Ice Storm 07

I have to admit, when the silly weathermen came on the air Monday with a big "Ice Storm '07" graphic, talking for HOURS about how bad it was going to be, I mocked them. I didn't believe it would be so bad. I attributed their over excitement to their desire to justify their "dual doppler" radar and the "Vipir Storm System" on which they had spent millions of dollars. Liza went shopping, I went to work, and rain fell on the wet (but not at all icy) streets all day long. Most of Austin was "hunkered down" and we mocked them openly.

Then came Tuesday. The rain kept falling all night long, but the temperature dropped below freezing. Rather than coating the ground with a nice snow, it encased everything in a large ice cube. You can see my car below. I spent 30 minutes chipping the hole in the ice so I could see just a tiny bit to pull the Kia in the garage. (It looks like the glass is broken, but it isn't. There is just 3/4" of ice coating the entire car.)

The trees had each individual leaf coated with a leaf-shaped ice cubes an inch thick. The Live Oaks, which stretch out over the ground, were bending down and touching the ground. The bridges were frozen solid with snow 6 inches deep over 2 inces of ice, and everything came to a halt. We stayed home. We had little choice. But, we had fun.

Isabella and Zach went out to play in the ice ( and see the big fluffy snowflakes that did finally fall) and see how the yard was one big ice rink that crunched as you walked on it. Hoosier didn't know what to do, and didn't enjoy hearing it crackle under him as he tried to do his business.

Here is Isabella playing in the ice and snow.

She gathered up snow in her bucket and had a great time.

Zach wasn't sure what to do with it, but that didn't stop him from sampling the leaves covered in ice.

The kids spent most of the 3 days in their pajamas. Isabella enjoyed wearing her tutu over her hers.

Zach was a little tired of it all by the end, but didn't stop looking cute.

Finally, today, the weather warmed up a bit, and the ice started to melt. Outside, the ice was falling off the trees like hail, as well as from the power lines and everything else. It was a little hazardous to drive too, not because of the ice on the road, but because of the sheets of ice flying off the tops of cars and bashing the front of the cars behind them. It was quite an experience. I didn't believe them when they said it was coming and I couldn't have imagined how much fun we'd have as a family in the midst of it.

We mocked, we poked fun, we said they were wimps. We were wrong. To all the Austin weathermen, we apologize. :-)