It All Turned Out Alright

Why yes, it all turned out alright. We lived to tell the tale, and hey we can even laugh about it a little. But we can do without a repeat of the process that we took to get to alright.

This all makes me think of one of my favorite kid books "My Many Colored Days" that goes "It all turns out alright you see and I go back to being me".

So Saturday morning we ended up deciding that it would be a great idea to go to the zoo. It was supposed to be nice out, which means it was supposed to be slightly above freezing. Maybe more importantly, the sun was supposed to be out. So we get ready and head out only to find gloomy clouds, chilling winds, and nothing that we expected out of the weather. But we forge ahead. We get into the zoo and we have our IMAX tickets to see Antarctica. But before the show starts we have time to roam the zoo, and roam we did. We had a great time going through the Desert Dome (Abby's choice) and hanging out with the Orangutan’s (Spencer's choice). We even had a picnic style lunch while we watched the Orangutans’ play. It was hilarious to watch the Orangutan’s interact with the kids while they sat there eating their lunch. We then headed off to the IMAX show, which was the real reason we were there this weekend. We thought the kids would enjoy the show and this is the last week it is here.

It is just before the show begins. We are in the lobby getting all of our stuff peeled off of us and piled up nicely in the corner. Maybe this is also where I mention that the zoo isn't busy at all! All the kids were right there, and then they weren't. One, two, three? Where is three??? We discover that we are missing a blonde haired blue eyed boy. Abby ran up the stairs to see if he was up there. No! Carie ran into the gift shop (twice) located conveniently adjacent to the IMAX lobby. No! I asked some random man to look in the men’s restroom located nearby. No! I ran into the gift shop again, looked down all the aisles and out the front entrance when I heard a gift shop employee ask if I was looking for someone. As if it weren't at all clear that I was frantically searching for something/someone important. Yes I am looking for someone! I'm looking for my son! How old is he she asks. It all gets fuzzy from here. I don't think I was able to respond but rather motioned my hand to indicate his size. They happened to have noticed a little boy checking out the CANDY selection. Of course! Yes, it happened to be our little boy suspiciously holding a stick of candy behind his back. I grabbed him and quickly escorted him out to the IMAX lobby so Mommy could be relieved along with me. We had that nice little talk about how we were scared that we couldn't find him. The girls' gave him a hug and told them how scared they were too.

We then went to the movie, which the kids seemed to really enjoy. It was a bit more documentary-ish than we had anticipated, but it was really enjoyable for all. Spencer nodded off in the final few minutes. Good timing! We were done at the zoo and ready to head home. We even had rock star parking, right outside the IMAX entrance. It was nap time and Mommy & Momma had planned to use that time to prepare for the sitter and our evening out.

Except, where are the keys? I'm sure I had possession of them. I'm sure I was the one responsible for them. But they are no where to be found. I looked through ALL of my pockets. I had Carie look through all of my pockets. We scoured the in's and out's of the stroller, the backpack, any bag we had in our possession. Carie double checked her pockets, just because. Carie checked the pockets and hoods of all the kids’ coats as well, just because. We both searched the area, multiple times, where I believe the key had become lost. No luck, no key to be found. I was 90% sure it had become lost in the IMAX lobby, but after we searched and couldn't find it I began to question myself. But I was sure I saw it in my coat pocket before the movie. By now if any of the worker bees had been paying attention they'd think we were freaks. First losing the boy and now keys?

After a bit of pacing, evaluating, and a few phone calls we had a plan to get home. The upside to being stranded at the zoo is that we had fun things to do. So while we waited for our plan to execute we took a tour through the Jungle. Our ride arrives and we returned home just before 4:00, instead of just after 2:00.

But now how do we get inside? With the van and the garage remote it would be easy, but we don't have the van and thusly don't have the garage remote. Hopefully we are still missing a stake for the gate as I suspect and hopefully one of the back gates are unlocked, preferably the stake less gate! Except we are in the dead of winter and I'm pretty sure that I actually locked the gates this past fall. After a quick inspection I discover that I did in fact lock the gates. On to plan B - hoist one of the kids over the privacy fence and into the backyard. Thankfully there was only a pile of snow on the outside/front side of the fence and not in the backyard. Thankfully I'm tall and Ellie is small and a monkey by nature. Thankfully it all went very smoothly and no one got hurt! Ellie made it through our secret entrance, one that is impossible for me (or any adult) to fit through. Thankfully she is now also tall enough to reach the lock to the front door and can open it, something they could not do a few months back.

We finally all make it inside, get the boy down for his much needed nap, and kick it into high gear. Yeah, all those things we were going to accomplish in our available two hours needed to magically come together. We touch base with the sitter again and adjust our pickup time to only 30-60 minutes later than we originally discussed. I felt horrible, but it just was impossible to pick her up at 4 or even 4:30 given we were still trying to get into our own house at 4. Oh, and her address is in Carie's purse which happens to be safely locked up in the van that is still parked at the zoo. Totally irrelevant if this weren't our first time picking up this sitter! Thankfully Carie did have her cell phone that contained the sitter's phone number!

Since Carie has no purse, I end up going to get the sitter and we pick up the pizza that we ordered for the kids for dinner. We get everyone settled, which went very well. Spencer is still sleeping and we feel horrible about that. The grand plan was that he'd be up from his nap before we left so we could introduce him to Andrea. The best laid plans and all that.

We still went out, had a lovely dinner with incredible food and drink. Unfortunately, or fortunately, our table wasn't so "private" and it was a very busy night. It wasn't the most conducive for a great dinner conversation for us, but the people watching was really great.

We then stopped at this specialty party type store and picked up some V-Day tattoos and a few Easter items that caught our attention before heading back down to the zoo to pick up the van.

Oh, the van. Well, we had an extra set of keys that we had planned to use to go get the van. We are now discussing a better place to locate those keys to avoid future events such as this. But just as we were getting ready to leave for the evening I grabbed my coat off of the couch. Just as I went to put it on something fell to the ground. Wouldn't ya know it was THE key we had been searching for. Our only guess is that it fell out of my pocket and landed in the hood of my coat. Carie was brilliant to search the hoods of the kids’ coats, next time I'll have her look in mine as well!

As for the sitter, that all went really well. It was a great experience all around and we can't wait for an excuse to call her again. According to her mom, she had fun. She said (to her mom) that so many of the kids she sits for just watch TV, but at our house she got to play Candy Land, Hungry Hungry Hippo, etc... and that made her night. Gotta like that!