We had a fierce thunderstorm this evening - lighting, thunder, hail, torrential rain - and the worst of it came down as we were coming home from eating out at Yankton's charming Fryin' Pan. We were only a few blocks from home, but I pulled over under the canopy at a gas station so we could protect the van from the hail. That's what we poor folk who have no garage do to protect our vehicles, ya know. We heard on the radio that lightning struck a house at about the same time as we were seeking shelter. So, other than that and some urban flooding (laughable term for a town like Yankton, I know), we came out unscathed and with our flowers and garden freely watered.

We went out to eat tonight as an early anniversary celebration since Cory has clients in the evening on Thursday. The hostess brought Ella a booster seat (Ella apparently looks too big/old for high chairs at this point), and at first Ella refused to sit in it, opting instead to proudly sit on the regular seat and sip ice water from a glass glass. It was so cute to see how excited she was to do the exact same thing as the rest of us. All three kids helped me eat my salad, concentrating mostly on the croutons and dressing, and Ella and I shared a meal of chicken strips, coleslaw and french fries. When we eat out, I usually pick a meal like that because Ella doesn't always eat enough to warrant getting her a separate meal.

Otherwise, our day consisted of doing a little grocery shopping in the morning and lots of laundry throughout the day. Stopped briefly at the library, too, to pick up a book for me as well as one Cory requested. I also did a bit of LLL work, which lately has held no thrill for me at all.

There's not a lot going on the rest of the week. The streets and parks will be much quieter around here beginning tomorrow with the return of school. On Saturday, we're going up to Mitchell to see Weird Al Yankovic perform at the Corn Palace. Jealous much? Yeah, that's what I thought. Seriously, though, Weird Al is an artist that Cory has loved since childhood, and Accalia and Cole loved watching his television show when we got it on DVD a while ago. I think it'll be a fun time as long as Ella is willing to hang out for the concert. We'll probably stop to see Cory's brother and family beforehand.