It should have been great...

I felt like I rewrote "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" today.  All of these negative things kept happening that just made me want to crawl into bed and avoid everything.

It should have been a great day.  My son and I woke up, had breakfast, and headed out to meet friends at the train station.  We were going to Kawagoe Aquatic Park! 

We arrived at the station a bit early so we could stop by a bakery that has really good sandwiches.  After picking one up to have for lunch, we arrived at the train station about 15 minutes before our scheduled meeting time.  I texted our friends to tell them that we were already on the platform.  Then we waited and waited and waited.  My son was getting antsy that our friends had not arrived as 2 trains passed us by.  When the train that we were supposed to take with our friends arrived, they still were not there.  I then received a text telling me that they had decided to go to a different station (where we needed to change trains) instead.  By the time I read the message, the train doors were closing and we were missing our train. 

I was so irritated.  Why couldn't she have texted me earlier?  We wasted so much time just standing around waiting.  We caught the next train and met her and her son at the next station.  But by that time we had missed the express train and had to wait for the next one. 

Her son proceeded to have a screaming fit on the train.  My anger dissipated because I felt pretty bad for her situation, as I've totally been there.  People were staring.  One guy even got up and moved.

When we arrived at our station, he had calmed down and was back to his usual exuberant self.  We had to wait for 20 minutes for the bus to come to take us to our final destination.  By that point, we were over 45 minutes past our intended arrival time.  I hate being late.  Even though this didn't inconvenience anyone else, it made our commute really long and it was totally unnecessary. 

Kawagoe Aquatic Park was very simple.  Lots of pools, a couple huge slides, and a giant wave pool.  It was pretty old, but still in good shape.  We quickly got changed and hit the water.  The wave pool was calm, as they only have it run for 5-10 minutes every hour.  But we splashed in it for a while.  Then we enjoyed the fountain pool for a while before the special wave time.  We made it back to enjoy the waves, which was a lot of fun. 

All photos from Kawagoe Aquatic Park website. 

I didn't take any photos today!

During a water break, I was talking with one of the moms when I realized my back was hurting pretty bad.  My son decided he was done swimming and just wanted to play with the other kids (park kids), so he changed into his dry clothes.  He had spent only about an hour in the pool.  I decided to change as well, and practically hobbled to the changing room.  My back was have really badly spasms.  Through gritted teeth, I got dressed and back to our mats.  I gave my son some snacks and tried to stretch my back for a bit. 

Suddenly, we started hearing thunder in the distance.  I wasn't concerned because it was really far away.  But, then, there was a bright flash and a simultaneous crack that was so loud.  All the kids leaped into the air and rushed to their mommy, mine included.  I tried to calm him as it was quite shocking.  Right then rain started to pour from the sky.  Announcements over the loud speaker were going on and on about something that I didn't understand.  I looked at my friend and asked "what is going on?"  She replied "we are being evacuated."

Luckily, my bag was already packed.  So, I threw it onto my back while my son hastily put on his flip flops.  I picked him up and he held our mat over our heads as we went to the changing room to be inside a building.  Everything was happening so fast.  Moms were trying to stay positive for their kids, even though it was a really stressful situation. 

For the next 15 minutes we stood in the locker rooms amid the loudspeaker announcements, alarms, and chaos.  I tried to keep my son calm by talking with him and even making a video for daddy to let him know what was going on.

As soon as we noticed the rain had stopped, the crowd started dispersing.  I decided we were going to head home.  My friend had left her stroller by where we had been sitting and they were not letting people back to the pool area just yet.  I asked if she wanted us to stay and wait for her.  She told me to go ahead.  My son and I left and caught the bus.  We only had to wait a few minutes, thank goodness.  By the time I sat down I was in serious pain.  I could hardly move my back was hurting so much.  As we rode, we saw the wind kick back up, the sky get dark again, and the rain return.  I was getting so worried.

We somehow beat the storm and made it from the bus to the train station without getting drenched.  Once on the train, I texted with a friend because I needed to vent.  This summer has sucked.  The soul sucking humidity.  The suffocating temperatures.  The intense and scary storms.  The freaking semis that are so loud and annoying.  Everything.  It has been so horrible.  This day just really emphasized that I hate Japanese summers.  Not dislike.  HATE.  It has been so miserable. 

I've tried so hard to have a fun summer for my son, but it has been really, really hard.  And it isn't over.  Even though he goes back to school on Monday, the atmosphere remains for another couple of weeks.  I don't know how I'm going to survive.  I wanted to have a huge, screaming, crying meltdown right there on the train, just like my friend's son had done earlier in the day. 

But I didn't do that.  Instead I texted with friends that really lifted my spirits and didn't mind my whining.  My friends understood what a horrible, taxing summer it has been and just listened with open ears.

Once I got home, I laid on the couch and put on a movie for my son.  I took some Alieve and iced my back (which was even worse due to the bike ride from the train station to home).  My husband came home and cooked dinner for us.  Now I will go to bed.  Tomorrow will be a better day.  I will work hard to make sure it is filled with laughter.  Even if Japanese summers are terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad, it doesn't have to take the joy out of my life.