Tropical Storm Toledo

Ooof! Toledo has gotten a lot of rain this summer, but Tropical Storm Toledo was a doozie! I believe the final 24 hour accumulation for Perrysburg was 4+ inches. The entire river was flooded, almost as bad as I have ever seen it, the fields were flooded, there was just water everywhere. The lake front took 40mph winds and driving rain for almost 24 hours straight. The Maumee was so high and the current was so strong, it tore off the boat docks (with boats attached) in Perrysburg. The surface current was somewhere around 18-20mph. The photos below are the remnants of the docks. They caught the majority of the boats about 2 miles down river. 

Garage Activities

When I kick the kids out of the house and they want to do perler beads and color, what is their solution? Move the table and activities to the garage! 

How to Start A Fire In the Rain

We had to celebrate Amy's completion of her first grad school session, so we weren't about to let a little rain (that turned into a lot) stop us! We set up the patio umbrella, piled our chairs under it, but on our rain coats and used the leaf blower to get the fire started. 

A Little Bit of Sandtastic

Sandtastic at Levis Commons had a rough weekend this year. I took the boys over for a little bit on Friday afternoon (the only dry portion of the event). They decided to wait in line for a few minutes for the inflatables and of course the mini gators. They checked out a few of the activity tables and sand sculptures before the rain started moving in. 

Feed the Catfish Before They Find the Frog!

The monstrous pond catfish. They will eat an entire piece of bread in one gulp! 

A Fond Farewell...and a Chuck Into the Pond

Our largest tadpole finally became a full fledged frog! It took a long time, but he eventually got front legs. Once he had the front legs, he quickly started to lose his tail. Once his tail started to go, we knew it was time to send him to the pond. We took a walk over with Lexi and Austin to say farewell and then feed the fish. Well, before I really knew what was happening, Nick had taken the tadpole bucket and literally threw it into the water. So much for a gentle transition into the pond. Because of the violent pond entry, we couldn't see what happened to little froggy, but we didn't witness any catfish eating him in front of us, so we assumed he was safe. 

The First Day of Summer = Catching Lightening Bugs

You have to stay up late and catch lightening bugs on the first day of summer! The lightening bugs had been out for a few days but we hadn't had a chance to catch any before the first day of summer. There is nothing as exciting as catching lightening bugs to little boys on a summer night!

Nothing Says Happy Father's Day Like a Water Balloon Fight

Happy Father's Day! Here - have a water balloon!

Strawberry Picking for Father's Day Dessert

Grandma and Dzaidzui came to our house for Father's day. With the dad's did some shopping and an Anderson's run, Grandma and I took the boys to pick some strawberries for dessert! It was a good strawberry crop again this year. It wasn't quite like last year in which we picked 15lbs in 10 minutes. But it was ok because we picked a more reasonable amount of strawberries. Ben strategically had his back to me the majority of the time, so I'm not sure exactly how much he consumed...Smart boy.