San Juan's 2nd Annual Night Out Against Crime

Let me start out with yes, I know the pictures are sideways.  There is a glitch with the blogging program and the Patch is working on it. :)

Tonight I attended San Juan’s 2nd annual Night Out Against Crime with my niece and nephew.  We all had a blast!  They started out with the bounce house, in order to "use up their energy," then it was off to the face painting by the Youth Advisory Board.  (As someone who can only draw stick figures, I am always amazed when I see what an awesome job these teens do.  Lots of kids are thrilled to see the Youth Advisory teens at San Juan events and make a beeline over to their booth.)  One penguin and warrior face later, it was time to get some cheese pizza would help them get their energy back up again.  Then it was to the CERT tent to practice crawling out of a smoke filled house to safety.  Kids did well, but Aunty got in trouble for being a bad CERT member.  They asked the kids what they would do, and they answered correctly call 911, but then they asked where their meeting place was…..  They did not know. (I am happy to report, that the first thing they did when they got home was establish a go to spot.  If you have to establish a spot, remember to make sure it is on the same side of the street if you have little ones who are not allowed to cross the street on their own yet!  We still have to pick a spot at my house as well since they spend so much time here.)  As promised, they got Hawaiian Shaved Ice to wash down the pizza.  At Buy My Bikes, the kids were introduced to Silly String. (Wish they had been the bike winners!)  We visited friends at the Relay for Life and ARK tents.  Then on to view the rest of the exhibits.

I was excited to see Jack the Artist and Matt Love the horseshoer again.  They were both at the Kids Camp at this year’s Relay for Life.  All of the emergency services were there.  The bomb squad had an exhibit of a bomb suit and remote control robot.  There was one sleek white horse and one beautiful black canine on display, both were very well behaved.  We peeked into the back of the canine police car and decided that police dogs do not have it very easy.  My four-legged furry “daughter” had a sheepskin-lined booster seat so she could see out the window and a blanket in case she was cold.  Police dogs just have a rubber floorboard, they do not even get to sit on a back seat!  We also checked out an assortment of other police vehicles.  At the texting while driving exhibit, the kids had a blast.  I told the guy that one would be on the gas and one on the brakes and sure enough, that was what happened.  My nephew, brake boy, drove a little, but easily got distracted.  My niece on the other hand put the pedal to the metal.  She did okay until she was told to read something and then she would crash.  I hope she remembers this in 10 years when she gets her permit!  I would have tried driving, but I cannot even drive video game cars without crashing and they would not have had time to throw in the text distractions!  After visiting the fire truck, we went through the command center semi. 

With another stop by the Relay for Life booth where both kids got balloon swords, it was time to visit the booth where they got a lasso and change at roping a steer.  My nice got one horn the first time out.  Then her steer started to “run away” with a little help from my nephew.  By the time we headed back to the borrowed “mommy mobile”, I was loaded down with coloring books from the CHP, bouncy balls from CERT, silly string from Buy My Bikes, balloon swords from Relay for Life, Frisbees from Zen Dojo, and caramel corn from the Kettle Corn booth.  Lucky for me, the kids ate their candy as they picked it up, so I did not have to carry that as well.  I probably should have mentioned this before, but while all of this was going on tonight, there was a variety of live entertainment as well.  Many people brought lawn chairs and just camped out by the stage.  I will have to remember to bring my chair next year.

Over all, it was a fun night and I had to tear the kids away to go home.  They decided not to tell mommy how “sugared” up they were, but I am guessing she figured it out pretty quick.  (Hope they got to bed without too much trouble, sis.)  The kids are already making plans to go again next year.  I hope that you and your family will join us as well.