around the house on Friday

Checking on his onions and cucumbers
or, as Jed says, "doin' my 'ard work."

giving and taking

Macon is more interested in Winston than Jed was, I think.

But Winston's interest in Macon is marginal. At best.

lucy visits!

Or as Jed says, "Gucy," which comes out sounding basically like goosie. We had an all-too-brief but delightful visit with Lucy and her parents this afternoon. It's been a very long time (Lucy's North Carolina visit for her first birthday last year?) since I've seen her and she's changed and grown so much! Her grin of joy at seeing Macon rivaled or maybe even defeated the grandparents' as she reached out her hands to take him, and Macon was equally captivated. It seemed like Lucy needs to get a little more time under her belt before she's baby-holdin'-ready, but she helped us make sure Macon had knees, eyes, and a nose.

When Jed emerged from his afternoon slumber, he and Lucy shared a snack and made a quick friendship.

snackin at the counter

I'm just going to take this last kiwi fruit, 'k?

Lucy checks out Jed's chalkboard while Macon does his own thing.

happy easter!

With tornado damage as a backdrop,

our neighborhood Easter egg hunt carried on.

Jed and Daddy check out the brunch spread before the hunt begins

game on

hanging with Vivi

and from this morning

Macon drooling on his Easter finery.

on the porch with Grandma and Grandpa

boys on the sofa

(don't worry: it's just an un-swallow-able wooden slice of "bread")

recovery

Raleigh remains in recovery mode and there are myriad ways to help. Among them is this fundraiser for the Southeast Raleigh's Boys and Girls Club. Thanks to Caroline for alerting us to it! I'm pretty sure my Mother's Day gift is coming from here.

wednesday at our house

who's the fattest baby in town?

Jed is saying "on your mark, get set, go!"

but note that he continues eating goldfish while racing

a good time was had by all

Yesterday, Teddie came to visit! Macon enjoyed a lot of lap time and cuddles, and we indulged in Raleigh's new favorite pastime: destruction tourism. Jed also took Teddie on his own "driving" tour to the grocery store, post office, to get a muffin, and to the fire station.

we are ok, part ii: lucky, to put it mildly

Yesterday afternoon, a tornado rolled through Raleigh. In the moment, I was very scared. As Eric and I watched the news coverage, we hemmed and hawed nervously about whether or not to wake Jed from his nap to move downstairs. At about the 45-second-mark in the first video, the camera zooms in so you can see trees being overtaken by the approaching storm. This camera is slightly southwest of our house and it was facing southwest. If geography is not your strong suit, that means the storm was headed right towards us. At that moment, Eric dashed upstairs to get Jed and I ran for the battery-powered radio.

As we headed for our downstairs bathroom, I realized what possession I'd save from our house in an emergency: the two baby journals I've kept for each of the boys. But given my short to-do list that consisted of "take cover," I skipped the books and closed the door that connects the hall and dining room. That put one more layer between us and the storm and as I saw tree limbs whipping by our dining room window, I'm pretty sure I also saw an old lady peddling a bike through the air. You needn't worry, however, Winston was at my heels and he rather die in a storm than ride in a bicycle basket.

In just minute, we were in the thick of it, but the thick-of-it lasted just a few seconds. Not only did we have no damage to ourselves or our house, we even had electricity. (Unlike our neighbors just across the street, we're on the electricity grid with our governor's mansion.) I was a bit shaken mentally, but things looked pretty good. Lots of leaves and small limbs scattered about, but we were in good shape.

Then pictures and videos started rolling in. I spent the rest of the evening feeling pretty sick to my stomach and fighting off tears. The neighborhoods immediately to our south and east, including the Shaw University campus, caught the brunt of what struck our immediate area. In a sad twist, the areas of central Raleigh hit the hardest are some of the neighborhoods least equipped financially to recover from this storm.

This morning, we expanded our dog walk and I took a camera with me. I made all the photos within just a few blocks of our unscathed house. They don't really capture what you can see with your eyes, but needless to say, we've been counting our blessings all day.

the news coverage we were watching when we decided to take cover
the storm was headed directly towards us, but in the end, it veered to the south and east

we are located to the left and behind the photographer (northeast of the photographer)

City Cemetery, home to the city's oldest marked graves

All Saints' lost its windows on the south elevation

Hargett Street, looking east

Hargett Street, looking west

which way was the wind blowing?

New Bern Avenue, looking east
On a Sunday, this would be a quiet street, but not this quiet. During the week, this is a major thoroughfare and if you look into the distance, it looks like a forest.

fence around the Federal Building
If you look closely, you can see that some relatively light weight ducting was thrown against a serious surrounding-a-federal-courthouse fence with enough force to dent it.

Jones Street
Friends on this street report that the power company says they should not expect power until very late Tuesday night. Yes, that's a sizable tree across the sidewalk up ahead.

looking south on Bloodworth Street

And if you want some extended aerial coverage, this 12-minute clip is from WRAL. It's not narrated, so if you don't know Raleigh, you might not know what you're seeing, but the first two-thirds shows Shaw, St. Augustine's College, and areas right around downtown. The last third is mainly farther south.