Talk about celebrating with a BLAST!

Because my parents are leaving for their 3+ week trip next week, my Dad decided to splurge on his kids by cooking two of his infamous dishes that only he seem to be able to cook very well. It's been a while since he cooked these, and because we've been bugging him for months, he decided to indulge our palate last night. And because last night was the family get-together to celebrate my birthday, it all worked out well. The thing was - my parents had a commitment they had to go to so they weren't able to join us for dinner. It's also my Dad's birthday on the 29th and since they will be traveling, their friends thought they'd celebrate it early, meaning yesterday. We ate dinner without them, made a mess of their house while they were gone and they finally joined us just in time to blow my candles on my favorite fruit tart ever!

Did I mention that it's only my niece, Bel's birthday the same day as my dad's? So of course after I blew off my candles, Bel and Dad jointly blew off theirs as well. But right after the candle-blowing hoopla, we all heard and felt this big BANG which managed to shake the whole house. Mind you, my parents' house is 50+ years old so any little thing can be magnified. But this explosion was so loud and so strong, that it felt like a bomb was set off. The boys (yes, including Jake) went out to check what just happened, and the scariest mushroom cloud of smoke and amber was all over the place. My brother and husband called 911 and with my sister's SO (significant other), decided to walk to the corner to find out what just happened. All the neighbors were out in the streets, despite the freezing temperature trying to find out what the hell was going on. It really felt like a bomb had exploded. My mom and sister ushered in the two younger kids in the house, while I stood outside with my other niece Inna and just watched everyone run in hysteria. Next thing we knew, my Dad was walking towards the car to drive to the scene and so Inna and I got in the car with him. It turned out that a garbage dumpster was on fire and caused the explosion, and the ambers flew all over the place, causing a small brushfire. The streets were immediately closed as soon as the emergency crews came, and traffic was diverted to my parents' street. By the time we went home which was a couple of hours later, the streets were open again and there were a couple of fire trucks observing the scene to make sure the fire didn't re-ignite. As my Dad said when we all got back in the house, that's how we celebrate birthdays at the house - with a BANG! :)

It's a laughing matter now knowing that no major damage happened and (hopefully) no one was hurt, but trust me when I say that panic ran through our heads as we saw the cloud of smoke. The first thing I thought of was "do the kids have their shoes on? Where are the car keys? What do Mom & Dad need out of their house?" After all of the hoopla, Mom started thinking about emergency plans, etc.. Really! Time to think about it I suppose.....

Anyways... The Big Guy is over his pink eyes! YEAH! I was so paranoid the whole weekend and avoided every possible bodily contact with him. I couldn't afford to be out of work with pink eyes. The girls spent the weekend, even with full knowledge that the husband had pink eye. Yes, I had Purell stations all over the house! The medication Dr. V prescribed worked like magic. Thank goodness! We are done with the ickiness around the house. Now, all I have to tackle with is Jake's runny nose. Gross!

Yeah - Disneyland story to come...

It's f(*#_)(@#** freazing! What is up with this weather!