Soggy Celebration

Sunday night our church was having a big Independence Day event (even though it of course wasn't technically the 4th of July.) They had inflatables, childrens crafts, etc.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, ominous dark storm clouds were heading in. We decided not to even get out of the car. Fireworks were planned for 9 pm, so we drove to a parking lot nearby that would give us a good view of the fireworks display and yet allow us to high-tail it home without much bother.

Then the big storms hit.
People were scrambling to fold up their camp chairs and jumped into their cars. We didn't. I wasn't well prepared with chairs and was too lazy to get out of the car, and that shows how my lack of preparedness finally paid off. It was really a bad storm. Winds were hitting the car from all directions. Because the wind was hitting so hard, it was really no use to drive home, and I also thought that the storm would blow over fast so the fireworks might still happen. Checked with a local news channel to verify it was just thunderstorms and not anything related to tornadoes. Decided to wait it out.

My oldest daughter decided she wanted to get in the very back of the vehicle, which required climbing all over the other kids in the car. There was a lot of "oof!" "ouch!" "hey!" "Mom!!!!" etc. Had to crack the windows to get air. The car was steaming up. Any child who was not whining or crying was occupying himself or herself by drawing pictures on the condensation of the windows. I will be enjoying those drawings for weeks. Little Guy (20 months old) was a happy little camper, not a single whine out of him, and if you ask me, he had the most reason to complain - being strapped into the carseat couldn't have been a thrill. But he seemed to think the rain was interesting.

Finally, about an hour or so later, we were able to drive home.
I was disappointed for the kids. I hope next year the weather will be better, and I'll try better to be a fun mom with lots of great snacks, drinks, and yes...the lawn chairs.