Happy 4th!

We have been looking forward to this weekend for awhile. Jim obviously has today off, but he took yesterday off as well, making it a lo-o-ong weekend. We cleaned in the basement, and took a load of stuff to the thrift store (and brought back books, of course), went swimming at our friends' house, did some finish work on the basement door, and did lots of yardwork. To actually celebrate the Fourth we made plans with friends to meet up at Oregon Ridge for the Baltimore Symphony's Patriotic concert and fireworks. We had gone last year, and we all really enjoyed it.
Last night we headed out the door a little after 5:30 - the concert started at 8 pm. We arrived at the alternative parking area and rode the bus (free shuttles, well timed!) over to the park. Jamie loved the buses! It was probably the highlight of the night for him... The park was packed when we arrived, but we found a pretty good spot on the far side of the hill, and we staked out enough room for our friends, too. Jim took the kids to the playground, and by the time they were heading back our friends arrived as well. We all settled in, opened snacks, and waited for the concert to start. Jim, being a closet pessimist, looked up and commented on the clouds. No, they'll blow over, surely? (Please God, let it blow over...) The concert started, and we all stood at attention for the national anthem. Jamie was frightened when they shot off a few fireworks at the end of the song... he might not be ready for fireworks yet. We sat back down, and the symphony started some Copeland, when Jim turned to me and said, "I felt a raindrop." I admitted that I had, as well. (Please God, let it blow over...) Jim began to pack things up, and folded up our quilt. People nearby also packed things up, or brought out umbrellas or tarps (things which we did not pack). The kids huddled in our laps as it began to pour! The music stopped, and they announced that there would be a short break in the program. I pulled Jamie's quilt over our heads while Jim and Dot simply cuddled up without cover. There was thunder and lightning. People began to leave. Jim wanted to just wait it out, but the minutes went by and the rain kept falling. Dot pleaded to go take shelter in the bathroom. Jamie started to quietly question, "Bus? Bus? Bus?" as he and I got soaked through. We gave up on trying to stay dry, and told our friends we were going to leave. We slogged through the crowd, dripping wet, looking for a bus to take us back to our car. Jamie was happy to ride the bus again, and happily exclaimed whenever we crossed train tracks. He did not want to get off the bus! However, we were wet and cold, and we miserably trudged across the parking lot to our car. Thankfully it was not raining there. We loaded our wet things into the trunk, stripped Jamie, and tried our best to get into the car without soaking it. We headed home, and noticed that it seemed dry everywhere else. Some areas were setting off fireworks, which we could see from the interstate.
We got home and changed into dry pajamas once we unoaded all our wet stuff. Jim set out the chairs to air dry on the deck as I started a load of wet laundry. We covered the table with wet and damp items from our pockets (even things in Jim's wallet got wet!), and finally got the kids to bed.
We slept well last night. No thunderstorms here - in fact, the only rain in our area last night was up there, where we were. There's a higher chance of rain tonight, though. Other than PBS, we may not see fireworks at all this year!