully arrived. I told her that was it for a while because it would be too dangerous to be outside.

This was what we woke up to - a flooded and brown pool. There's a small slope in the backyard, and when water builds up all the dirt pours down into the pool. Thankfully, it is almost back to normal again because I know a certain little girl who can't wait to jump back in. 

We spent most of Saturday cleaning up the yard, and removing debris which was no joke. I wish I was wearing a fitness tracker because it totally wiped me out. Then on Sunday, we met up with friends who also have annual passes at Universal to de-stress and ride some rides. We had a marathon of a day with lower wait times:

Universal Studios

• Transformers
• Simpsons
• Splash Zone
• Hogwarts Express from Kings Cross to Hogsmeade

Islands of Adventures

• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
• Flight of the Hippogriff
• Velocicoaster
• Jurassic Park River Ride
• Spiderman
• Storm Force Accelatron
• The Hulk
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

I'm also thankful for each and every one of you. My heart was full with the outpouring of texts and DM's checking in to make sure we were ok after the storm. Thank you <3