Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian showed up the end of September and gave us 1 full week off of school! He was projected to hit us on Wednesday so they gave the kids Tuesday off so everyone could prepare. We didn't have a whole lot of prep... just moving things off the back porch to some place secure. We had plenty of water, gas and supplies. The kids enjoyed the free day with their cousins. 

Wednesday was pretty overcast, a little windy and rainy but we had the best family day! Ian slowed a bit and wasn't projected to hit us until the early morning Thursday. So we played pool football and fished and swam. I made a yummy dinner. We invited Heather and Ryan and the kids over to eat, puzzle and play. The kids were in the pool until 11:00pm!! It was a fun day. 

We slept through the worst of the storm. Daniel headed out to Wild Florida to assess early Thursday morning and the kids slept in from the late night. We had a decent sized tree branch down in our driveway and a lot of moss, sticks and tree debris everywhere but all-in-all we fared well. We lost power for about 45 minutes and our generator kicked in without a hitch... didn't skip a beat! So I was able to still cook breakfast without another thought. 

Most of Thursday was mildly stormy so the kids had round 2 of the pool, fishing, swimming, etc... 

Friday could have been one of the most beautiful days I've ever experienced in Florida. It was a fresh, cool day, clear sunny skies and you'd never think a storm just crossed over us, leaving destruction in its path. We utilized the good weather and did a day full of serious yard work. Lots and lots of raking into piles all over and then collecting the piles. Took us all of Friday and half of Saturday but we finished!

Sadly, the worst of the storm happened after the fact when we (meaning Osceola County) experienced some fairly severe flooding. Our lake came up super high... submerged our neighbors entire dock but ours was fine. Wild Florida's dock was completely submerged and their store/gift shop flooded. Their gator park was completely underwater as well. Luckily the safari could remain open but airboat rides closed for weeks. You never know what hurricane season will bring!