Our hurricane adventure began by preparing our apartment for the storm. On Sunday morning, we moved all of our stuff (including furniture) away from the windows and doors. We also rolled up our little carpets and put them up on the bed. We knew from a previous rainstorm that our windows upstairs in the loft leaked as well as a crack in our wall by the upstairs balcony, so we put all our towels down in these areas to minimize the spread of water in the house. After closing the hurricane shutters (by hand, mind you...I've got the muscles to show for it), we packed up the kids and left our home not knowing what kind of condition it would be in when we got back.
We first went to visit our friends, the Daniel's. We had a good time visiting with them. Daisy watched a movie with Elijah and Ethan. Jack also played with the boys.
Michael decided to get some coconut milk from a nearby tree. It had a lot of coconuts. Michael threw his shoe in an attempt to convince one to fall. Instead, his shoe got stuck in the tree. Steve threw a rock and eventually retrieved the shoe. They also knocked down quite a few coconuts.
Michael's shoe and a coconut.
Ripping off the husk.
Husking.
Eagerly awaiting.
It's looking good.
Drilling holes.
She's a beaut! We drank the milk and then one of the boys dropped the coconut off the balcony to break it open. It tasted delicious! It was starting to get pretty windy and it was time to head to our hurricane shelter: AUC.
Lucky for us, Michael found where there were about a dozen mattresses for student use and claimed a couple of them for us just before they ran out. We set up Jack's pack 'n' play...
...and Daisy slept on a thin foam pad doubled over with an M&M blanket on top.
That night Earl began to rage. We could hear him howling outside as we slept.
The trees blow right.
The trees blow left.
A video clip.
We weren't allowed to go outside (though some people tried it anyway) so these pictures are all taken through windows or doors. It was pretty boring inside. The only thing to do was to chase Jack around and eat Pringles, Cup O Noodles, and Chef Boyardee.
We made new friends. Here's Jack playing with Lono, our neighbor's dog. We got to know our neighbors, Chris and Holly, pretty well throughout our stay.
Lono is a REALLY good dog. You can also see our other friend, the cat...I'm sorry I can't remember the cat's name.
Jack in Michael's hat grabbing for the fruit loops.
Sweet Daisy.
What may have seemed exciting in the beginning became boring...
It was hard to take a nap, but once Jack was out he slept pretty hard.
The rain started leaking into the building in places. It dripped on the floor and came in under the doors. People taped off areas so no one would slip. We ended up staying two nights. There was a driving curfew on the island until Tuesday at noon. So, we promptly left for our home at noon. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was clearly evident that Earl had left his mark.
Someone almost lost his bumper.
We've got a pole down.
On the drive home.
That white object in the middle of the trees is a sign knocked over that says "Welcome to St. Maarten".
Turn your head to the right. This is the gate to our apartment.
Our pool had tons of sand in it. Someone had put the beach chairs into the pool, so those weren't lost. The sand was incredible. It had piled up on all three of our balconies. A tree branch fell on Chris and Holly's car windshield leaving some nice cracks. One of the condos closer to the beach lost some pieces to their ceiling fan on the porch to the waves. The water definitely leaked into our apartment, but by the time we got home the floor was dry except for the towels which we had put down. They were still soaked.
The waves were huge, but this picture doesn't do it justice. But you can see some of the junk that washed up on shore from the storm.
By the pool.
This bush/tree is now propped up by a board, hopefully it will survive.
The cleanup has taken quite a long time. This video is from our balcony the day after we got back to our apartment. They only now just finally finished filling the pool (after draining it, removing all the sand from it, and cleaning it) for use again. We are glad that we were safe and can now say we had the grand adventure of living through a category 3 hurricane!
