The No Go Very Bad Horrible Evening

Wednesday night my family tried to go to a baseball game. I say tried because it really didn't work all that well. We had tickets to a Orioles v. Yankees game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. First we got stuck in traffic. C is a horrible traveler and so she started yelling. Having assumed we would eat at the baseball game, I didn't have a whole lot of snacks with me. But suddenly everyone was starving, including DH, which made him very cranky. Then the rain started. Forecasters were saying a line of storms were going to move over the Baltimore area but then the rain would end. Likely story.

We were still stuck in traffic when the radio told us that the game was in rain delay. Go figure with the downpour pattering on our car and lightning and thunder everywhere. Finally we got to a place to turn. It said general parking so off we went. Wrong move. This parking lot was in the back of beyond and a bad place to park but by the time we realized this it was too late. We had already paid our money. It was still raining. As we pulled up Q states he needs to go potty. This usually sends everyone running as Q does not have much holding power. So Q goes in the bushes and we start our long trek to the stadium in the rain. We have one umbrella that DH uses because he has C on his back. Q loves running in the rain. I'm thinking this walk will really suck when we're heading back. Suddenly Q says "Potty" and proceeds to pee while walking. Oh the fun is really starting now.

When we finally get to the stadium it is packed. It seems no one is allowed in the seats due to the lightning so all several thousand of us are milling around the outside. Since we are starving we head to a concession stand. Almost $40 later we have food, not good food, but food. I hold the trays as there is nowhere to sit. DH eats so he can stop being so cranky. The kids eat but I try to keep Q close because of the crazy crowd. It would be so easy to lose him. Then the potty call comes again and DH runs Q off to the bathroom to try to avoid another accident. (And no I didn't have a change of clothes with me.) Another mom comes over to me and offers to hold the trays while I eat. She has older kids and remembers what it was like when they couldn't hold their own food. Finally we find a space to put everything so we can stand up and eat without dropping something.

After eating we try to find our seats. It is now 8:30pm. The game was supposed to start at 7pm and it is still pouring. We probably should have gone home at this point but we were hoping for the end of rain and a little bit of the game. The one thing we did right was buy tickets under the overhang so we had dry seats to sit in. After about 40 minutes the announcement came, the game was rained out. And we started back to our car.

And we walked and walked, still in the rain and now in the dark. We were all exhausted and still cranky. Q wanted more food and I was thirsty. Too bad they closed concessions as soon as they called the game. Finally back to the car to battle the traffic. We had planned to leave the game early to get the kids to bed and avoid the traffic, now there was no avoiding. Back in the car the kids were not asleep as I had planned. Ha! Your plans are no match for our boundless energy. They were yelling and so was I. I spent half the trip trying to hold C's hand from the front seat so she wouldn't cry. This was not the most pleasant position.

Arriving in our neighborhood we realized it was a little too dark. And it hit me, we had lost power. Here in the third world of Maryland we lose power anytime it rains too hard. Now we had to find flashlights. I had to try to keep C asleep while putting her in pjs by flashlight. Finally the kids were in bed and DH and I could collapse. The power didn't come back until 5:30am. And the kids were up at 7. So much for a great night of baseball. DH and I kept waiting for the other shoe to fall. Was the madness over? Was Murphy's Law done with us?

It seems like it was an isolated incident of a horrible evening but we're on guard just in case.