"Extreme Weather" Chicks

So far, Stella and Marni have made it through Hurricane Irene and the Park Slope tornado (which Marni likes to call the Park Slope Tomato).

This past weekend the girls experienced the awesome power of Hurricane Sandy.

It all started on Sunday night as the winds and rain began to kick up. We hunkered down and prepared for the worse. We brought out the candles and flashlights, filled the tub with water, and made more ice cubes. Then I put the ice cubes in the tub and Lisa yelled at me!

The next morning things were still pretty mild, so I headed out for supplies to host a last-minute building-wide movie party for the kids in the building.

With our new friend, Chloe.

At 2:00 the party began with various kids and parents coming and going all afternoon. It was quite a fun time for all. The wind and rain lashed Brooklyn all day but we luckily sustained no damage and we never lost power.

On Tuesday it all began to wind down. We ventured outside for the first time to get some exercise and fresh air and to survey the situation. The girls were fascinated by a fallen tree that crushed a BMW. Later, I entertained the kids by letting them give me a haircut.

Wednesday was Halloween. Daddy drove into an eerily powerless Manhattan to go to work while the girls had play dates. Even though the Park Slope Halloween Parade was cancelled, the kids of Park Slope had a blast trick-or-treating throughout the neighborhood. Marni went out with about 10 of her 1st grade friends. Stella went out with friend Uma and her family. We eventually met up near the end of the night and went home to look over all the loot that was collected.

On Thursday Daddy went to work again while the girls had more play dates. We even had an unexpected sleep-over with Stella's new friend, Lucy. Very cute stuff.

Meanwhile, there hasn't been school all week.

Hopefully power will be restored to Manhattan over the weekend and the subways will start running as usual. And hopefully school will reopen Monday.

The kids have had a blast this week, but it's time to get back to normal.

We were very lucky this time. Others have not been so lucky. And our hearts go out to them.

Marni gives Daddy a haircut. What else is there to do?

Stella's turn

Marni trick-or-treats with a downed tree in the background.

Marni and Maeve et al trick-or-treating

Marni's trick-or-treating posse.