With hurricane season fast approaching, we decided that we needed to be a little more prepared. Lakewood Yacht Club was having a preparedness seminar this morning, so we decided to go. Back before we had puppies to consider, hurricane season wasn't that big of a deal. If we had to evacuate, which we had already done during Hurricane Ike, we just packed some things in a car and left. We didn't have to worry about where we were going and whether or not the destination would allow dogs. Now that we have animals, an evacuation would be a more complicated process. The problem with a hurricane is that you don't have any idea how long you are going to be away. If the hurricane just goes by, you may be able to return home in a day or two. If the hurricane hits your area, it could be weeks before you are even allowed back into the area. After Hurricane Ike, we couldn't even get back in to check on things for almost three weeks. Cats would be okay in your house with plenty of food and water for a day or two, but three weeks? No way! The puppies couldn't even make it comfortably for a day. So, this hurricane season, we need to be a little more prepared. We need to have a plan.

We had a lot of fun. Mom has enjoyed hurricane season since she was a kid. Her aunt, who lived a few blocks from the beach in Galveston, had a magnetic hurricane tracking chart, and it was the coolest thing ever. So, when Mom moved to Galveston to go to college, she searched high and low until she found a cool magnetic hurricane tracking chart too. So, in our house, we have the most eclectic dining room ever. We have a wall of weapons- Dad's martial arts weapons- on one side, and a hurricane tracking chart and a barometer on the other side- Mom's.
When we got home from the hurricane preparedness seminar, we took the puppies outside and tried to tell them about bad weather and hurricanes. Miss M just laughed.

The puppies didn't really understand what a hurricane was. We tried to tell them it was like a really big storm. With all of our recent rain storms, they have a little bit of an idea of what rain is. We pointed out the storm clouds that were starting to roll in again.

We went back inside to continue our hurricane discussion. The sky kept getting darker and darker until all of a sudden, the lights went out. A few minutes after that, the rains and lightening started. We had to postpone our hurricane discussion until we could see again. The lights stayed off for almost two hours- just long enough for the house to start getting a little warm inside.

Finally, the power came back on and we were able to teach the puppies about tracking hurricanes.

Miss M wanted to know what all the writing said at the bottom of the chart. They haven't learned to read yet in puppy school, although I'm pretty sure they know what o-u-t and b-a-t-h spell.

Mr. M pointed out that hurricane categories no longer include specific storm surge along with wind speeds. He also wanted to know why the pesky laser pointer wouldn't leave the tracking chart alone.

Overall, I think it was a good lesson on hurricanes. Miss B agreed that she should think about which toys she would want to take in an evacuation. Miss S was concerned that we not leave the dog food behind. 
On a different note, this is why our tomatoes are struggling. Notice how the tomato cage isn't straight anymore. It doesn't help that the puppies have discovered that they like tomatoes.

This is a photo of Miss M basking in the sun in our backyard with a mosquito on her face. This picture was not taken this week...

I think I would pretty much need waterproof camera to take pictures of the puppies in our backyard this week. Our weather has been crazy. Crazy as in wild, wooley, cray-cray, break out the scuba gear crazy. Monday was Memorial Day. Normally, Memorial Day is supposed to be hot, sunny, perfect beach weather. On Monday, we took the puppies out just around dawn for their morning potty break. I have never seen a sky so red. The puppies were a little freaked out. They kept looking around the yard, checking out every little noise and movement in the yard. All I could think about was, "Red at night, sailors delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning." The sky was very, very red. A little while after we took them back inside, we had a thunderstorm roll through. It was a decent little squall, but nothing to write home about. I was starting to think the old adage was quite a bit of a let down- especially since the sky had been so extremely red.
The day was warm and muggy. We didn't have any more rain all afternoon. I was convinced that we were done with all of the bad weather and that the insignificant little storm we had in the morning was all we were going to get. The weatherman warned us that there was a line of storms approaching from the west, but I was skeptical. At some point in the evening, the news people started breaking into the regularly scheduled program to bring weather updates about what was happening out to the west, and our weather radio started going off with various watches and warnings. We pulled up the radar and noticed that the line of storms had grown and was coming our way. They were predicting that the storms would reach our area sometime around 10. We decided to take the puppies out around 9 or 9:30, hoping that they could then hold it until after midnight, which is when they were predicting the storms to end. 
Once the storms started, they started with a vengeance. The lightening was so close that the ensuing thunder shook the windows. The rain was torrential, and the wind was trying hard to not be outdone by the rain and the thunder. The storms didn't stop until the next morning sometime around 4 or 5. Our area ended up with around 8 inches of rain. 
This entire week has been a blur of mosquitoes and steamy weather with storms off and on in between. The puppies haven't been able to play much in the yard for obvious reasons. We have been playing with them in the house quite a bit and have been playing fetch in the hallway with each one so that they at least get some exercise. The roadways have been a mess, and the weather has been too unstable to take them anywhere fun like the beach. We can't wait for puppy school so that we can take them on an outing.

When you have puppies running around, you learn all kinds of things you never knew before. Take the subject of volley balls for example. Did you know that underneath the outer part there was a plastic bag of some kind surrounding an inner ball? Neither did I, but Mr. M volunteered to show us after he got bored playing fetch with the whole volley ball.

Just about the time they were finished with the volleyball and we wanted to take them outside to run around, it started to rain again and our backyard reverted to its previous lake-like state. We were just talking the other day about how when we first got Miss B and Mr. C and were trying to potty train them in the middle of the Texas summer, we made the comment that it would be so much easier to potty train in the winter. Hah. In the summer, we had to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts to keep the mosquitoes away, but the puppies could go outside and run around the yard as much as they wanted without even getting their feet dirty. Our white kitchen floor pretty much stayed white. At that point we were complaining about the heat and mosquitoes, but there wasn't anything really keeping the puppies from wanting to go outside and potty. Now that we are potty training in the winter, we have decided that we were previously mistaken. Heat and mosquitoes are easier to deal with than this:

I finally got Mr. C and Mr. M to potty outside, but the girls wanted nothing to do with all of this while it was still raining. Miss M held it as long as she could and then used the puppy training pad inside. As much as I would like for her to potty outside, I really can't blame her. Once the rain stopped, we were able to get them to go outside. Apparently water is okay as long as it is not falling on your head. Mr. C found the small branch that had fallen down during the storm and thought Dad was wanting to play when he picked it up.

Once the temperatures started dropping again, Miss M decided that she had had enough and that she needed to take a nap beside Mom. She can't quite jump up on the love seat by herself but has figured out that if she makes a little noise, Mom will lift her up. (This is the only piece of furniture they are allowed on).