When It Rains...

Stellan, Rachelle and I went for our first trip to the park today. Stellan rode his bike there while Rachelle rode in style in her stroller. As we were leaving the house, I had the good sense to get a blanket to cover the stroller for sun/bug protection. We had a lovely time playing, and although it was definitely hot, the ocean breeze made it bearable.

A hour or so into our trip, I noticed some big dark storm clouds coming our way. I showed Stellan and encouraged him to hop back on his bike so we could head for home. (Why does it always take three times longer to get home from the park than to get to the park?) However, he didn't really grasp the urgency of the situation and dawdled quite a bit.

Before you know it, those clouds were right on top of us. I had finally coaxed Stellan onto his bike and we were on the path out of the park. Then we felt some sprinkles. I grabbed the stroller and headed for a covered picnic table area. Stellan was taking his sweet time until the sprinkles turned into big fat drops. Suddenly we were in the middle of a huge downpour. Rachelle's sun/bug blanket was a rain shelter, which was lucky for her because it was also windy and the rain was coming down sideways. Stellan and I were pretty much soaked within a few minutes, but tried to have some fun. We sang all the songs we could think of with the word "rain" in them. Then we put in a call to some grandparents for more rain songs.

Oh, we also called Daddy, who had the car, to come and rescue us. Unfortunately, he had just started a very important meeting with his advisor just as the rain started. We ended up waiting about an hour in the rain until Daddy arrived. By then, the sidewalk was so deep that Stellan was wading knee-high to cross to the car. Rachelle stayed nice and dry, but was a little cranky and hungry.

I wish I had a picture of that time sitting in the little shelter with the rain pouring down all around us, singing songs and counting the time between lightning flashes and thunder claps. In the end, we all escaped unscathed and had a good time doing it. But next time, we're leaving before the rain starts.