Waterlogged shoes

Today i am feeling the effects of the storm we had yesterday.
It is cooler, but wow is it humid!
The storm we had was a real doozie!
Just before church ended it started raining
cats and dogs.
And then it picked up and really started raining,
Cows and horses.
It poured and poured.
I was not as brave as my children to go running out in it

to get in the car.
I had a white skirt on.
I figured I would wait till it slowed down or passed us.
{If you are not familiar with AZ storms
it rains hard for a few minutes and then normally leaves as quickly.
Leaving it really humid without much precipitation.}
That was not the case on Sunday.
It was not letting up

and my children were getting tired of waiting for me.
So middle child left the safety and dryness of the car
and came in to see when i was coming out.
"Why didn't you bring me the umbrella? I inquired.
She had forgotten that it was in there.
Being the good sport that she is,

she not only retrieved my umbrella
but another ladies as well.
{She did get a little wet in the process.}
I took off my shoes and proceeded out to the car.
Have you ever noticed that there is not a good way to get into a car
with an umbrella?
I got minimally soaked.
Driving home was interesting
as many of the roads were flooded.

When we were almost home my daughter discovered

that little man had lost a shoe.
This is a normal occurrence for us.
Usually it is dry and we are able to pick it right up.
But not this day.
I was hoping it had been misplaced

in the car.
No such luck--

it had fallen out.
Ever try to find a shoe in a puddle?
a really big puddle?

We went back looking for the stray shoe,
and followed the path of the moving water,
hoping against odds that it hadn't washed down a storm drain.

What a smart boy to STOP and look both ways

He is standing in the gutter
and somewhere over there is supposed to be a side walk

While he was wading through this mini lake

i was sitting in my dry car.

following him,

trying to keep an alert eye out

for a boat

that looked like a shoe.

While we were looking

EVIL MOM

took over my body,

encouraging me to splash him.

I tried to resist!

I really did,

but having been raised with three brothers

i was in a no win situation.

(secretly: haven't you always wanted to do this?)

So i put the car in stealth

and when i got close enough to him

i hit it

and water went flying.

Needless to say

he was shocked

and really soaked now

And Evil mom

--laughed--

thee evil laugh.

At that point

good kind mom took over

and let him back in the car

fearing that we were never to see the shoe again.

I sent hubby out a few hours later

when the puddles had subsided

but alas he also came back empty handed.

This morning

I awoke

(feeling confidant--not really)

picked up middle child from swimming

(which is across the street

from where the shoe went missing.)

Hoping against hope

i drove slowly

looking for the shoe.

Low and behold,

the shoe had gone east to the stop sign.

Stopped.

turned right and headed south

about 200 yards or so

and had landed halfway up someones yard

See the arrow in the picture
that is about where we found the shoe
{and i am a few yards from the stop sign}

Quite the journey

for one little shoe

I am still amazed that we actually found it

We can't even find his shoes at home most days--