We had a blackout tonight. It was funny because I was talking to Dave on the phone at the time. He was in Rexburg. Suddenly the power went out and it obviously ended our phone call. The next thing I knew, Bria and Max (who had been playing in the kitchen) were screaming. It was SO dark, what with the new moon and all. Thank goodness I was already holding Logan. But, I had to try and find my way out of the bedroom and over to Bria and Max and then somehow find a flashlight, all while trying not to trip and fall or accidentally bump Logan into something. Meanwhile, my cell phone rang (adding yet another thing that I had to try to find in complete blackness). It was Dave. "Is the power out at our house?" "Yes - it's totally dark!" "The whole city of Rexburg just lost power! It was crazy to see everything just get DARK!" He was on his way home and watched the power failure from the car.
As I found the flashlights, the kids (who were already almost 1 hour past bedtime) got less scared and more excited! Knowing that it was a pretty large blackout, I figured we wouldn't have power for a while. So, what do you do with a couple of small kids in the middle of a blackout? I have NO IDEA!!!
First, we started by trying to read stories. But, the kids were just too darn excited for that. So, I suggested that this would be a good time to play Dark to Dark. Dark to Dark is a made-up game that originated sometime while playing with some neighbor kids. It is our kids very favorite made-up game ever! Basically, you turn off all the lights in the basement and explore with (or without) flashlights. The kids will normally spend hours laughing and giggling while playing this game. But, tonight - absolutely no interest! Hmmmm. Okay. I needed to get Logan to sleep, so I figured that since my suggestions weren't very interesting, they could come up with their own ideas while I rocked Logan to sleep. Bria was finally getting tired, so she came and layed down on the couch. Max on the other hand became a little detective. He carefully examined anything and everything up close with his little flashlight. It was really funny to watch how curious and excited he was to see common things in a new light. Bria asked me how flashlights can work but the regular lights don't. I explained about batteries. Just then it dawned on me! The laptop has batteries and it was fully charged and it could PLAY A MOVIE!! Yay! We were about to be saved by ELECTRONICS!!!!
I told the kids to go get a blanket and a pillow - we were WATCHING A MOVIE! They hurriedly got everything that would make them comfortable, including all the extras (stuffed animals, books, etc.). We booted up the computer, picked the movie and got it started. Just as the computer started playing the movie - yep, you guessed it! We were saved by the devoted employees at Rocky Mountain Power! No more blackout.
I said "Yay! The power is back on! TIME FOR BED! Go brush your teeth." Instead of the disappointment that I expected, Max said "Okay, mom. YAY for POWER!!!!"
While I tucked Bria in, she said "That was fun! I wish we could lose our power more often!" So, what started as a normal night, turned into a blackout adventure! Who knew?!?
