This was the only (arguably) decent photo that my kids would allow on a quick walk around Powder Valley this afternoon. Otherwise, I got this:

Or this:

*sigh* Even the deer were more cooperative than my offspring. There are THREE deer in this picture and not once did they belch at the camera or give each other wedgies. 

I think we were kind of slap happy because of how weird our weekend has been. The only reason we were walking around Powder Valley in the rain was because our power was out at home. I fully expected our power to go out yesterday when a tornado damaged the police department and mall down the street from us. But, to my surprise, our lines survived the sideways winds and hail. *exhale* Then this morning the power just clicked off for no apparent reason. There wasn’t even a decent breeze going — but it was lights out. Go figure. Fortunately it was restored by the time we got home from our goofy jaunt, so all is well. 

Lesson learned from yesterday’s tornado: those sirens really do go off for a reason. Truth be told, I’ve never taken those sirens seriously. In our first house, a tornado siren was the only reason I met any of my neighbors — and the only time I ever saw a few of them. The siren went off and we were all stupid enough to go outside and look for it. “You see it? I don’t see anything.” So that’s been my attitude about sirens ever since. Including yesterday. The kids and I were heading home and heard the sirens go off. The weather was nasty, but I shrugged it off and pulled into a drive thru to pick up food. Drew got a little panicked and said, “Mom, I see something moving over there. The clouds are rotating.” I laughed (he’s such a tornado-phobe) and assured him it was nothing. Then we went home and flipped on the television. Guess what that nothing was? We were just around the corner from the mall and the police department. I’ll never hear the end of this one.