Warning: Flooding In Low Lying Areas

Flood warning for Somerset and Bedford Counties.
WARNING: Low lying areas may be flooded; please use caution.

It's been raining a lot lately. I'm incredibly grateful that it didn't rain this much last week because barn fire cleanup in torrential downpour would not have been a good time at all. Not that it was actually a good time to begin with. We even had a tornado warning the other day, which is kind of rare around these parts. The rain came down so heavy today that those flood warnings were very real.

We have a tiny little stream-like thing running right down the middle of our property. While it sounds like it's a royal pain, I actually love the thing. We got land off my family's farm, and the front half of the property was a horse pasture. The stream separated that from the hay field behind it. We're living in the hay field. That stream is a natural barrier to keep straying kids and dogs on the We Live Here side of the land, and if they cross it we've got a field to catch them before they're out to the road. The only problem with that stream is the driveway crossing it.

The drainage pipe we originally installed (at the recommendation of the Powers That Be In Charge Of Things Like Driveway Drainage Pipes) was far too small and just wasn't able to effectively handle the flood of water in torrential downpours like we had today. It got to be frustrating having to fix the damage to the driveway every time we had heavy rain. Sam installed a second and far larger pipe under the driveway and we've not had problems at all. Until today. But that was only because something was blocking the drain pipes.

There was only one thing to do. Send Luke out to un-clog it.

I'm a stellar mom that way. And to prove that I'm actually an awesome kind of mom, I held an umbrella over him. See? I'm awesome that way. And even more awesome because I then encouraged Luke to just have a good time since he was wet already. (Shocker alert: holding an umbrella over someone who is digging in a flooded stream isn't going to do much good in the way of keeping someone dry.)

And then it stopped raining, so not only was the umbrella unnecessary, but the camera was able to come out and play. Jack joined us as well, but the french girls were all, "Ew. It's wet out there."

So we played without the girls.

Both Jack and Micah needed some coaxing to get in the water, but both Jack and Micah wouldn't get out once they were in.

Luke is the best idea inventor ever. Who holds an umbrella while standing in a creek? So much fun.

The stream is not nearly that wide on normal days. In fact, if we're lucky it gets that big one day a year. That's why we took the opportunity to play. Normally, that thing is ankle deep and a foot wide. Micah was sitting in that photo, because sitting in rushing water is so much fun.

Jack chased sticks floating downstream, and rocks that Luke threw, and anything that he saw.

And sometimes he jumped clear across the stream, just because he could. The dog has good form.

Once or twice he even found what he was looking for.

That dog loves playing with his boys. The boys love playing with Jack. He's a keeper, that dog.

So is this boy. Micah is definitely a keeper.