"That way the kids won't have to readjust and then freak out" if they are evacuated again, she said. "I don't want to do it again, so we'll wait and see what happens."

In the meantime, Covey said she is trying to keep her kids busy and is enjoying a less crowded and quieter shelter. Rows of cots set up outside to be sanitized indicated that many people had already left.

Covey said that, despite the circumstances, she is still planning a birthday party for her son, Logan, who turns 3 on Saturday.

More presents have been donated, and now she is just looking for something to wrap them in.

"We'll do something for my son's birthday, and then we'll go back and have a real birthday," she said.

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Thursday, June 28:

"Overheated, "stressed," ''nervous" and "tired." Those were some of the feelings Simone Covey said she was experiencing after spending her second night at the Red Cross shelter in the Cheyenne Mountain High School gymnasium.