Debby was a downer, indeed. Big time. Fernandina had over 15 inches of rain within 48 hours which means, as you can guess, it poured non-stop for 2 days. Poured. Like Noah’s ark type pouring. With Russ out of town for a few days, being homebound with 3 boys, 2 dogs, 1 gerbil and 2 cases of strep was pretty miserable.

On Wednesday morning, the deluge finally stopped for a bit, so we ventured out to the beach around 10:30. The beach post-storm is always pretty impressive. Dangerous, but impressive. The boys had a rule that they could not go in the water above their knees. Surprisingly, Tucker didn’t even press the rule. It was that rough out in the ocean.

Storms always churn up crazy amounts of foam on Amelia…which, for some reason, the boys like to dive into. Eww.

Our good friend Jim Cantore had assured us it was just a short break in the band of storms, and sure enough, it started pouring rain again. Sigh. So we ran back to the house and watched a movie.

But a mere 3 hours later, the weather finally was back to this:

This photo was literally taken 3 hours after the storm photo just above it. Cross my heart. Crazy.

Turtles have pink tongues. Now you know.

For some reason, it looks like Jack and Theo have been photoshopped into this photo above; that’s not the case…any photographer want to chime in and explain what’s going on here? Is it the bright red shirts? The funky cropping? It’s weird, no?

Theo’s inner-Tucker has come out now that we’ve thrown in the sanity towel for the safety towel and let him wear a life preserver in the pool (rather than hovering over him, trying to teach swimming skills). He jumps off any edge, regardless of the depth underneath him. No fear.

The Old Man and the Sea. Take 42.

Hams. All 3.

Danger, Will Robinson. Don’t lean backwards. Please.

8 or 18? Goodness, this photo makes my heart hurt. Eight years have flown by.

Of course by now the storm has moved on her merry little way–out into the Atlantic Ocean–and we are back to enjoying beach life. Good stuff.

Very good stuff.

Make the most of your 4th of July tomorrow!