Shock & Awe!

Those are the words that come to mind when trying to describe the events of last night.

As I mentioned earlier, we had been hearing fireworks on and off all evening and as it got later and closer to midnight the noise and frequency just kept increasing. However, nothing could have prepared us for volume and spectacle that greeted us at midnight. I have never seen or heard anything like it in my life. It sounded like we were in a war zone, but thankfully the gunfire was just huge fireworks lighting the sky. In every direction, all you could see was the beautiful colors and patterns of the many different fireworks. I tried to video and take photos to be able to share, but honestly on looking at them this morning, they pale into comparison of the real thing. You just don’t get the ear-splitting noise or see how many fireworks were going off at the same time. I was really disappointed with the video and pictures, but I will certainly never forget living the moment. It will be one of my favorites for years to come.

Around 11.45pm, as the noise was getting really loud, poor Cadence came wandering into our room. She was scared of the noise (she does not like any loud noises ever) and was looking for a hug. Richard lay down with her and put an Oswald dvd on for her to watch. I have to say Oswald sends me to sleep in minutes, but poor old Cade stayed awake until I finally went to bed around 1am. Lying in our bed, she was more than happy to let her Dad and I continue to enjoy the CNY show outside. Richard called his brother in California from our balcony and I tried to Skype some friends in Florida, but fortunately for them they did not answer so they did not have to suffer the noise. Richard and I continued to run around the house looking out of the various windows for about an hour marveling at the seemingly never-ending display. At one point the guards in our street let of some huge fireworks just up from our house – they were deafening, but awesome. As it got to around 12.30-12.45am, things began to quiet back down, at which point I went to bed to grab a snuggle with my Cady. She has to be on of the snuggliest bugs in the world and I never pass up the opportunity to cuddle with her. We settled down and turned off the light and within minutes both of us were fast asleep. I cannot believe that after being told we would not get any sleep for at least a week, I was finally woken up at around 9am by Hansen coming to look for Cady. Richard got up and took the kids downstairs for some noodles (long noodles for long life) and I continued to snooze. I was rudely awakened at 9.45am by what sounded like machine gunfire outside my bedroom window. On closer inspection it turned out to be our neighbors and the biggest batch of firecrackers I will probably ever see.