Hello Baltimore, Welcome to the Apocalypse

(Luckily this one, at least for us, was apocalypse lite). Friday night severe thunderstorms moved in around 11:00pm.  With temperatures over 100 yesterday, and the same expected into next week, we finally installed our bedroom AC.  Last year it got drenched and stopped working, and last night it got drenched again.  We had driving rain, loud thunder, lightening strikes, lost power, scared dogs, yelling neighbors, and a hot baby.  We woke up early this morning to no power and realized we didn't have much of a plan for keeping a baby and two dogs cool on a 103 degree day with no power.  During Irene, parts of the neighborhood lost power for a full week, so I was very nervous.  But thankfully, after buying 50lbs of ice, the power came back on.

As usual, the shared struggle brought all the neighbors out on the street.  Lots of gossip and half naked babies running around.  Main topics of conversation: the storm and the bold raccoon who has made himself at home in the neighborhood.

So now we're just battling the boredom of intense summer heat.  Today we went to a nearby college campus while it was still early and reasonably cool.  It was a toddler paradise.  A fish pond, sprinklers, and steps to climb.  Hopefully we can catch some Olympic trials during the hottest part of the day, and then back to park when it cools down a little.