Winfield Bluegrass Festival

We are now back from camping for a little less than a week in Winfield, KS... What started off horribly ended so good.

We arrived on Tuesday evening. My dad was too tired to camp that night so we slept at his house in Oxford, Kansas, which is about 8 miles from Winfield. We got up the next day and loaded all the camping gear and headed out for what was supposed to be the start of an awesome weekend.

Wednesday night is when things went horribly wrong. We started out just hanging out, catching up with everyone, unpacking what seemed to be an entire house worth of stuff.... Then a friend Jake got a call from his kids stating that they were getting alot of bad weather and hail in a town nearby. Being the motherly being I am, I immediatly got out my phone and kept tabs on the radar, updating Jake on the storm. From what everyone could tell it was just going to miss us... So, we just sat outside and watched a storm pass us by. Within minutes the sky became black, the temperature changed to cooler weather... and lightening started.
The next thing I know a lightning strike hit really close to where we were. Everyone started yelling at me to get the baby in a truck where its grounded. Dads truck was locked, so I ended up taking him into a camper and waited. The wind picked up, and then the sirens sounded. I opened the door to the camper and looked at my dad and he said "Maude, get the baby in the truck now." We run for the truck, strapping Sterling into the middle with no car seat, (which totally freaked me out), and started trying to find a safe place. We started by driving around the campsite, looking for a covered place to park. Traffic was horrible, and trees looked like they were going to break in half. So, My dad decided it would be best to hit the road and run from it. On the radio we could hear them saying that Winfield has lost all power, and that the tornado was on the ground 5 miles north of us.... Dad drove the opposite way. I immediatly began praying as we tried to get out of the campsites traffic, people running in the road trying to find cover, cars trying to run to a safer place, it was a mad house. We finally got out and started heading for Ark City (which I later found out that Julie's saint husband had to go the next day to fix their power, those guys need praise, they work so hard!!!) God was really on my side,  because the moment I started praying, Sterling fell right to sleep. The skies got dark, the rain was falling sideways.... I was worried about everyone at the campsite. So many things were going through my mind. I immediately called Mike and told him to start praying, that I was scared we werent going to make it, and that I loved him. My dad kept trying to find a good radio station with updates, as we kept loosing signal due to power outages.
We finally got towards Ark city and you could see the blue sky ahead of us... but in the rear view it was dark as night.
When we took a different road to get to my dads house, you could see all the funnels. Luckily I had Julie, who lives on the other side of Wichita, texting me updates on the weather, telling me if we were clear where we were at. Gave me a huge peice of mind. We made it to my dads safely, thank God. But that was one of the scariest things I have ever been through.
After getting to dads I called around to try to reach people back at the campsite. Our friend Jake, bless his heart, stood out in the storm holding our tent up so we wouldnt loose anything. No one was hurt, no one had any damage. A couple of friends that lived near by had severe roof damage to their home, but other than that everyone was ok. Jakes kids made it through also.
As I laid down that night, I slept with Sterling in my arms, holding him so tight. I probably kissed him a million times and thanked God that he was still with me and that my dad protected us. It reminded me of when Sterling was 5 weeks, and we had a tornado out at Mike's dads farm. Sterling and I were down in the cellar, I covered him with a blanket, and hovered over him praying that God would keep us safe. I watched the ceiling tiles move, and out of the cellar window you could see what looked like hell had taken over. It lasted only a few minutes but it seemed like forever. When it was all done, we came upstairs, house still standing, unharmed. But a barn had collapsed, and our brandnew greenhouse that the entire family put so much work into was gone. It was devistating.
So, Sterling is my little tornado baby. One day Ill look back and tell him these stories, and about how he is a little survivor, and how his grandpas, Dean and my dad, were hero's on both of those terrifying days.

After that things were great. We went back out to the festival the next morning, and nothing was lost or ruined. We had alot of mud from a little flooding, but everyone worked really hard together and got everything cleaned up. Sterling had a hay day with that mud too! I think at one point he was covered from head to toe! My dad made Sterling a little covered wagon (which I would post pictures if someone could show me how...hint hint) and we just pulled him around as we looked at crafts, and listened to music. My dads girlfriend Judy came down from Texas. It was great to see her, and she was so wonderful with Sterling! I even got a little mommys night out and got hang out with friends and drink some champagne. I got a little carried away, but I had SO much fun.

Music was great, friends were even greater.... and I cant wait untill next year! Leaving was hard. Watching my dad cry as he said by to Sterling killed me. I hate being so far away. I think I cried almost all the way home.

So, thats the eventful story of our past weekend. I posted a video of some of the footage someone captured of all the tornadoes. I guess there were about 6 in the area. The hail  was 7.75 inches! Video is very neat to look at so take a gander!

Thats all for now. Back to the daily regular.
Hope all is well with everyone!

God Bless,
Molly