It all started during Calyssa's birthday party. We received about 2-3 inches of snow, which is (sadly) enough to shut down most things around here (We don't have many snowplows and such.) Even though there wasn't much left by Monday, when the girls finally got to really play in it, they still built a little snowman. (Sariah's window Snowman drawing looked like he fit well also, with the snow outside.)
By Monday night, the weather reports were warning of 12-15 inches of snow, and schools and such, were closing down before any of it had fallen. I have to admit that I wasn't sure that I really believed that it would be as bad as everyone said that it would be.
Well, sure enough, the snow came... all of it!! We all had fun playing in the snow! We spent the day with our neighborhood friends- walking/crawling around in the snow, building snowmen and snowforts, doing snow angels, having snowball fights, burying our legs in the snow (or turning ourselves into snow mermaids), and just having fun being together! We also warmed ourselves with yummy foods and a nice warm fire. Not only was there a perfect amount of snow for building things (and being stuck at home together) but the snow was perfect for building and the temperature outside was perfect also (not too cold.) We all had such a fun time! Calyssa had so much fun that everytime I tried to take her back inside, she started screaming. I finally just had to make her come in with me, even though she wasn't happy about it.
The next predictions were for rain that would melt away all the snow. It was predicted for the next day.
The rains came but not the way we all expected. Instead, we had freezing rain that lasted all day and covered everything with a thick layer of ice. (I have never seen anything quite like it.)
It broke and damaged SO many trees, which I think was the saddest part of the storm. (It is sad to drive around now and see all the damaged trees that will never be the same again.) It was the most eerie sound to listen to the tree branches and trees snapping, breaking off, and falling. It sounded like gun shots going off, over and over and over. Scary! I was so thankful we didn't have to worry about one falling on our house. (Although, while we were at my parents' house, we worried about our van.)
Another problem was the crazy amount of power outages. I heard that 2/3rds (like 200,000/300,000) of Puget Sound Energy customers were without power. I can't even imagine working for them during that time. They are working their tails off and getting hardly any sleep, and I'm sure people are constantly calling and chewing them out, instead of thanking them. I, for one, sure appreciated the long hours they all put in that week. We lost power for about 2 days, which we spent over at my parents' house. We were only able to get over there because we had chains for our van. (I actually didn't mind the power being out. I absolutely loved the silence and spent the time, before we left, cleaning the girls' rooms by candle light. But it was also really fun to spend the time with my parents and younger brother, Joe.) We were one of the lucky ones, as some people had no power for over a week. (Schools were cancelled for a full week. Restaurants and stores were closed the first day or two and I also heard that some of them, like Costco, were running on generators for a couple of days.)
We hung out with my family and we did some sewing. Riana finished sewing her pajamas and I finally made the baby blanket for Calyssa (both with guidance from my Mom. She gave us both the material, as gifts for Riana's birthday and Calyssa's baby shower.) It was really fun to make the blanket and much easier than I was expecting.
We also had the chance to see the awesome snow sculptures that my Mom (Snoopy) and my brother, Joe, (My Little Pony) made. So amazing!! And the snow looked so pretty (almost fake!), like a shiny, soft blanket, with the ice on the top!
The good thing about the freezing rain was that the snow didn't melt as fast as expected and so the flooding wasn't as bad as they were expecting. However, there was still a bit of flooding, especially because more rains came. The girls were quite impressed with how much the "pond area" filled up.
All in all, it was a pretty crazy storm- one of the craziest I have ever personally witnessed. And I think everyone learned a thing or two. Hopefully, everyone will use the knowledge to become better prepared.
