From Blackout to Blessings

Thursday started out like any other day this week.  Audrey and I took Eliza to school, then went home for a while before heading out to meet friends at Lake Murray.  We had fun watching the ducks and exploring around the lake.  

We picked up Eliza at 2:30 and went home.  About an hour later, the power went out.  I checked with the neighbors, and Dominic, and found out it was out all over the area.  Turns out power was out from Tijuana to Orange County, and all the way into western Arizona.  Yep - it was huge.  So we made the best of it.  I had prepared stuffed shells earlier in the day, and was still able to pop them in the oven at dinner time, since we have a gas stove.  We cleaned up, and decided to head outside for a walk around the neighborhood.  It was great to see so many neighbors out and about.  We got our camping lanterns, flashlights, and hand held fans out.  The girls went to bed not long after, and Dominic came home from work.  

I was able to charge my phone with the power from my laptop, so when the call came in that schools would be closed on Friday, I was relieved I was able to receive the message.  Dominic had already closed his office for the following day as well, telling all the guys that evening, in case communication was hard with no phones, computers, etc.  So Friday, we had the whole day to spend together!

We slept in, then went to the zoo.  We used our passes for the bus tour that came with our membership, and started with that.  The tour was a great overview of most of the zoo, then we walked around for a few hours. Dominic had only been there once, so we tried to see some different areas with him.

A couple of the Koalas were very active.

Both of the Pandas were eating bamboo.

The polar bears had snacks, and a swim.

One of the river otters woke up from a nap right when we got there - surely not because of my girls' squeals of excitement.  Then he went for a swim, so we ran down to the other viewing area to watch him underwater.

It was such a great, spontaneous, family day!  We ended the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant that Dom had heard good reviews of.  Ponce's in Kensington, was absolutely delicious!  I would even go so far as saying its the best Mexican I've had since North Carolina.  The margaritas were delicious too!  We will definitely be back often, and look forward to sharing it with family and friends.