Urban Camping

This weekend Pittsburgh had the worst winter storm it has seen in 15 years. Yesterday afternoon, We enjoyed watching the snow fall and were talking about what our playing in the snow plans were going to be for today, when suddenly our power went out. So there we were in the middle of a winter storm, no heat, no lights, no oven...and praying that I didn't go in to Labor.

So we lit some candles took the girls up to our bedroom and started our adventure, I wish I could have gotten more pictures...but no light doesn't make for great pics. We talked and played by candle light until the girls fell asleep and not wanting them to get too cold sleeping by alone in their beds, Josh and I arranged our bed "Willa Wanka Grandparent Style" I slept with Mia at the top of the bed and Josh with McKinlee at the bottom. We watched out the window and saw the blue flashes light up the sky as another power line went out, and even saw a tree snap and topple under the weight of the snow. It was a long night, in the morning I pulled some old donuts out of the freezer and we called it breakfast. The rest of the day was spent playing. We taught Mia how to play phase 10, while McKinlee entertained herself by pushing the button on Uno Attack...she would laugh every time the cards shot out at her.

Around 2 the snow stopped, the sun came out and we dug ourselves out. Mia tried her snowboard a little, and McKinlee practiced driving the car while Josh removed the two feet off of it. We were so happy once the power came back on, we all really enjoyed our day back in the 1800's.

Michevious to say the least

McKinlee loves to play with everything, she is very curious and can figure just about everything out. Today I made some banana bread, and started to boil some water for a little Mac and Cheese for McKinlee's lunch. I ran downstairs to grab some ice from the freezer and while down there McKinlee locked the basement door. Yes she has learned to lock the door, but doesn't know how to turn it the other way to unlock it. I knew the bread only had about 5 minutes left of cooking, and the water was boiling so I began to search for something I could use to unlock the door. I couldn't find anything. I had just gotten out of the shower, had on no coat, or shoes and it was snowing outside, but I ran out the back to the front of the apt only to find that the Dead bolt was locked too. So I ran back around to the back and tried to break down the basement door, but being 38 weeks pregnant and only having 4 inches of floor leverage doesn't allow for enough force to break down a door, not to mention that I would have a contraction every time I hit impact. So I decided to grab a screwdriver and take off the door knob, but the front fell off too and now I had a locked door with no knob. AAAHHHHH!!!! I could smell the bread burning and had no idea how much water was left in the pan I could hear McKinlee crying and despite her best efforts she couldn't find my phone. So I ran back outside and began to knock on the neighbors doors, (the office was closed for lunch) trying to find someone home so I could call the emergency Maintenance number to come let me in. I finally found someone that was home, and they were kind and giving me socks and shoes and a coat to wear, but really I just wanted to get back to my apt; where I could at least look in and see McKinlee. After about 30 minutes from the beginning of this whole ordeal, Maintence showed up and let me in. I ran in grabbed my tear stained faced little girl, who was trying to put the door knob back on, pulled the charred bread out of the oven, and turned off the less than 1/2 of an inch of remaining boiling water. Glad everything was ok, but now I am going to cuddle with my now clinging baby and take a nap as the adrenalin rush wears off.

McKinlee the bartender

Orange Crush, Roast Beef, Mashed potatoes, Carrots, Corn, and Gravy on the rocks....mmmm!