Earlier this fall, much of Texas was drenched by Hurricane Harvey. We all watched in dread as the storm overwhelmed the coast and left Houston and surroundings in ruins. Total chaos.
While Austin got its fair share of rain, we escaped the devastation that swamped much of the coast. It was certainly no tragedy and I don't mean to make light, but parents of young kids will know what I mean when I say that being stuck indoors for days and days on end can feel a bit apocalyptic.
It was on one such Harvey day that I entered the fold of the Owen family, determined to ride out the storm with healthy doses of togetherness. And boy, did they deliver.
At the crack of 7am when I arrived the family was deep in a round of board games, Candy Land being the fave. When the kids grew restless and took to wrestling, everybody gravitated toward the windows to watch the rain fall hypnotically, they got to thinking . . .
Time to play outside. My favorite families to photograph are the ones who aren't afraid to get wet, windied, or dirty. Anything for the sake of an experience, right?
Back inside, it was time to create. Out came the paint, glitter, and fantasy world of unicorns and dinosaurs. The whole family took part. And I don't know about you, but creativity always makes me hungry. So cookies were baked. Gooey, buttery chocolate chip cookies. Finger lickin' good.
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We all know what comes next, right? The sugar rush. The youngest two were riding high on cookie vapors, and things got really fun. Picking mom's nose, body-slamming each other on the sofa, and converting the whole living room into a makeshift obstacle course went on the rest of the morning.
Sometime during the morning, it occurred to me: four days trapped in the house with flooded roads and intense winds is like an ultimate test of familyness. And as is totally clear to me, these guys rocked it.
