Fleeing a Hurricane

How glad we were to greet Jenny, Sam, and Henry on September 7, 2017!  Hurricane Irma had been smashing across the Caribbean as a Category 5 hurricane for days, and the Florida governor warned his citizens to "Get out!"  When Jonny shopped for plane tickets, there were no flights out of Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, but he found flights for Jenny and the boys out of Orlando.  Jonny had to drive from Florida to his meetings in Moline, Illinois, to escape the storm.

When Jonny and Jenny headed from their home to Orlando, they found the freeways packed and barely moving.  Service stations were out of gas along the way.

They got off the freeways and cruised to Orlando along the byways with virtually no other cars in sight!

Although Hurricane Irma lost force after hitting Barbuda and the Keys, it was still a dangerous storm as it crashed through Miami.

One of the many construction cranes building the new Miami skyline collapsed during the storm.

In SLC, it was balmy and bright.  Camille brought Mia and Ezra and Jenny brought Sam and Henry for a family trip to the Utah State Fair.

Sam is old enough, now, to play it cool.

Our favorite stops at the zoo are the animal pens.

This calf got a shave and comb-out for its time in the judging ring.

And this farmer took a catnap right in the middle of all the tourists!

Mia and Sam both petted the woolly sheep.  "It's so soft!" Mia said.

This sheep owner eyed his newly shorn animal critically.

Grandpa with the little guys.

Two cuddly stall-mates.

Camille gave her kids their choice of one midway ride.  They chose the "power jump," where they got strapped into harnesses, jumped on trampolines, and catapulted dozens of feet into the air.

Sam lined up for the ride, too.

Ezra is very strong and sailed high.

Mia is a gymnast and wasn't scared of leaping and sailing through the air.

Sam was just a bit more hesitant.  It took a lot of courage for a four-year-old to jump into the sky, protected only by a harness.  "He'll always remember this ride!" Jenny assured me.

We finished our adventure at the fair with cold cherry lemonade.