1st week back at school and the great blackout of 2011

     What a wild week it has been! We had 24 hours of rain and cool temps, which is really rare this time of year for El Cajon, followed by 3 days of above 100 degree temps, and it ended with the largest power outage ever experienced in San Diego County. The week started with a bithday party and ended with a birthday party. Oh, and Kurt has started working on a new shift at a new station. 
     We also had Keric's 1st day of preschool and Ryan's 1st day of Mommy and me preschool. Madness!

   

     Keric was really excited about going back to school. His teacher this year is Mrs. Furois. He was a little hesistant about leaving Mrs. Harres but he seemed to have a really good day. The following day we went to Ryan's 1st day at Mommy and Me preschool.  We all had fun in his class too. It was that afternoon, on a Thursday when the power went out.

   

We were at WalMart, again, when all the lights went out. The kids of course thought that was pretty entertaining until they realized we had to leave without all the yummy food in the grocery basket. Trying to leave the parking lot was like trying to leave a rock concert. This gave Keric plenty of time to ponder all the places we couldn't go because the power was out. No McDonald's. No train museum. No train station. No trolley rides...ad nauseum. We live about a minute, maybe 2, from WalMart, depending on lights. It took us about 15. I'm not complaining though. It took a lot of people hours to get home that day.

     After we got home we took stock of batteries, flashlights, candles, and glowsticks. : ) Our awesome neighbors let us put our food in their freezer since they had a little generator keeping things cool. We ended up having a little block party in their front yard with their kids and 2 other sets of neighbors. It was so good actually getting to talk with them instead of just the usual wave as we pass each other in our comings and goings.

     We have a gas stove so we were able to boil up some hotdogs and have a halfway decent meal even without power. After dinner we went out front to play a little longer before it got too dark. The two little girls from next door, Cameron and Jenna, came down with battery operated tealights for the boys for a nightlight. It was a super sweet thing for them to do.

     I decided to let the boys stay up late since it was way too hot to sleep. We all stripped down and went for a swim sans bathing suits but with glow sticks. The boys were completely exhausted by 9pm. Keric was falling asleep sitting up. It finally cooled off enough for bed and they slept like rocks. The power came back on at about 2am. I was really grateful that it only lasted long enough for the novelty to not wear off.

     Before we went to bed they announced that all the schools were closed. Sounded like a fine excuse for heading to the beach! We met our friends Miss Abbie, Ben, and Nate at Mission Beach. The boys had a great time looking for sand crabs and building sand castles. We took them to lunch at Belmont Park and watched all the rides for a little while. It is a treasure and a blessing to watch them all grow up together.

Well, now that this crazy week is almost over, I am packing for my 1st girl trip to VEGAS! Wahoo!