When Peter’s baseball game was cancelled Wednesday night due to rain and impending storms, Jim and I took advantage of the free night and took Jake out to dinner one last time before heads off to school. When we left, we were under a tornado watch, so we reminded the kids that if the sirens go off, they are to head down to the basement. This added a sense of adventure to the evening for all of us.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Jake took the beeper and began decoding the tiny print information written on the back. Is there any doubt that he is an engineer?

We enjoyed a nice dinner with good conversation,

all the while keeping an eye on the weather. As threatening as it looked when we left for dinner, it seems the protective bubble around our house was intact, because as we were getting ready to leave the restaurant, Derek texted this:

The storm literally split apart and our home was merely rained upon. When we returned home, Jake pulled out his antenna and radio to attempt to make contacts.

 

The following day, some of us drove downtown to swim at my Mom and Dad’s. But first, a pitstop at the condo to attempt a connection with Indiana and Michigan across the lake.

The rest of us didn’t want to wait, so we went up to the pool.

Because of the clouds and wind, we had the pool to ourselves in the beginning.

Dad and Jake joined us later on.

After getting his fill of swimming and playing with his siblings in the water, it was time to pull out the radio and antenna again to see how far he could reach.

He excitedly reported reaching as far as Holland and Kalamazoo.

The swimming crew.