Captain America

There was a 30% chance of rain today between 4 and 8 pm. 30% is not a very good chance. There was actually a 70% chance it would not rain. We planned on being outside for most of the day. At around 12:30, we walked down to Baker Park. Mini-me decided to be "Captain America" in honor of the holiday. To achieve this look, she wore last years Old Navy flag tee, a pair of denim shorts, red-white-and-blue curlies in her hair, and a red bandanna as a cape. I think her superpower was cuteness. Because Frederick is a small town, we ran into a lot of friends. Mini-me and her friend Mollylewing went on the mini Ferris wheel together. We then visited the peanut-butter and jelly tent. Mini-me added marshmallows to hers, but she decided she didn't like it. The guys running the tent let her take extra containers of m&ms and cereal. Patch ate his straight up.

During lunch, we noticed some ominous clouds. Curly and I decided to head to his office, 2 blocks from the park, so we could wait out the storm. As we turned the corner to get to his office, it started to thunder. We got in right in the nick of time. We hoped that the rain had just come early and the rest of the day would be nice. We hoped in vain.

At about 3:30, we went over to our friends Louise and Jeff's house. (Louise is our leader for the Towne Singers.) We had some great food, and our kids were able to perform. Mini-me was "Captain America" and charmed everyone there. Patch was just adorable and smiled and sang for everyone. It did not escape our notice that they were the only kids there. We are so lucky to have good friends who like our kids and let them come to nearly everything. While at the party, we learned of the tornado watch for our area, and had two more sets of showers.

We went back over to Baker Park at around 5:45. I was a little worried we had missed the only song I knew by Blue Oyster Cult, but I worried in vain. It was, of course, the last song of the set. If you've ever seen the SNL skit with Christopher Walkin where they parody the making of "Don't Fear the Reaper," you know that the skit features a cowbell. The tag line of the skit is "it needs more cowbell." The actual song doesn't have a cowbell, but since the skit, they have added it. I thoroughly enjoyed the song, but found that it could have used more cowbell.

Mini-me did several more carnival games until they closed them at around 7 to make room for the fireworks. We walked around, looking for the perfect spot to sit and watch the show when the heavens opened. It poured on us. Patch, who hadn't had a nap by this point, was miserable. When the rain lightened up, we decided to sit at the band shell and listen to the rag-time band and hope that the rain would end. Sadly, that didn't happen and all we had to cover ourselves were the beach towels we had brought to sit on. We were soaked. The nice couple behind us loaned us one of their umbrellas. The kids were tired and wet and finally, 15 minutes before the fireworks started, Patch fell asleep. He woke up during the 1812 Overture and didn't much care for the fireworks. Mini-me didn't care for them either, until Curly told her they were flowers in the air. After that, she loved them. By this point, her cape was on her head, trying to keep the rain off.

We got home, completely soaked and a little cold. We threw the kids in the tub in the hopes that they would actually sleep in tomorrow morning if they were clean and warm. We shall see. This year will from now on be one of those stories: Remember the year it rained all evening and we stayed to see the fireworks anyway?