Going to the Water Park Without Ever Getting in the Car

I suppose that the title of this post would imply that we had set up water toys in the yard for the kids to play in, and indeed, that's how the week started for us. On Monday the weather was absolutely gorgeous so I took the babies outside where I had set up their water table, complete with water and toys. Under the shade of our tree we played in the water, colored on the sidewalk and blew bubbles into the air. We went outside later that evening when Jeff got home so that he could play too, then had dinner, bathed the babies, and put them to bed on time. As Jeff was carrying Norah into her room, she looked at me and said "Happy Day". And it was. A very happy day.

Tuesday started off just like Monday. Beautiful weather, two happy babies, a water table, toys, and to mix things up a bit, I set up their little pool too. We played for an hour before heading in for lunch and naps. I was working on dinner and getting the kitchen cleaned up so that we could have another great evening when I heard a "whooshing" sound coming from below the sink. Much to my dismay, upon opening up the cabinet doors, I saw water pouring into the house. A fitting to the sink's water supply had come undone, and water was rushing in at an alarming rate.

Remaining calm, I tried to turn the knob to shut the water off, but couldn't turn it. I ran, to get a bucket and placed it under the sink. I hurried to the garage and grabbed the water key, while calling Jeff to get instructions on turning off the water. I had seen him do this multiple times, and knew I was smart enough to figure it out, but with water coming in as fast as it was, I decided to cut the learning curve in half by asking for help. Unfortunately the newly replaced lid to the water meter was stuck and I did not have the upper body strength to force it up. Knowing Jeff was still at least 40 minutes away, I ran to several neighbors' houses but no one was home yet. That's when the panic started to set in.

I wasn't concerned for myself, or even the house, but while this was all happening I could hear Norah and Justin screaming for me. At first they found the sudden influx of water to be INCREDIBLY amusing and were crawling through it, stomping, splashing and laughing, but then they saw me run outside without them, and the water kept getting higher and higher. At that point the screaming began (I could hear them calling for me all the way out at the street).

I called my brother Patrick and asked him to come over immediately. I figured if he was at home it would only take 4 minutes for him to arrive. I ran inside, grabbed the babies and brought them out with me. Justin sat and played with the grass (pretty sure he ate some too) while Norah returned to her water table. I continued to try and get the lid off the meter without success.

Patrick arrived, helped me get the lid off, and we shut the water off. At that point we returned inside, got out the wet-vac and started the cleanup process. Unfortunately both babies freaked out when I turned the wet-vac on, so Patrick had his hands full keeping them calm. We switched places, and continued working. Jeff got home a couple minutes later and began looking at the lines to see if he could fix what had come loose. By the time we realized we would need a plumber we had emptied 14 gallons worth of water from our house, and still had soaking wet floors.

We called a plumber we had never worked with before and were incredibly impressed with him. He came after hours, saying he could hear the babies crying in the background and babies shouldn't go the night without water. He got everything fixed, and when it came time to pay him, he gave us a letter. In it he wrote that he has placed his trust in God and in the innate goodness of people. We were to pay him what we could, and if things were tight or we just couldn't afford to pay him, then we were to accept his services as a gift from God. Needless to say we paid him, asking what he would normally charge (then added a little bit as a thank you).

This morning the carpet is still wet, though we are fortunate in that the worst of the damage was done to the only carpet in the house that is still in need of replacement. I called our insurance agent but learned that we would pay several hundred dollars more to have it saved than we would to have it replaced. It just didn't make sense to try and save carpet that is in dire need of replacement anyway. The new carpet has been ordered and will be here by the end of the month.

There are no pictures or video to document the temporary indoor water park, as I was too busy to consider photography. If I had been able to get the water shut off any earlier than I did, I would have. I was too intent on getting it under control and then cleaning it up to care. It was definitely NOT a happy day, but we will strive to make the rest of the week better than Tuesday, acknowledging that's not a really lofty goal! So the pictures featured in this post are from our "happy day"!