Shakey Monster

Well, it finally happened. I experienced my first big earthquake after living in California (south and north including Bay Area) for over 10 years. It happened on Easter Sunday in the afternoon after the kids had gone down for naps. I yelled at Tyler to stop shaking the whole apartment (which is something he usually does) but he insisted it wasn't him and that it must be an earthquake. And then it kept shaking and shaking and getting louder and longer... it seriously went on forever!! It lasted so long that I had time to have a conversation with Tyler about what the heck to do -- stand under a doorway, get under the table, grab the kids -- to which he replied "I don't know" and shrugged his shoulders. Um, yeah, so much for feeling safer married to a native Californian who felt the big San Francisco quake way back when.

Anyway, it kept shaking and getting harder. It was a rolling quake that left our apartment swaying back and forth for a little while after. Only a few things fell off our walls in the kitchen, no damage at all, but I was pretty shook up and Max was really shook up. I heard him screaming in the bedroom and I thought for sure something had fallen on him. I opened the bedroom door and he was sitting in his bed saying there was a "HUGE SHAKEY MONSTER UNDER THE BED" and to get him out of there right now. After trying not to bust out laughing, I picked him up and we explained to him about earthquakes. Lia just slept right through it.

The next day Max learned all about them in school too, including what to do when they happen (apparently standing under a doorway is what you should NOT do and will most certainly kill you). Now Max is really interested in earthquakes, which is a good thing seeing as how we've had like 600 aftershocks since then!