We are coming off of one of the worst storms in South Dakota history. Interestingly you both were relatively unscathed by this storm and aside from a little crankiness your routine was not too disrupted.
A little blizzard history. Mom and dad used to rule at blizzards. Our preparations included getting some adult beverages, junk food, cribbage board, and playing cards. We have weathered some blizzards out here in Weston Heights. We even built world famous snow sculptures. Never. Not one. Have we lost power. So naturally it did not even occur to us that this storm would cAuse such widespread outages that it would also impact us. Had it been mom and dad alone we would have rocked no power. We would have welcomed the adventure. Possibly built some snow forts, and definitely not cared that we had no power. Okay. We would have missed the tv for sure. But after 8 years of no outages having the first one with a three week old and nearly two year old seemed cruel. I wanted to curl up on the couch and cry because I was pretty sure we wouldn't make it. Obviously we did because I'm writing about it.
Friday was when the storm started raging. It oddly began with downpours of rain. Then the next morning it started to snow. Coated with ice our beautiful tree, that I love, started to sag. Slowly it and our ugly tree started losing branches and then some more branches. 
All you could hear basically all day long was branches snapping and wind. Lots and lots of wind. The day was much like any other snowy day. We cleaned, baked, cooked, and napped. Then around 6:00 we lost power.
Totally caught off guard we scurried around trying to gather up flashlights, candles, and blankets. At 6:30 the lights came back on. We cranked the head up to around 80 and got it really hot in the house. That probably saved us that night because at 7:00 we lost power for good. I was super scared. You two and dad were not. We went to bed and it got COLD. Well, it got down to 50. It was hard to keep you warm Baby Waider because no matter what we put on you you took it off. And you were like an ice cube. It was hard to know if I was keeping little brother warm or over heating him. I pretty much held him nonstop.
By the next morning reports were that we would be without power until late Sunday night. Dad made the decision to move us to the camper. Problem was that we couldn't get to the camper. So dad being the hero of the day and an Eagle Scout literally built us a path to the camper. We had to go almost on top of the roof of the house and back down again to get to the camper. He even built steps down to the door. He had the generator almost on the roof of the house!!! It was unreal. I was super impressed and warm. Which made me very happy.
Once we were in the camper Baby Waider started a game called shower. You played in the shower and opened and closed the door for over an hour. Little brother slept. As any nearly two year old you were a little out of sorts not being in your routine. You didn't nap and were sort of a disaster. But at least we were warm. Dad took you out to play and you had a blast with all the snow. Saturday evening we ate dinner (oatmeal) we let you pick. Then we played shower some more. You were sticking soap, body wash, and shampoo into your sleeper and zipping it up and walking around with it in your sleeper. Not sure why but you thought it was hilarious. Also, you jumped on the bed, and watched the Michael Jackson documentary, which you loved. You danced and danced. Takeaways from this blizzard:
1. Be prepared. Always.
2. Don't ever question the purchase of an obscenely large generator. The one time you need to use it it will be worth it's weight in gold.
3. Electricity is the best thing around and should be honored every single day.
4. Hot water should not be taken for granted.
5. Cell phones and electronics really do rule and are dearly missed when they run out of power.
6. Being with the right people can make any situation better.
7. Always run your dishwasher and shower. Once you've lost power it's just too late.
I'm sure there are way more lessons learned that we will discover even down the road. Until then here are some storm pics!!
All bundled up!
Warm camper!
Generator almost on the roof.
So glad we are all safe. Thanks for keeping us warm, dad!!
Love,
Mama
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