The wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch

While this was happening one block away, we were in our 'fraidy hole'. I'm not being dramatic here, no hyperbole for this writer's benefit. Our apartment is across the street and one block down from the National Weather Service. We knew that the weather was supposed to be rough for the evening (actually through Sunday), but when the sirens started blaring we knew it was time to take cover.

We tried to keep the situation as light as possible, for Ava's benefit. We played with toys and Daddy actually stopped studying for a little while! She was convinced that we were actually hearing a train.

Hold on to your helmets.

We've got cows!

Other than some wind damage (a huge branch fell in our parking lot and squashed a car), and no electricity for a while we were fine. Thanks to everyone who checked in on us. Remember, cell phone coverage is very sporadic during these storms. Just because you can't reach us doesn't mean we're in the suck zone.

See? She's fine. I promise. And, as my sweet friend Katy pointed out, this helmet hides her new chopped bangs quite nicely.