Playdate with Jen, Isabella, and Garrett

We had some "new" friends over to play today. I haven't seen Jen since we traveled to Chicago together back in the fall to see "Wicked", and I'd never met her daughter or 12 year old son. Isabella is 2 months older than Maya. I couldn't believe it when she walked in the door. She is a whole head taller than Maya! You'd never guess they are so close in age. Garrett is just as sweet as can be, very polite, very kind, and clearly in love with his little sister and mom. What a great boy. I have to tell you what this lovely little man said to me today. Jen and I were talking about "the new baby", and Garrett goes, "You're not pregnant, are you?!" I confirmed what he had heard, and he goes, "What? Are you like a day [along]?" I told him I was 4 months, and that dear, sweet boy exclaims, "NO WAY! You're skinny!" Oh, God bless that child. I just wanted to scoop him and give him a hug. It's been a long difficult road with my weight, then getting pregnant right after starting a rigorous workout routine, while it was a total blessing, it was kind of tough! I thought I was on the road to better health and a better body, but that will have to wait. Right now, my body has a much bigger task at hand... growing a human baby! Once this baby is born, it's going to be back to the grindstone. Until then, I will be hanging onto Garrett's comment. It really made my day! The girls finished up their little playdate by trading sippy cups. For some reason, another kids' sippy always tastes better than their own. Isabella's had juice in it, so Maya was loving it. We haven't had any juice here for about a week now, so she was sucking Isabella's juice right down. Every time we tried to give her own sippy back, she would shake her head "no". Smart girl. Isabella had to settle with drinking water out of Maya's straw cup. It's funny, though, because Jen said that Isabella will not drink water out of her own sippy cup. See? Everything tastes better in someone else's cup! Haha... Thanks for coming over guys! We had a ton of fun with you here!

Playdate with Miss Melissa and Ash-Cash!

Melissa (my friend I met in Target, if you recall) and her 10 month old daughter, Ashley, came over to have lunch and play for awhile. Ash is getting much more mobile, so she gives Maya a run for her money. Ash has a 7 year old brother, who she wrestles around with, so she tried to teach Maya a few moves today. Ashley would start friendly enough, giving her a nice hug, but since Ash is actually bigger than Maya, she would knock her over, then continue to climb onto her. Maya didn't know what to think. She just kept trying to crawl or run away from her attacker! It was really cute and funny. Maya needs some coaching from her uncles in the wrestling department! I love this pic of Melissa, Ash, and Maya. Melissa was trying to encourage Ash to crawl through the tunnel by showing her how it's done, while Maya looks on as if to say, "You better not get stuck in there! That's my tunnel!" Thanks for coming over, girls! We had a great time!

Our Little Refriger-Raider!

Maya has learned very quickly that she can climb into the refrigerator and help herself to a snack. We had a wooden container of strawberries sitting on the lower shelf, so every chance she got, she would scramble into the fridge and swipe a strawberry or two then climb back down. She was too darn cute to discipline for that trick, so I would put her in her highchair, clean and cut the berries, and let her eat her hard-earned prize!

Highway 92 Reopened!

Highway 92 reopened today, connecting Columbus Junction and Fredonia. This will make travel much easier and quicker for my brother, who works on the opposite side of CJ from Fredonia. Also, they are pumping water out to my dad's area for a few hours a day. Apparently, they had accidentally bypassed the connection to get water out there. It's now connected in the proper places, but they are unable to get water out there 24 hours a day. For now, they remain in the camper!

Iowa and Cedar Rivers Crest and Recede

Finally, my mom, cousin, and brother got to go back to their home in Fredonia! The main bridge that connects Columbus Junction and Fredonia, Hwy 92, is not yet open, so they had to drive WAY around to get home. It was a shorter drive to return home, though, because I-80 was reopened. When they left, it was not, so the drive was about 3 hours! Normally, it would take less than 10 minutes to get between the two homes. That's quite a difference!! Thankfully, they returned to a dry home and property. They do have water, but they cannot use it for drinking or cooking until their well has been tested for possible contamination. Also, the frozen and refrigerated food that my mom had stocked up on in anticipation of being stranded in Fredonia spoiled when they had to unplug all of their appliances. I guess those two problems are small prices to pay to a flood that spared their home. It could have been REALLY bad and wiped out Fredonia completely, but it didn't. For that, we're all thankful.

My dad, stepmom, and brothers left their home because the water was turned off. They have been living in their camper at another family member's house, so they can take showers and have plumbing. I can't say that I blame them. I would probably opt to do the same thing. They still don't have water because there isn't enough pressure to get the water up the hill to their house. I don't know how long they'll have this water issue, so stay tuned!

Here are some more photos of the flood:

Someone being very funny... You have to admit that it's clever!This is close-up aeriel shot of the downtown area (all the major businesses)...
This is an amazing shot of the majority of Columbus Junction. So sad...These pictures are courtesy of Ken Purdy, a local CJ citizen. Check out more pics at www.kenpurdy.com. There are a ton of great photos! Enjoy!

Flood Waters on the Rise

Yesterday morning, shortly after my last post, Columbus Junction lost their hard-fought battle with the river. As we all know, water will seek the lowest point of entry, and it managed to make its way through the lesser guarded back door, so to speak. This underestimated point of entry was noticed and sandbagging began in the early morning hours, but it was too little, too late. As you can see in the following picture, the main levee was holding its own, and the water remained at bay.
In this next picture, the water started to make its way across the main road through the downtown area, toward the majority of the businesses. You can see the water on the left side of the picture, slowly seeping into town. Across this street stands several businesses, the old "Deaton's Columbus Bowl" being one of them. Will's mother owned this bowling alley for 21 years before selling it in the summer of 2007.
Later that evening, the large levee protecting most of the downtown area (the front door) was breached, allowing a massive influx of river water into CJ. What followed was complete devastation of the downtown area. Many bystanders watched in horror as the water devoured business after business. In this picture, you can see (from left to right) Casey's General Store, Subway, Dollar General, and the CJ Motel. Behind the motel is a storage unit and daycare center. Behind Subway is a small strip of businesses, including an insurance agency and chiropractor's office. All of these buildings are flooded.In less than an hour, the water rose to levels higher than about 9 feet in some places. The following picture shows the businesses that sit in the lowest point in CJ. The small structure to the very left in the pic is a shed that floated into the parking lot from a nearby residential property. The larger tan building contains L & B, an RN/LPN/CNA staffing agency, and New You, a workout center for women, both businesses owned by the same family. Behind the CarQuest sign, there is a Senior Citizen's Center, which is almost completely under water. At this point, you could still visualize about 4 feet of the peak of the roof of that building. The blue sloping-roof building is the bowling alley. There is an awning over the door to that building that is completely covered with water. The destruction of this business, in particular, is very difficult for Will, his mother, and sisters. The kids were practically raised in that bowling alley, so it's pretty emotional for them to see their old "home away from home" in such a horrible way. Everything within that building will be a total loss. The machines ruined, the lanes warped, and all the remaining equipment water damaged beyond repair. It's a bittersweet moment for my mother-in-law, as luck would have it, she no longer "owns" the place, but her emotional investment goes much beyond an monetary loss that she could have incurred. I feel horrible for what they're going through. The building between the bowling alley and the auto parts store (on the right side) contains a dentist office, HyVee drug store, doctor's office, Gip's Consignment shop, and Economart, the only local grocery store. As of this morning, the windows were broken out of Economart, due to all the water pressure. One of the worst aspects of this flood is that nobody had flood insurance on their business. After the flood of 1993, flood insurance became outrageously priced, and quite frankly, these small business owners just couldn't afford it! I don't really know what that means for the financial status of these business owners, but I can imagine it's not going to put them in a very good position. It's very sad.
This is going to be a big adjustment for everyone who does or did call Columbus Junction their hometown. It just makes you sick to see everything in ruins. The clean-up is going to be a LONG process, and the emotional healing, possibly longer.

My mom, brother, and cousin temporarily moved back into their old house that's on the market but hadn't sold. They don't have water, but they have a safe dry place to live and sleep! So far, it sounds like my mom's place in Fredonia remains dry. Hopefully, it will stay that way, and they will be able to return sooner rather than later! I'll keep you updated on any further developments.

Mandatory Evacuation

Hi, everyone! I know it's been FOREVER since I posted on here, and let me tell you there's lots of stories and BIG news that need to wrote about! After looking at some of my friends' blogs, I thought I should take a few minutes and write something in ours.

As you all know, Iowa (our home state) is in a state of disaster. Something like 89 of the 99 counties in Iowa are experiencing some sort of devastation at the moment. Our own hometown of Columbus Junction is looking more and more like a "war zone" every day (that is per my mother-in-law, who has been active in assisting the evacuation of the downtown area). I spoke to my dad today, who runs a rock quarry/sand plant in CJ, and he said that they are loading trucks as fast as they can with rock (I believe they ran out of sand) to be added to the man-made levees. He said that they are taking the rock as fast as they can make it! Pictures we have received are just amazing. The town has really come together to try and prevent flood waters from damaging everything in their path. I guess there are several semi trucks at the high school that are filled with the belongings from different stores and businesses from the downtown area.In the top picture, this levee is being built along the Iowa river, and the lower picture shows the levee along Highway 92, the main highway that runs through CJ. Both of these levees are built to protect the downtown businesses and city water system.

In this picture, you can see the bridge is blocked off to get downtown, and on the right side of the pic, you can see the water coming up to the levee.

Here, you can see some of the devastation up close, as a home is beginning to flood.

I spoke to my mom today, who lives in the neighboring town of Fredonia, and they are being forced to evacuate their home. They are not too worried that their home will be flooded, though, because someone from the Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that the river would need to rise to 43-44 feet to get into the house, and SO FAR, it's expected to crest at 38 feet. We'll see. The scary part is just that it's so damn unpredictable. I mean, I guess you can project what looks like might happen, but looking at the pictures and video from Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, and Iowa City, the future for most of CJ and Fredonia looks pretty grim. I feel awful for everyone there. It must be heartbreaking to watch your town and everything you know and own threatened by Mother Nature. What an awful experience.

I just spoke to my dad again, and they have turned off the water in CJ. Supposedly, the man-made levee (in the above pics) is about to break. Once that happens, the river water will flood all of downtown and contaminate the city water. It's a true disaster, and honestly, as bad as it is there, I wish we were there to help! It's such a helpless feeling, sitting here, watching the news, talking to family, watching and waiting. Waiting for what? I'm not entirely sure! I just know I would feel better if I could help sandbag or evacuate something. It's just hard to watch and do nothing to help.

So far, the only people in our family having to evacuate is my mom, brother, and cousin. I'll try to keep everyone updated as we find out more. Keep our family and town in your prayers!