Hurricane Sandy - the storm hits

On Monday morning, the news reports said that anyone who had to do anything should do it now. I realized that we had forgotten some things at the apartment, so I took the kids back to the apartment (Mila in the stroller & Shay on foot). It was about 5 long blocks & 10 shorter blocks in wind and rain. Shay was a trooper, but I decided to switch to the double stroller for the walk back. We picked up more supplies & food on the way back to the hotel. We learned that the NYU medical building closest to the Easr River was already being evacuated. Shay's school is also in evacuation zone A & was closed.

Back at the Ramada, I was doing my best to keep the kids entertained, and the staff kept asking if I was checking out. We had paid for 2 nights, as far as I knew. Well, turns out that Jermaine had only paid for one night, and the hotel was booked. I had to pack up the double stroller, suitcase, food, and kids, then check out & quickly book another hotel through Expedia. We got to the next hotel, where which turned out to be not stroller-accessible. Unloading everything & then getting our stuff up to the fourth floor in an tiny, vintage cage elevator was no easy task. The room was small & dark with a view of a wall; yes, a wall. Suffice to say, it was not a fun day & I didn't take further pictures. Later that night, Jermaine got back & the power went out soon after.

Hurricane Sandy - in the evacuation zone

At the Halloween party, we started getting robo-calls from our apartment management office, indicating that we were in the mandatory evacuation zone. At first, I wanted to try to ride out the storm at home, but then the reality of trying to get down 15 flights of stairs by myself with the kids prompted us to pack our bags. We decided to try the evacuation center first, then try to get to Jermaine's brother's in the Bronx if needed. I was definitely anxious, not really knowing what to expect or what we would need.

We got to Baruch College around 7pm, filled out some paperwork, and waited to be called. After 30 minutes or so, they led us down to the gym. There were food packs complete with heating packets that warmed them up. Jermaine said it was similar to what they have in the military (meal ready-to-eat/MRE) - don't ask me how he knows this. The negative was that they had run out of cots, and we soon learned that they would not be dimming the bright gym lights. We opted for a hotel rather than sleeping on the floor under fluorescent lights with a million kids running around.

We checked into a Ramada. The skies were still clear, so it was hard to anticipate what was to come.

Halloween festivities - part 2

Before we knew we had to evacuate, we went to a Halloween party sponsored by a local moms group that I joined. I had helped with the planning, and it looked like everyone had fun!

Shay was dressed as Bruce the shark from Finding Nemo & Mila was sharkbait. Shay got his face painted as Spider-Man for the second day in a row. Jermaine said that his costume was then "the shark that ate Spider-Man".

Halloween festivities - part 1

Blogging exclusively from my phone for now; we are at Jermaine's brother's house in the Bronx for the next couple days until the power comes back on in our building. So I'll write some updates & attach pictures, but formatting wont be as cute!

Before the hurricane hit, we were able to do a few Halloween activities. We took the bus to the South Street Seaport, where we saw Curious George, read Halloween stories, and got some awesome face painting done!

Fall festivals in NYC

So I have been having a problem uploading pictures from my phone.  I've had a few posts written without pictures for awhile.  I finally uploaded them to the computer, but I'm hoping the Blogger app is fixed soon! Actually blogging from a computer for once...

Living in southern California, we never had much variation in the weather or real seasons.  Well, it's definitely fall here on the East Coast, and there are festivals all over the city to celebrate!

The Harlem Harvest Festival had food, free pumpkins, and face painting!  It took us awhile to get there by subway, but the kids had a blast.
 

He requested a Shamu face painting.

We were lucky to have the Ecofest right next to our apartment complex. Even though it was overcast and drizzly, we stopped by for music and more food and face painting. 

The Madison Square Kids Fall Fest was by far one of the biggest fall festivals that we have been to so far.  A pumpkin patch, kids obstacle course, lots of musical performances, free cotton candy and pretzels, and face painting; there was so much that we couldn't get to it all. 

2nd visit from Nana

Shay had been looking forward to another visit from Nana ever since her last visit!  He will periodically say "I'm sad", and when I ask why, will reply "I want to go back to California now."  He usually needs a hug and a kiss to feel better.  It's hard, because we all want to go back, but we are also happy with how our life is shaping up here.  But, of course, it's always nice to have family and friends visit.

Nana spent a rare day with just Mila, then we picked up Shay from school.  He was very excited to show her everything that he was learning and introduce her to his friends and teachers.

On Saturday, there was the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) Arts Festival. It's a great little area in Brooklyn that's right off our favorite mode of transportation, the East River Ferry.  There were food trucks and arts and crafts for the kids.

 

The weekend also included another trip to our favorite sushi place, where Shay ate his first edamame out of the pod and Mila showed Nana her finger-wagging skills.  I think she's going to be a handful!