Baking in Bal'more

Wednesday night we had a wedding in Lakewood NJ. I opted to take the "oldest home" (8 years old-she was invited) with me, to give her that extra sense of "oldest.  And it was a family wedding ( a first cousin's kid getting married), so she had a great time, met some second cousins, felt so mature, and went to sleep at 1 am.  We were still in the midst of swimming lessons (in the evenings from 6-6:45), and we had missed one already, so we left to the wedding pretty late, which is why we got back late, which is why we changed our plans from leaving to Baltimore Thursday evening (after lessons) to leaving Friday morning (after a decent night's sleep!)

Thursday was a pretty hot day, so we went swimming after camp. Then it was time for lessons. Hmm. What about dinner? Well, it's the summer with just a few kids home, so the pizza store at 7 pm was on the agenda! It was so much fun. We met some cousins from out of town there, got back home, packed, and got ready for the next day. 

We had a good early start on Friday. We left at about 9:45, and drove until about 40 minutes out of Baltimore where we stopped to wash. We went straight downtown to Port Discovery (the children’s museum)the girls and little boy had a great time, and they loved the climbing, and lots of imaginative play ( a really cool diner, gas station, and supermarket). Some of the older exhibits were showing their wear, and it was very crowded with day camps, but we managed to move from exhibit to exhibit either behind or ahead of the crowds.

It was about 100 degrees in Baltimore, so when we left the museum we stopped at 7-11 next door, and had ice cream. Then we drove to Aunt and Uncle to visit, then on to our destination, my cousin. The one who was so good to us, and welcoming and comforting when we were first married and living in Baltimore (I cannot adequately describe how much I owe her). We got ready for Shabbos, and had a lovely meal. As we all went up to  bed, there was crazy lightning, like the kind you see in cartoons. Continuous flashing. The kind I had only seen once before...four years ago in Baltimore!.  Then it thundered. Lightly. But I knew the "oldest" would freak,and we had let her stay up,  so I went to her room. 

Just. In. Time.

Aside from the crazy CONTINUOUS lightning, the wind was so strong I literally thought there would be a tornado, there was crazy noise that sounded like shaking metal, which I was sure was hail (our hosts confirmed it was, the next morning), but she was so freaked I didn’t want to look. Then I fell asleep for about three minutes. I woke up and there were no lights, the clock was off-BLACK OUT! But I had only fallen asleep for three minutes, so we were still in the midst of the storm. That’s when the THUNDER!!!!!!! started. It was louder than any thunder I had ever experienced in my life. And the other girl woke up SCREAMING, but I was right there, so it was ok. MBB came in too, and let me tell you, it was wild and scary. The wind was about 70 miles an hour. We heard later that it was like a hurricane, just without the 3-4 day warning. It's called a derecho.

The next morning the power was still out, but strangely their house stayed really cool and comfy, so we managed quite well, just no chulent. At about five we walked over to her daughter, who we had heard (from a neighbor) had electricity. Another cousin and Aunt and Uncle were there too. It worked out really well, since at no time did we hang in our hosts' house in the dark without the ability to turn on flashlights or candles. So the kids went to sleep really late, but we really had a nice time.  Because of the blackout, the wedding of another first cousin's kid we were going to go to on Sunday in Baltimore changed venues, and thus the time was pushed to 6 pm (instead of 3) which messed up our plans, as we didn’t want to leave Baltimore later than 6, and it was so hot, and so many people across the state were without power, that we opted to skip the Aquarium –we figured it would be mobbed-indoor-air conditioned-and just started to make our way home.

We stopped at MBB's office, a real treat for the "littles" and of course Wawa, and then we came home. Straightened the garage , unpacked, and off to the local fast food place for dinner followed by baths, and bed. It was a really nice, really long weekend. 

I can't wait for what's next!