The score

Bizarre or unexpected weather: 2
Leah: 0

On Wednesday the girls and I had a frustrating outing to the Greenlake wading pool after naps. So on Thursday I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and get some sun and water time in, but do it in the morning when we have more time and better attitudes. Thursday morning the sun was beating through our front windows as I got the girls in swimsuits and slathered them in sunblock. We packed up snacks, sun hats and all our beach gear and headed to Golden Gardens. I was actually worried that I would get too hot sitting in the sun on the beach. I re-assessed that thought the farther into Ballard I drove. The fog was thick and discouraging. When we got to Golden Gardens and opened the car doors I realized that the swimsuits the girls were wearing were most definitely not weather appropriate. I was frustrated and disappointed that I did all the hustling to get them out the door only to hit a cold foggy patch of weather. I rummaged around in the back of the car where I keep spare outfit changes for the girls (since the only clothes I had intentionally packed for the day were sundresses and would not have been warm enough). Thankfully I had not been on top of it enough to switch out the spare outfits in the back for summer layers. So I had long sleeve shirts and pants for the girls to wear. They played on the equipment for a while then decided they wanted to dig in the sand. While I was getting the sand toys from the car I realized the fog was lifting and sun was showing. So although I did not need to worry about sunburns, we did end up using the sun hats as the weather warmed.

That was day one of my plans for our morning and the weather being at odds. I think I need to find a website with neighborhood-specific cameras to show me the weather or something.

Yesterday was an even more extreme example. On Friday mornings there is a "garden tots" program at a botanical gardens up in Shoreline. I have wanted to go with the girls but our Friday mornings so far have had swim practice or we have been out of town so we have not had the chance. But yesterday morning our schedule was free and I was excited to go. There is a per family charge and a theme (yesterday was ladybugs) and they do a nature walk and a craft or activity, etc. It sounded like a great way to be out in nature learning about something fun. As we drove away from our house a few raindrops hit the window. But I figured we had a ways north to go and the weather there might be nicer. As we drove a little more the rain started to increase and I wondered if I would regret not having raincoats. Both girls were wearing long sleeves and knee length skirts plus sneakers and socks. I figured a summer rain would not be too bad with those outfits and their sun hats I packed had brims so could keep random raindrops off their face. And then I saw the lightning bolt. And heard the thunder. It was not a single isolated incident. The lightning and thunder got pretty extreme. We were driving right through the storm and I could barely count to three between the flash and the boom. The rain poured against our car for a few intense minutes. I thought the storm was pretty cool because they do not happen often at all here. But the longer the storm lasted the less the girls liked it. The started covering their ears from the thunder. I should have turned the car around but at that point we were getting close to the botanical garden and I was curious if they had an indoor area where the class would be held. We had driven so far we might as well just go and hope the weather improved. When we got there the gates were closed and there was a hand-written sign saying that the garden tots program was cancelled due to the lightening. Probably not a good idea to have young children by tall trees during a lightening storm.

So we had to think of a plan B. We ended up heading towards home but going to the mall. They played with the train table at Barnes & Noble. We read a "Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that" book about the weather which told us that the car was a safe place to be during a thunderstorm. Then we went inside the mall to check out the new toddler play structure. We ran into a friend from co-op there who is due today with baby #2. Then we had lunch at Panera. So it ended up being fun and they were nice rainy-day activities. I just did not expect we would need that back-up plan. The thunder continued on-and-off all afternoon (even though the sun came out) and the girls really were not fond of it.

One thing I can do to help prepare for weather quirks like the above is have my trunk better stocked. I have been inspired by this but have not followed through on my grandiose OCD thoughts yet :)