The Story Of Seven: August Brings a Visit From Irene and ESPN Day at Lake Compounce

Well, I will start by saying I am way behind on my blogging duties. I have no real major excuse except that my life gets super busy and some things just get put on the back burner. I have, however, been able to snap lots of pictures with the intention of blogging about them. So, here is my first post in a series of many that will get you updated on the lives of the Williams family over the last few months.

August was a very busy month for our family. We were getting ready for the school year to begin and excited to get back into a regular daytime routine with everything that starting school would bring. At the same time, on the news we kept hearing about a hurricane that was coming toward the East Coast and from the looks of it, Hurricane Irene would be coming right up the coast to Connecticut and beyond. As we prepared for this, we stored lots of water, batteries, flashlights, etc. We felt prepared. When the day came for Irene to make her visit, we all braced ourselves. The winds and rains started and we were prepared for power outages and what not. Luckily for us, we didn't lose power. We didn't have any damage. Just one lone tree fell in our front yard. Other people in our area were not so lucky. Power outages were abundant and rainfall cause lots of flooding.

Here is a local river that flooded in many areas. That white speck in the bush is actually a crazy man who climbed into the bush to get a "closer" look!
Completely crazy as the water was moving so rapidly!!!

This is a local business that is located on the river.
Needless to say, they had a lot of water damage.

This is the only tree that fell in our yard.

The tree snapped right where it came out of the ground.

The kids all standing on the tree. It's easy to climb a tree this way.
Maybe not quite as fun though!

The first day of school was scheduled to be Monday, August 29th. The hurricane came the day before. So, with the outages that some people in our area sustained, school was canceled that day and moved to start on the Tuesday, August 30th. We decided to make the most of this extra day of summer. August 29th was scheduled to be ESPN Day at Lake Compounce. So, I loaded up the kids in the car and we set off for a fun day filled of everything that is amusement park. The kids and I had a blast! We were there from lunch time late into the evening. It was a fun filled day, to say the very least. Here are some pictures for our day:

So very cool 3D art that greeted us as we entered the park! It's amazing what you can do!

The kids enjoying their lunch!

Kate traveling the park in style. And of course enjoying her ice cream!

One of our first stops: The Carousel. This is a favorite!

Kate

Josh and Jake

The boys were determined to ride every ride they could so we made a go of it. And they definitely had a lot of fun. They rode roller coasters, bumper cars, swings, spinny things, and all the rides you can possibly imagine.

One of the roller coasters:
Thunder 'N Lightnign

And another one:
Boulder Dash

Kate loves the Catepillar Train!

Another spinny ride

And then the bumper cars! She did awesome!

The boys getting ready for the "Big Kid" bumper cars.

Josh

Jake

We all went on the Thunder Rapids Raft Ride. When you read raft ride, you should get a clue that you will get wet. Well, I decided to go on this ride with the kids since they were so excited about it. Needless to say, we all got SOAKED!!! I had to get a picture of it. So, here are the kids. Soaked and still smiling.

As I was taking the picture, our bishop (who also works for ESPN) and his wife walked by. They were able to get a picture of all with all of us! Did I mention I got soaked, too!

Just past the raft ride there is a "body dryer" where you pay $5 and step into a full body sized dryer to dry off. You have 3 minutes in the dryer. We decided to give it a try. This was probably the best $5 I spent the whole day! We didn't get totally dry, but it did help!

Here is another ride the boys couldn't pass up.

Kate excited to be "flying" her helicopter.

Josh and Jake

One of Kate's favorite rides! She always wants to go see Dumbo!

Another exciting thing about this trip to Lake Compounce was that Kate was actually big enough to go on the kiddie roller coaster. She has been talking about riding a roller coaster since we went last year. She was so excited that she could actually go on one this trip. We rode this one a couple of times and she loved it each time!

Here the kids are by the car ride. This is where Robb was able to meet up with us. He had to work during the day and was able to come to the park after. We were so happy he could join us!