Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Floods oh my!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who checked in on us to make sure we were o.k. during Hurricane Irene. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. It is nice to know we have people looking out for us.

We started school off with an earthquake. That first weekend brought Hurricane Irene, and now we are dealing with some flooded roads as it has been raining pretty steadily for 3 days now. It really is quite a collection of weather and geographical phenomenon we've experienced.

It would seem that we are back to normal routine (well, mostly normal). Last week, we only had one day of school as the school was in one of the areas that lost power. The school regained power around 5:00 Wednesday evening, but they had already called the day of school and did not want to mess around with parents' child care arrangements, so the kids had four days off last week courtesy of Hurricane Irene. I am still of the opinion that they should have had school Thursday, but that is a different blog post perhaps.

On day two of our hurricane sponsored mini-break, we joined some friends for a day at the National Zoo. I love the National Zoo. It isn't as big and grand as many other zoos, but it is really fun, has something for everyone, and because it is part of the Smithsonian, is free. Jon got to see his beloved giant pacific octopus. Ashley and her friend Abby were able to go up to the bird house (a part of the zoo we have previously neglected), and Sammy got to visit the great ape house. In fact, when we left the great ape house, the orangutans were crossing the wires built for them from their outdoor area all the way to the Think Tank. I'd never seen this on previous trips. My friend Stefanie has been to the National Zoo many times and had not previously seen this, but what a fun sight for all. I am only sorry my nephews who were here for a visit in late June didn't get to see this.































So, by the end we were all very ready for school to come back. Sammy said it felt like first grade had never really happened. It really almost felt like first day of school take two on Tuesday sending them back for almost an entire week. It has been an entire week of indoor recess though as it has been raining since Monday afternoon. We were glad for the break but are very glad to be back.

In above pictures, you can see the alligator hanging out in the grass outside the reptile house, the whole gang of kids from that day, and the male lion. Behind him are the lion cubs born earlier this year. You can see that they are starting to resemble full grown lions more than cubs.