Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Great Escape, sort of...


On Saturday morning when I woke Cameron and Jacob, neither one felt like going skiing, so Parker and Hayden went without us. I decided this would be a good day to follow through on my threats to sever all ties to the evil washing machine from...well, you get the picture, buy a new clothing-friendly version, and start looking for new couches. While the boys were getting their shoes on, I grabbed a tape measure to bring with us. Since I didn't want to wear it clipped to my waist--it didn't match my outfit--I decided to throw it and my purse into a large shoulder bag. Before doing this, though, I took my keys out and set them on a shelf. BIG MISTAKE. The boys came down, I picked up my bag and we left, locking the door on the way out. As soon as I hit the sidewalk I realized what I had just done. We went around to the side door, which was, of course, locked. No matter, we could use the spare key--except that when I looked in the window of the back door I could see the magnet container which holds the spare key hanging on the side door where I put it after the last time I locked us out of the house--I remember thinking, "I'll put it someplace where it will be a visual reminder to return it to where it belongs"--not on the side door, obviously. We had one last door to try--the very back door--the one that I made sure I locked after I discovered it had been left open one day. We were out of doors--in both senses of the word--but not out of options.

Option #1: break the glass in the very back door--an expensive and potentially dangerous choice.
Option #2: wait for Parker and Hayden to get home from skiing/snowboarding--this would have been a very bad choice, since they didn't come home until eight o'clock that night!
Option #3: hire two little boys armed with one headlamp to crawl through a dirty, dark tunnel which may or may not lead to a secret entrance into the house.

As I stood over the opening, I could hear the sound of the boys making their way through the tunnel. For a few minutes, the movement stopped and I could hear a discussion of some kind. After awhile, they started moving again so I walked over to the back door to wait for my intrepid explorers to emerge from the darkness. The light in the cellar flicked on and out came somewhat muddy versions of Jacob and Cameron. I went inside and had them meet me at the side door where they took off their muddy shoes and pants, got washed up, and ready to go shopping. This time, I made sure I had the keys in hand before locking the door--and I put the spare key back where it belongs.

When I asked the boys what they were talking about in the tunnel, Jacob said he saw a skeleton of "a rat"--more likely a mouse--and Cameron wouldn't go any further until Jacob buried it with a shovel. They both asked if they could crawl through the tunnel again, the next time I lock us out--it was so much fun. Hopefully, there won't be a next time.

3 comments:

  1. Do you know how many times I have locked the twins in the car, lost my glasses, lost the car keys, locked my keys in the car....I am glad there was a secret tunnel....and my boys would have loved the surprise they found...ewww!

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  2. DeLynn-
    You always seem to have such exciting adventures and your storytelling makes me want to hear (read) more of your stories.

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  3. It's a good thing you have boys - I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have crawled through a secret tunnel. I would have made my mom break the window. By the way - I made my blog private so I need your e-mail address so that I can send you an invite. My e-mail is darlingdidi@yahoo.com

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