Hurricane Irene? (week 236)

This week we kicked-off the soccer season for the AYSO U6 Silver Sharks. Mommy signed Daddy up as the coach...bringing his total number of jobs up to three...but fortunately, all the practices, games, and picture days are right up the road at Heartwell Park across from Jackson's house. In fact, Jackson, Nathan and I are the three 4-year-olds on a team of six. The other three boys--Rudy, Andrew, and Robert--are all 5-years-old and all seem to have some experience playing soccer. Long Beach AYSO soccer is just as intense as Cal Ripkin Baseball with parent commitments for working the snack stand, candy sales, and other performance measures just to be a part of the league. More to come on our Wednesday practices and Saturday games.

Meantime, the Keisler Family Circus also left Long Beach Airport for Long Island on the Jet Blue red-eye Friday night at 9:30 PM. One would think that Christopher and I would be exhausted, and that the red-eye would be a good way to ensure that we slept most of the way to New York...but Christopher seems to gain energy around crowds of people. Given that Hurricane Irene was scheduled to hit New York Saturday night, everyone and their mother was trying to get home (or to their Grandma Dubby's House) before they shut down the airports. The airport and the plane was totally packed; which only gave Christopher an extra two shots of adrenalene. More people to talk to, more crowds to run through, more excitement and noise all around.

The first hour of the flight was what some would consider a nightmare. In addition to being the only kids on the plane, Mommy and Daddy checked the carryone suitcase that had all the diapers in it. Christopher was a wild man: pulling on headphones, pushing the controls for the tvs, and pulling on the window shade (up and down). Needless to say, it took Daddy about 45 minutes and a lot of screaming at the back of the airplane (in the Steward's kitchen) to get Chris to finally knock out. I slept under the seats, and the last 3.5 hours of the flight went by extremely quickly.

Grandpa Andy was prompt as usual at JFK when we landed and the Expressway was completely empty as we raced home to beat the storm. Aunt Leah also escaped the City before the storm hit, but Uncle Mark decided to stay put and take care of the condo in Harlem just in case the trains never resumed service. In the end, it was very uneventful as the Hurricane was reduced to a Tropical Storm and we slept through the worst of it. We even went in the pool Saturday morning to get a swim before the rain, leaves, and trees started coming down around town. Of course, we were stuck in the house most of Sunday...but it only took Grandpa and Daddy about 3 hours to clean-up the leaves, branches, and other fallen debris Monday morning.

The other big news was that we got to meet Cousin Steven for the first time. He is probably 5.5 months now but is super alert and super strong. He looks like a blend of Webster/Nadramia, but clearly he is going to have the energy and disposition of a Christopher (rather than a Benjamin). With three boys now under the age of 5, Dubby is in heaven. The holidays are bound to be eventful and loud if nothing else.

All-in-all, it looks like a good week ahead for boating, fishing, swimming and seafood. The Angels lost 2 out of 3 to the Rangers but college football and USC kickoff this Saturday. Fight On!