Things to do in stormy weather

I took this photo just over a week ago when we had bushfires in our region.

The picture does not do it justice. The sun was a deep red to look at,

like a red alien eye hanging in the sky. I was too lazy to get any storm photos

today. I preferred looking at the underside of my quilt

Today I was woken by my husband literally leaping out of bed at the sound of thunder shaking our roof. "What was THAT?!" he yelled running to the window. It was the loudest rainless thunder I think I've ever heard, and I've lived in some pretty stormy places! Before we knew it, Mr Z was leaping onto our bed saying sadly, "It's not going to be a very good Saturday, it's raining!".

So while I lay there in the semi-darkness, trying to pretend that thunder and a combo of two of my most favourite boys had NOT woken me up, I mentally compiled a list of things I loved to do in stormy weather as a kid.

1. Build cubbies out of furniture and blankets. Consider this one done. Our loungeroom is currently a mess of a semi-demolished cubby large enough to house a family of five. And a dog. I say semi-demolished because it turns out Small Boy does a pretty good Godzilla impersonation.

2. Make hot chocolate. Our hot chocolate had solidified in its container (it's been a while since any serious sort of rain) so we had to make do with Milo, but I did put a swirl of whipped-cream-from-a-can on the top of the kids' drinks. This was a hit with Mr Z, Miss Piggy didn't like it but Small Boy happily cleaned hers up :)

3. Watch a family movie. We saw the second half of "Camp Rock" peeking out from under the blanket cubby. Well, I actually sat to one side because I have a bit of a thing with small confined spaces and until recently couldn't even get into a zipped up sleeping bag without an anxiety attack!!! The kids had a wonderful time.

And then the rain stopped. And I missed out on my other rainy day activities :( It rains so infrequently here (except when it rains it pours) I just get excited at the chance to sit home in the gloom, looking out at the rain drops hurtling from the sky from the relative dry of my verandah.



Here are the other things I wanted to do:

1. Walk in the rain. I have the raincoats, umbrellas and gumboots by the back door in case the rain starts up again.

2. Group cooking in the kitchen. But we're going to make cupcakes this arv - rain, hail or shine :)

3. Read picture books in bed. Who am I kidding, I love to do this in any weather!

4. Colouring in. Love colouring in, but also love getting outside. Rain makes it seem more ok to sit around the kitchen table staring out the window :)


Instead, we raced around on the verandah - the kids on their plastic bikes/scooters, me in my bare feet. I pushed Small Boy on the swing until we were both smiling so much I felt one of us would burst. Now we're planning part two of our Saturday :)