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Help[Games] Re: Power Outage All-In-One CAF.
in reply to a message by AshleyMichelle
DH: Jacob Adam “Jake” (36)
DD: Lily Tiana (13)
DS: Owen Gabriel (10)
DS: Joseph Felix “Joey” (8)
DD: Evangeline Michelle “Evie” (5)
DS: Samuel Thaddeus “Sam” (3)
DD/DD: Arianna Kaitlyn “Ari” / Susanna Jade “Zanna” (nb)
Last night, one of our wild Florida summer storms knocked out our power. Our family was at it's typical eight o'clock routine: Lily was doing the dinner dishes, Owen and Joey were cleaning up the kitchen, and Jake and I were getting the four little ones bathed and ready for bed. Ari and Zanna were in their playpen in the kitchen for the moment, waiting their turns, while Jake and I played the usual divide-and-conquer game with Evie and Sam. I had just started running the water for Evie when the light flickered and then went out. Within a second there were shouts and screams and wails (from the twins). Lily came running into the bathroom I was in, Zanna on her hip. "Power's out!" she announced, rather unnecessarily.
Jake and I knew that no power meant that none of the kids would be asleep for a while. Even Ari and Zanne would be kept up by the excitement. It also meant no air conditioning (no small thing in summertime Florida!) and no hot water for the kids' baths. We needed a plan to keep the kids entertained until the power came back on (or they fell asleep). We put Lily in charge of the little ones and had a quick conversation in the kitchen. We decided to kill a few birds with a single stone. First, we set up two old lanterns in our biggest bathroom, the one with the jacuzzi tub. They gave enough light that we could see pretty well. We filled up the big tub with cold water. Then we got all the kids into their swimsuits, even the babies, and announced that we were going to pretend we were camping along the river. The bathrub was the river, where they were going to take a nighttime swim, and the floor was the bank where Jake and I were going to watch them. We got into our swimsuits too, just to make it more real. Lily and Owen were too old to really be impressed, but the little ones were excited at the idea and our oldest two were both good sports. Evie got Jake to take her to her room and brought back some water toys she likes to play with at the beach or river, and Sam and the babies we had in there only a little while, then sat them on our laps and played game with them. Sam, our little architect, built us a sand castle out of towels. Joey even started a mini chicken-fight. Jake and I allowed it, until Joey tried to lift Evie on his shoulders and almost drowned them both. Then we decided it was time for the kids to come in out of the "river" and get into their pajamas. We had accomplished our goal: the kids were cool, clean, and entertained.
Once all the kids were in their pajamas, we set up the "campsite" in the living room. The storm had mostly ended by then, so we opened up the living room windows and let the cool, damp air in. We spread blankets and pillows on the floor in front of our fireplace and lit a fire. Jak and I made the kids smores, and we told them stories. All our kids have a fondness for fairytales and old mythology and folktales (my doing, as I tell them to them all the time), and we let them request their favorites. Sam and the twins fell asleep in Jake's and my laps pretty quickly. After they had been asleep for a while, Lily said we had to have a ghost story round, since we always do when we camp for real. So we let her start, then she, Owen, Joey, Jake, and I kept adding on until we could see Evie getting scared. I wrapped it up, then told Beauty and the Beast and the Cherokee legend about the Little People who protect children to calm her down and keep her from having nightmares.
By that time it was gettign close to midnight, and the power still showed no signs of coming back on. Joey and Evie had finally fallen asleep, and even Lily was drowsy. Jake and I were both tired too, and we decided that we may as well all sleep right there on the living room floor. It was comfortable, with the carpet and the blankets and the pillows, and it wasn't worth it to wake the kids to send them to bed. So we just put out the fire and went to sleep, the babies between us and the other kids all around. It was actually pretty cozy.
This morning when we woke up, the power was still out, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. After brushing our teeth with bottled water, we all went out to breakfast. When we came back, the power was back on. We were all glad, but we all also enjoyed our little indoor summer campout!
DD: Lily Tiana (13)
DS: Owen Gabriel (10)
DS: Joseph Felix “Joey” (8)
DD: Evangeline Michelle “Evie” (5)
DS: Samuel Thaddeus “Sam” (3)
DD/DD: Arianna Kaitlyn “Ari” / Susanna Jade “Zanna” (nb)
Last night, one of our wild Florida summer storms knocked out our power. Our family was at it's typical eight o'clock routine: Lily was doing the dinner dishes, Owen and Joey were cleaning up the kitchen, and Jake and I were getting the four little ones bathed and ready for bed. Ari and Zanna were in their playpen in the kitchen for the moment, waiting their turns, while Jake and I played the usual divide-and-conquer game with Evie and Sam. I had just started running the water for Evie when the light flickered and then went out. Within a second there were shouts and screams and wails (from the twins). Lily came running into the bathroom I was in, Zanna on her hip. "Power's out!" she announced, rather unnecessarily.
Jake and I knew that no power meant that none of the kids would be asleep for a while. Even Ari and Zanne would be kept up by the excitement. It also meant no air conditioning (no small thing in summertime Florida!) and no hot water for the kids' baths. We needed a plan to keep the kids entertained until the power came back on (or they fell asleep). We put Lily in charge of the little ones and had a quick conversation in the kitchen. We decided to kill a few birds with a single stone. First, we set up two old lanterns in our biggest bathroom, the one with the jacuzzi tub. They gave enough light that we could see pretty well. We filled up the big tub with cold water. Then we got all the kids into their swimsuits, even the babies, and announced that we were going to pretend we were camping along the river. The bathrub was the river, where they were going to take a nighttime swim, and the floor was the bank where Jake and I were going to watch them. We got into our swimsuits too, just to make it more real. Lily and Owen were too old to really be impressed, but the little ones were excited at the idea and our oldest two were both good sports. Evie got Jake to take her to her room and brought back some water toys she likes to play with at the beach or river, and Sam and the babies we had in there only a little while, then sat them on our laps and played game with them. Sam, our little architect, built us a sand castle out of towels. Joey even started a mini chicken-fight. Jake and I allowed it, until Joey tried to lift Evie on his shoulders and almost drowned them both. Then we decided it was time for the kids to come in out of the "river" and get into their pajamas. We had accomplished our goal: the kids were cool, clean, and entertained.
Once all the kids were in their pajamas, we set up the "campsite" in the living room. The storm had mostly ended by then, so we opened up the living room windows and let the cool, damp air in. We spread blankets and pillows on the floor in front of our fireplace and lit a fire. Jak and I made the kids smores, and we told them stories. All our kids have a fondness for fairytales and old mythology and folktales (my doing, as I tell them to them all the time), and we let them request their favorites. Sam and the twins fell asleep in Jake's and my laps pretty quickly. After they had been asleep for a while, Lily said we had to have a ghost story round, since we always do when we camp for real. So we let her start, then she, Owen, Joey, Jake, and I kept adding on until we could see Evie getting scared. I wrapped it up, then told Beauty and the Beast and the Cherokee legend about the Little People who protect children to calm her down and keep her from having nightmares.
By that time it was gettign close to midnight, and the power still showed no signs of coming back on. Joey and Evie had finally fallen asleep, and even Lily was drowsy. Jake and I were both tired too, and we decided that we may as well all sleep right there on the living room floor. It was comfortable, with the carpet and the blankets and the pillows, and it wasn't worth it to wake the kids to send them to bed. So we just put out the fire and went to sleep, the babies between us and the other kids all around. It was actually pretty cozy.
This morning when we woke up, the power was still out, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. After brushing our teeth with bottled water, we all went out to breakfast. When we came back, the power was back on. We were all glad, but we all also enjoyed our little indoor summer campout!
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