Always and adventure...

Tonight Noah and I went to Mcdonalds with some of the most amazing people on this planet. It is always an adventure when we get together and not just for the fact that there are 5 year olds running around chasing each other along with the younger siblings. Tonight was no different! I picked Noah up from school and we headed in the direction of Mcdonalds. Since we were early, we took a pit stop at the consignment store so Noah could get some clothes that fit him since he is growing like a weed!!! Plus, Noah likes their books and toys (I like their prices).

Mcdonalds was fun as always, I got to see my favorite ladies AND climb in the child - size indoor playground. Not to mention, I get to see (out of the corner of my eye as they run by me at lightening speed) some of the greatest kids I know and love! Well, MOST of them run by me at lightening speed. One of them doesn't! 2 year old Alice sits in my lap as we swap licks of each others ice cream. Not only is it adorable but it distracts her from begging me to climb the child-size playground again. Although, for her, I love it!! So after I cleaned off the ice cream Alice shoved in my face, we all kind of realized that the tornado warnings that everyone was talking about all day were actually starting to come true. The sky was getting darker and everything outside was starting to look weird. We hurried up the kids and got out of there. Noah and I had the farthest to go to get home and we didn't make it 5 minutes up the road before we were in trouble.

We were at an intersection at rush hour and i was frantically talking to my mom on the phone wondering if we should try to make it home or to her house (which was closer) before the storm hit. Allen was already home. There was word 2 tornados touched down not far from where we were. Just then, all the torndado sirens went off and the power went off in every building around us and all the traffic lights went out. In a matter of seconds, the sky was BLACK and the rain and winds were blowing sideways. I kind of panicked since i knew it was coming FAST. Luckily, we were very close to Wal Mart so I headed that direction. By the time I got into the Wal Mart parking lot, the storm was upon us. I parked in the fire lane and Noah and I jumped out and ran into Wal Mart. We were SOAKED. As we got into the store, the employees were moving everyone to the center of the store. It was pretty intense. Noah was pretty scared, not to mention wet and cold. Everyone in the store was huddled in the center and the storm pounded!!! The roof sounded like it would tear off an any moment. It lasted about 4 minutes and then it just stopped. Everyone kind of looked at each other like "are we done"?? Noah and I immediately went to the clearance rack and we grabbed some sweatshirts since we were freezing!! Wal Mart wasn't letting anyone leave just yet and I wasn't sure how long we would be in there but we were nice and cozy in our warm sweatshirts. After 20 minutes or so it was safe to leave so Noah and I ran back out to our car and drove home. By the time we got home the rain had stopped and the clouds were actually almost gone. It was freaky! But like I said, being friends with this group is always an adventure!!!! :)