Hurricane Kyle

The path of ruins stretched far and wide as the storm moved northward. Hurricane Kyle howled and thrashed as he soaked everyone and everything in his way. I had never seen so much drool before. Nobody was spared from the storm's wrath, especially at feeding time. And we had no choice but to pray that we brought enough clothes.

Now, you may be thinking that Hurricane Kyle was some wimpy rain storm that hit - of all places - Canada this past weekend. Sure, the mounties, grizzlies, and Rick Moranis may have thought that they were struck by something big, but it was nothing compared to what the Catskill Mountains got at the same time. Just look at the devastation:

We estimate the damage to be in billions of diapers. We hardly made it back unscathed.

Every year Jennifer and I take a trip to the Catskills for our anniversary. It's a good way to prevent anyone (namely me) from forgetting the date: if I wake up to the sound of trees rustling in the wind and nothing else, then I know it's time to run out and get a card. This year was no different, except that we had an extra person along... an extra person who actually wanted a place to sleep, clean clothes, and toys to keep him from screaming all the time. And all this stuff had to be crammed into my 2001 Toyota Corolla (built in America, by the way), along with a shirt, toothbrush and half a stick of deodorant - the only things of mine that I was able to take along. I managed to get everything in, though we were a bit cramped during the ride up. I still have wheel prints from the stroller on my face.

(Above: Kyle's view of the mountains)

All that stuff eventually took over our cottage, and we spent much of our time trying not to trip over the things Hurricane Kyle scattered about. We managed to get by, and on Sunday I squeezed everything and everyone back into our compact car before we returned to the city.

Next year Kyle will be a little bigger and will probably require more toys. We likely will have to tie Jennifer to the roof so we could use her seat to carry more stuff. I worry about the year after that, though, when nobody will be able to fit into the car. I guess Kyle's stuff will have enjoy the weekend alone, and we'll end up staying at home and just renting a movie. It will be a sacrifice, but that's parenthood for ya.