It has been hot this week. Really hot. 100 + degrees hot. I know, my friends and family down south are laughing. I can hear them already. It been hot down there for a while but what they forget is we are not equipped to handle the heat up here.
I don't just mean we aren't used to it. We aren't, but I mean the infrastructure as well. This past week, NJ Transit had delays all over the rail lines because train engines would get too hot triggering an automatic shut down.
Then there is the lack of air conditioning. I remember in Houston, there were parking garages that had air conditioning. I am not joking. Here, most people don't have central air in their houses or their apartments. At best, most have a few window units.
Our next door neighbor has a gas grill outside by their garage they cook on almost everyday during the summer because it is too hot to cook in the kitchen.
We are luckier than most as the back of our house is a fairly recent addition and we have central air back there. The vents run into a couple of bathrooms, the family room and the play room. We have one vent in the kitchen as well. There is no central air in the front of the house or upstairs. We do have a few window units upstairs though.
Our air conditioner in the back of the house ran non-stop for about 4 days and still the temperature in the downstairs area was 80 or above. In our son's room upstairs where there is no window unit, the temperature would reach 98. Needless to say, he slept in our room for several nights.
It has started to cool down a bit. We still can't get much of the house below 78 but at least we've broken 80 now. And things are looking up , tomorrow the high is only supposed to be 80. Maybe we won't melt after all.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Friday July 2nd
Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, our town's fireworks display on the 4th was cancelled. That display is usually held at a local park only 1/2 mile from our house. It's an easy walking distance. We were quite disappointed when we heard the news.
However, thanks to some community support and fund raising, there ended up being fireworks on the 4th but we were unable to attend as it was done at a local independent league baseball stadium. We would have had to drive there and from what I heard, traffic was horrible. Fortunately, the kids were able to get their fireworks fix on Friday night instead.
There was a concert in Brookdale Park Friday night with a large fireworks display afterward. The park is about a 1 1/2 miles away so we could walk to it and not have to worry about traffic. The concert was to start at 7:30. We arrived about 7:15 and found some space toward the back.
We met up with some friends whose oldest son is Caelyn's age. The children were excited to see each other as it has been a while. With the exception of one incident, which will be described a little later, it was a very nice evening. The sound system for the concert was not very good so the show was mostly background music. It would have been better had we been able to hear the band as the kids liked them but they were having fun and playing anyway.
Caleb was simply content to eat his way through all the snacks we brought. This has basically become standard operating procedure for him. We arrive wherever it is that we are going and he proceeds to take out every food stuff we bring along. You'd think we never feed the kid.
As the sun went down and it got darker Caelyn and her friend Matthew kept playing. They eventually started fighting with lighted swords we parents had been suckered into buying from the vendor traveling through the crowd selling useless glow in the dark stuff. The sword may have not have been worth the eight dollars we paid but it did provide eight dollars worth of entertainment.
The fireworks started about 9:30 and when the did, they started with a bang. No pun intended. Actually it was a series of very loud, very rapid bangs as they were set off very close to where we were sitting. Caleb freaked and dove into me.
There is a large and thriving music scene near our old neighborhood in Brooklyn. It consists mostly of parents who have put together rock bands with child friendly lyrics. If you have kids that watch Noggin, probably 75 percent of the bands you see featured there are from this area. As a result, we take the kids to see live music whenever we get the chance. They like to hang out in front of the stage or in Caelyn's case, on the stage, whenever possible. Hence, we have some serious headphones to knock down the decibels a bit for them.
Caleb dove at me the instant the bangs started. Fortunately, I had the headphones ready for him. I placed them over his ears. He calmed immediately, sat back and watched the show. Caelyn was cackling and clapping throughout the show as well.
When it was all over, we said good night to our friends and walked back home. Four of us arrived together and four of us left together though for about fifteen - twenty minutes, that wasn't guaranteed.
Which brings me to the one incident that kept it from being a nearly perfect evening with family and friends. We lost our daughter. More accurately, she lost us as she wondered off into a crowd of thousands.
Normally when we are out somewhere, I am always tracking our children's location. It has become instinctive over the years of being a stay at home parent. Occasionally, such as when there are more adults than children in our group, I can get lax. So it was when I stopped in mid-conversation with our friends to ask if anyone knew where Caelyn was. No one did.
Immediately, we started searching. I did a big loop to the right of where we were sitting. Our friend did a loop to the left and Kerry moved forward into the crowd while the fourth adult stayed with the other two kids.
After completing my loop, I went to the other side where our friend pointed out the police command center and sent me there while they kept looking. I explained the situation to an EMT, who gave me to an officer, who led me into the command center. I gave the officer a description of our daughter's clothing and showed them a picture from my phone.
They broadcast the information to the officers watching the crowd. I noticed the officer in the command center had a large notebook full of descriptions of missing kids. Our child was not the only one who had wandered off.
The officers who were there with me did a great job of keeping everyone calm. They were very professional and went about their business with focus. Fortunately, I received a call from our friend shortly after the radio call went out that Caelyn had been found. Kerry had spotted her further in the crowd and ran her down.
I thanked the officers profusely and asked them to please disregard any screaming they heard as I planned to hug my daughter and then kill her.
When I got back to the group, I did almost that. I gave Caelyn a big hug and then ripped into her. She spent the next 10 minutes or so crying and apologizing for taking off. I think she got the message. After she spent some time being upset, I started to bring her out of it so she could enjoy the rest of the evening.
Four of us arrived together and four of us left together. All in all, it was a good evening.
However, thanks to some community support and fund raising, there ended up being fireworks on the 4th but we were unable to attend as it was done at a local independent league baseball stadium. We would have had to drive there and from what I heard, traffic was horrible. Fortunately, the kids were able to get their fireworks fix on Friday night instead.
There was a concert in Brookdale Park Friday night with a large fireworks display afterward. The park is about a 1 1/2 miles away so we could walk to it and not have to worry about traffic. The concert was to start at 7:30. We arrived about 7:15 and found some space toward the back.
(Caelyn sitting on the beach towel)
We met up with some friends whose oldest son is Caelyn's age. The children were excited to see each other as it has been a while. With the exception of one incident, which will be described a little later, it was a very nice evening. The sound system for the concert was not very good so the show was mostly background music. It would have been better had we been able to hear the band as the kids liked them but they were having fun and playing anyway.
(Caelyn and Matthew)
Caleb was simply content to eat his way through all the snacks we brought. This has basically become standard operating procedure for him. We arrive wherever it is that we are going and he proceeds to take out every food stuff we bring along. You'd think we never feed the kid.
(Caleb happy to see more food)
(The Force is with them)
The fireworks started about 9:30 and when the did, they started with a bang. No pun intended. Actually it was a series of very loud, very rapid bangs as they were set off very close to where we were sitting. Caleb freaked and dove into me.
There is a large and thriving music scene near our old neighborhood in Brooklyn. It consists mostly of parents who have put together rock bands with child friendly lyrics. If you have kids that watch Noggin, probably 75 percent of the bands you see featured there are from this area. As a result, we take the kids to see live music whenever we get the chance. They like to hang out in front of the stage or in Caelyn's case, on the stage, whenever possible. Hence, we have some serious headphones to knock down the decibels a bit for them.
Caleb dove at me the instant the bangs started. Fortunately, I had the headphones ready for him. I placed them over his ears. He calmed immediately, sat back and watched the show. Caelyn was cackling and clapping throughout the show as well.
(Caelyn enjoying the show)
Which brings me to the one incident that kept it from being a nearly perfect evening with family and friends. We lost our daughter. More accurately, she lost us as she wondered off into a crowd of thousands.
Normally when we are out somewhere, I am always tracking our children's location. It has become instinctive over the years of being a stay at home parent. Occasionally, such as when there are more adults than children in our group, I can get lax. So it was when I stopped in mid-conversation with our friends to ask if anyone knew where Caelyn was. No one did.
Immediately, we started searching. I did a big loop to the right of where we were sitting. Our friend did a loop to the left and Kerry moved forward into the crowd while the fourth adult stayed with the other two kids.
After completing my loop, I went to the other side where our friend pointed out the police command center and sent me there while they kept looking. I explained the situation to an EMT, who gave me to an officer, who led me into the command center. I gave the officer a description of our daughter's clothing and showed them a picture from my phone.
They broadcast the information to the officers watching the crowd. I noticed the officer in the command center had a large notebook full of descriptions of missing kids. Our child was not the only one who had wandered off.
The officers who were there with me did a great job of keeping everyone calm. They were very professional and went about their business with focus. Fortunately, I received a call from our friend shortly after the radio call went out that Caelyn had been found. Kerry had spotted her further in the crowd and ran her down.
I thanked the officers profusely and asked them to please disregard any screaming they heard as I planned to hug my daughter and then kill her.
When I got back to the group, I did almost that. I gave Caelyn a big hug and then ripped into her. She spent the next 10 minutes or so crying and apologizing for taking off. I think she got the message. After she spent some time being upset, I started to bring her out of it so she could enjoy the rest of the evening.
Four of us arrived together and four of us left together. All in all, it was a good evening.
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