A cool breeze started to kick up, which felt GLORIOUS and the dark clouds that were on the horizon were now really close. We could see down the way that a little twister had kicked up and it looked so cool to see it up close. It was a little one, bigger than the barracks buildings around us but we could tell it wasn't dangerous. It swept around our way and we saw people walking get caught up in it. Then it came right through our gazebo area. It was kicking up a lot of sand and it was fast and furious. Marcus and I each grabbed a girl and covered their eyes to protect them as we felt the rush of the wind all whipping around us. The girls were totally freaked, Bianca more so than Olivia but they listened and stayed still right by us so we could cover their eyes.
It lasted less than 30 seconds and then shortly after the thunder and lightening hit and then rain started to pour buckets on us. It was a crazy amount of rain and we all rain to the PX for shelter. We all ended up getting soaked but laughing like crazy the whole way.
When we got home the little twister just stuck with me. It wasn't serious and I knew we were safe the whole time (besides getting a bunch of grit in my mouth) but to the girls it was a real disaster bearing down on us. It felt so good to shelter my kids, to literally offer protection to Olivia, to cover her eyes and keep her safe and make her feel calm. I was laughing and hollering when it came through us, it was so crazy to experience that. I looked over at Marcus as it was on us and saw him holding Bianca and doing the same thing I was doing for Olivia, holding her tight and covering her eyes. It wasn't a danger situation by any means but it made my heart so happy to see him doing the same thing for our other child as I was, like we were totally on the same page. Our little unit hunkered down together until the storm passed.
I just kept thinking back to it for the rest of the day. Our little family, with Murphy and Josh thrown in too, all hunkered down in that gazebo. How thankful I am for our little Unit, how we each work together and keep each other happy and safe. How glad I am that we switched gears and came here with Marcus so we could grow as a family together.
