Vacationing with Debby

On Saturday, we set out for Florida, dreaming of sunshine and playing in the sand for a week, along with the entire Anderson family. With my mom's siblings living in two other states, it's rare that we all get together, and this was to be a memorable family reunion on the beach.

Levi was a champ on the plane, loving every second of being entertained by Grammy and Grandy, until he finally crashed.

When we arrived, it was raining, but we didn't think much of it. What's a little rain on a travel day, anyway? But then, we met Debby. And boy is she a cheeky one. Debby invaded our island with fury, churning up the water, knocking out our power for the day, flooding streets, dirtying our pool, sending 40-50 mph winds gusting at us… and perhaps worst of all, forcing us to keep a 17-month old corralled inside all day.

It's a good thing I have such a fun family. They pulled out puppets and books for our little dude, chased him from one end of the house to the other and back again about 100 times, and gave that little ball of energy so much love and attention. GP even taught him to scoot down the stairs, a concept that will benefit us long after this vacation is over!

When he couldn't stay awake any longer, nap time was the perfect opportunity for adult playtime! We played beach games inside, made our own waves to boogie board in, juggled, and played a competitive game of monopoly on the iPad. And about the time we'd had enough of a stuffy, humid house, the power finally came back on. Hooray!

While Levi experienced the pool in the middle of a tropical storm, Grandy and Grammy got to experience the island grocery store. They were soaked upon their return!

While we knew it had been a crazy day, we didn't realize how severe the weather was until just before bed, when we pulled up CNN and saw that Debby was the top story. We were shocked to see that the road we drove in on the night before had been closed yesterday. Had we arrived one day later, we would have been stuck somewhere other than our beach house. Additionally, the island we originally looked at visiting, one that my family vacationed on in my childhood, had faced mandatory evacuations yesterday. Had we gone there instead, as I had originally predicted we would, who knows where we would have ridden out the storm!

Debby may have altered our plans for the weekend, but it looks like she's now on her way out of town. So long, Debby. You came, you saw, and you conquered… and we're ready for our sand and sun now.