Riding out the storm...

Well, it seems the worst has passed. And without much damage. Last night (or early this morning) around 1 am I stepped outside our front door just to get a sense of what was happening. The wind and rain was howling and the trees were swaying. I got a little freaked out, so I put the kids pack and plays in the living room and transported them into the living room to sleep for the night (since we have no basement). My feeling was if a tree-and we have many of them-were to come down, it would have less of chance of hurting us if it had to go through the attic and the second floor first.

I cooked a little early this morning and around 2, tried to get some sleep on the couch. I realized that I would probably be on my own with the kids most of Sunday and I needed to sleep a little. Shortly after 3:00 am Felix came in the door. He had headed out (perhaps foolishly, but I was thrilled!) in the storm and came home early so we didn't have to ride out the worse on our own. I have never been so happy to see him! Once he was home, I was able to really sleep-although the storm was still raging, and before we knew it, it was 10 am, we were all still asleep and the storm was basically over!

Today we are just laying low. We have not lost power and since the storm is dying down, I doubt we will (JINX!). More than 600,000 houses are without power, so we feel lucky. I am doing as much laundry as I can so if the power does go out we are set for the week.

The kids have been great, just playing, and of course watching more than the usual television. Our house looks like a disaster zone (inside that is) but we are all safe and together, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

Good luck to everyone cleaning up after the storm.

Hurrican Robots....

I tried desperately to get a flashlight since we had none in the house. Finally tracked one down, pleaded with the man at the hardward store over the phone to hold it for me and I would be down to get it (he actually made me show my ID to claim it....CRAZY!) Anyway, so I have a flashlight, but no batteries. They are all out all over the place. So as I said in the last post, I ventured up to Target to see if they had any...they did, but not the size I need. Who knew all flashlights take the same size batteries. So I bought about 10 table candles (the stout ones that are usually more for decoration). I figured that was better than anything.

After the park and putting the kids through the bath, my friend from church, Cindy told me that she went to REI (camping store) and got a light. So at 8:30 pm, I threw the kids in the car and off we went. When I got there they were out of flashlights and lanterns, but they had a headlamp...which is actually perfect, because if the lights do go out, I can move around while not needing to hold a flashlight, candle, etc.

At REI they had these wind up lanterns for the kids. They are Lego men and you crank the handle and their feet shine light. So I bought them...a nice souveneir to remember Irene by. We were home by nine. The kids wanted to sleep with their "hurricane robots" but I made them keep them downstairs for when we really need them.

We are off to music hour at the library this morning and then to visit Connie and take her to the library. Then it is back home and we will just wait for Irene to arrive.

The calm before the storm...

Well, anyone near any news source knows that hurricane Irene is heading straight towards us. Felix is away this weekend, and so I thought I would get the kids out as much as possible before the storm hits. We went to Target in search of batteries for our flashlight, but were not successful. Afterwards, we headed over to the park. It was a beautiful night, warm and in the 80's, with a beautiful sunset....you would never know what is coming in 24 hours.

Laying low...

Well, if you haven't noticed, we have been running around all summer with our kids. After the triathlon and Sesame Place back to back, the kids were a little run down, runny noses, coughing a bit and so forth. So we took 2-3 days and just completely laid low. They needed it and we were happy to give it to them.

On Tuesday, we did venture out a bit down the street to church. I had some stuff I needed to take care of, and so we went down for an hour or so.

They are getting good at posing!

pushups...

I kid you not..Grandpa came by the other day (after my race) and showed us how he does his pushups...I had to put it on here...I just did. :-)

Sesame Place One More Time...

As some of you know, the last time we were at Sesame Place we got a free pass to come back since it rained (although barely). Felix is done with summer school and so we headed back yesterday. Our last hurrah before I start school this week.

The characters were out much more than last time...

Liliana was happy to view from afar...but Lucas wanted to get up close to Grover.

We tried to do things we didn't do last time...like this toddler sprinkler park we totally missed last time. Just right for them it seemed.

We had dinner at the park (opted out of packing a cooler) I split the kids dinner (since it was big) but that resulted in us receiving only ONE Elmo plate. Well, you can imagine how well that would go over. I asked if we could have a second one (explaining we had twins)and was told by the manager that we could not. But when the manager was not looking, the cashier snuck an extra one in there for me. They are plastic and resuable so I gather we will be eating off those for quite some time.

A new ride...tea cups

We did see the same Elmo show..but they LOVED it!

The big tunnel slide.

Flying Elmos at night....wheee!!!

We ended the night with the parade and made it home before midnight. It was a great way to end the summer. School starts this week for me, and next week for Felix. Christina also comes back on Monday....and so it begins.

Park City Triathlon

Well, the Gomez household was up early this morning heading out to my race. Our kids are such good sports in the early morning.

Getting ready..

The masses. This race was a real stretch for me. However, most of the people at the race seemed to be real serious triathletes. The car parked near me in the parking lot had a license plate that said "IRONMAN" So I realized that I was a small fishin a really big pond. But I just kept reminding myself that I wasn't competing against them, and I was just there to finish and maybe reach my goal (under three hours)

All the men are here in blue caps. Most of the competitors were men, about 270 to only 70 women.

The female wave (much smaller) in the pink. I am on the left with the grey bottom to my wetsuit.

Hanging out during the swim.

The olympic distance races take a while, so Felix was good in that he brought their sand toys. It was low tide as well which really helped.

Getting close to the finish line.

A huge thanks to my friend Ann who came out just to cheer me on this morning. And of course, without Felix, I would not have been able to train at all for this race OR see my smiling children cheering me on as I competed. Watching two two year olds amongst the comotion of a race for four hours is tough. Thanks so much!

I didn't make my goal time. I realized that I wouldn't when I had three miles left to run. So I just decided to run well and finish well. I felt really good on the race, passed a lot of walkers on the run, so I think my preparation paid off, maybe my goal was a bit too high. And anyway, there's always next year right? (well maybe....)

Library...

I have been having quite the stay-at-home mom expereience lately. Christina is in Honduras on vacation and Felix is finishing up summer school. So during the week, I have the kids. I am beginning to realize how much work Christina really does, and how effortless she makes it seem. I am also lucky that Felix is home by 2 pm each day. So I really just have the mornings.

We went to the library TWICE this week. Yesterday was "Tunes and Tales for 2's" The twins wore their "2" shirts from Nana (not that you can see it here)

The library just got a new BUBBLE MACHINE! Huge hit!!!

I never realized how much libraries due for children and families. I know moms all over Norwalk are thankful for the multiple programs offered all week for all ages to help kids learn to love the library.

Fleeting Days of Summer...

With the summer ending so soon, we are trying to enjoy every last moment. Last night we went to the beach for some swimming and dinner.

Yum...

I feel these two boys could sit by the water all day...

Off to the playground for some fun.

And not that we planned it, but it was live music night at the beach and since it was Wed. they had a kids show before the real band. Great night in all....