Jamaica, Day 7

We had an early afternoon flight home, so we only had about  half of a day at the resort on Friday.  You can bet that we were going to take advantage of every last ray of sunshine that we could though!

At times, it seemed to James and me that we were merely enduring the vacation.  However, when we got home, Oma and Papa asked how the trip was and Rudy responded, enthusiastically and without hesitation or sarcasm, "AWESOME!"  And, from the kids' perspective...they had our undivided attention practically the whole trip.  Particularly with what was going on at home, rain in Jamaica was probably still better than the Residence Inn!  It may not go down in family history as one of the best vacations, probably, but we definitely came home with some stories and many shared experiences. 

Jamaica, Day 6

Thursday dawned bright and sunny, and was forecasted to stay that way all day.  To say we were excited about a day of sun and sand at this point would be quite an understatement!

Rudy, checking out a bird dining al fresco with us:

Check it out!  Sunshine and blue skies!  There were a lot of jokes that day about "what's that bright thing up in the sky?!"

And!  The first day at the beach with a yellow flag instead of red!\

This was the first day that the catamarans were running.  The wind was still whipping, so guests had to go out with a resort employee.  James and Brady braved the ride, but Rudy was perfectly happy playing in the sand.  James said afterwards that the swells were the real deal and that Rudy probably would not have enjoyed it.   

We spent most of the morning at the beach and then moved to the pool in the afternoon.  We got a serious keepaway football game going with a few other families. 

One of the first days that we really earned these tired eyes!

A few rounds of Scrambled States of America...

Tonight's entertainment was Jamaican night.  They had drummers and dancers.  It was intense, but fascinating to watch.  

 Ahhh...now that's what my vacation was supposed to be!

Water, water everywhere

After the house flood last week, we were feeling like we'd really earned our Jamaican vacation.  However, we seem to have some sort of water curse this month because it's rained every single day here.  And not just your average Caribbean afternoon rain shower, but full on torrential downpours, sheets of rain whipping access the beach.  Of course accompanied by cooler temps and wind, making it difficult to even attempt to be outside.  

There have been pockets of non-rain and even an hour or two of actual sunshine.  

We did manage to do our Dunns River and Blue Hole excursion, although we did very nearly wash away at the second...

We've done stuff that we'd never even consider on an average vacation...hole up in the room with books for several hours on end.  Be in bed, asleep, well before 10:00.  And, worst of all...watch three straight episodes on Once Upon a Time streaming on Netflix. 

It could be worse...

It could be worse...

James' school holiday party was Saturday night.  He was already in Williamsburg for class Friday and Saturday.  Oma and Papa came to our house on Friday and Saturday to help with chorus, sports, etc. 

Oma, Papa, kids, and I all left around 2:00 Saturday afternoon to head to Williamsburg.  The kids went to Newport News to have a hotel stay with Oma and Papa.  James and I went to the party.  Not a super-exciting weekend, but a pleasant change from the norm. 

On Sunday, we were headed to Newport News around 1:00 to pick up the boys when a neighbor calls in full panic mode.  Someone had checked on the house and animals twice on Saturday and again Sunday morning, but by 1:00 Sunday there were waterfalls on the main floor and the family room ceiling had collapsed.

The supply line to the toilet in the master bath came loose.  Flooded our bathroom, bedroom, and closet.  Into the subfloor to the kids' bathroom and laundry room.  Out and down the hallway and into the guest room.  Soaked through the subfloor to collapse the ceiling in the family room, and nearly so in the office.  Soaked through the hardwood floor in kitchen, hallway, coat closet, and powder room.  Soaked through the main level floor and through the duct work to end with 4 inches of standing water in the basement.

This is the picture Candy texted me while we were driving home.  Our hardwood floors do not actually have a high gloss finish; that's just standing water.  You can actually see waterfalls pouring through the ceiling still.  

Service Master came in Sunday night to start mitigation.   Demolition started on Monday.  That word made me cringe, but that's really what it was.  They tore up all carpet downstairs and about half upstairs.  Hardwood floor out.  Tile in both bathrooms and linoleum in laundry room out.  Entire ceiling of family room, half of ceiling in office, drywall in significant portions of both family room and office.  Kitchen cabins pulled up to dry underneath.  All duct work in basement out. 

It's insanity.  They've moved everything that can be saved from the first floor into storage, and will likely do the same upstairs.  We stayed at the Residence Inn C'ville last week, and will be there at least through January 2.  Restoration guy estimates February 6, +/- two weeks for everything to be complete.

Sooo...mantra for December has been "it could be worse..."

We have great insurance, and they are covering everything and acting quickly.  We're lucky to live somewhere where we have clean water flowing into our house.  I had packed up photo albums and moved them to the lake as part of my pre-house-listing declutter, so they weren't damaged.  Nothing irreplaceable was damaged.  We'll get new furniture.  New carpet.  New hardwood.  We can finally add the ceiling fan we've always wanted in the office.  It didn't happen this week, when we're gone for a week instead of just one night.

It could be worse.