An Entertaining Missed Photo-Op!

Of all the days to NOT have had my camera in my pocket...

this afternoon played out to be a day that would have made for a very entertaining photo opportunity!

While my words will in no way compare to the story a picture would have told, I'll do my best to relay the antics that occurred only moments ago...

I met my friend, Jenny, at Target this afternoon to meet with a lady who makes darling hand made "girly" clothes for little girls. She lives slightly outside of Wichita, so we had to find a neutral meeting place and it happened to be Target. (Aside: They are really cute clothes and I'll post pictures when they are complete so you fellow-Wichitans can take advantage of the cute girlyness!)

So after an hour or so of looking at fabrics, my children were tuckered out and ready to make a prompt exit home.

So we made our way to the car.

I got Emily buckled into her car seat...

I put my purse in the front seat....

I made my way to Noah's side of the car and got him buckled into his seat...

I made my way back to my driver's door, only to find that the wind had blown my door shut (Remember our Wichita wind? Don't get me wrong... I'm still thankful for it, just a little less so than normal today!).

And all of the other doors were locked too!

My children, my keys, my purse, my phone....

were locked inside my car!

Fortunately (for the kids) and unfortunately (for me!), today was a COLD and WINDY day! So they were not in any danger of overheating while trapped inside the vehicle!

So what to do?

I RAN (and realized that I am still able to do do that!) into Target and used their phone to call 911. After a LOT of useless questions, the 911 dispatcher told me they would send "someone" to help me.

I RAN back out to my car to assure my locked-in children that I would be inside the car with them momentarily.

As I was doing my "assuring", I didn't realize that I was leaning into the car (to see through the tinted windows AND the sun shades!) and I set off the car alarm!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Actually, it was more of a...

HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK! HONK!

And it was L-O-U-D!

Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be standing outside in a Target parking lot, hood up, hands in pockets, with your car alarm BLARING and have no where to go and no way to stop it?!?! Trust me, embarrassing is an understatement!

I didn't know who the "someone" would be that the 911 operator referred to, but after about 10 minutes of waiting in the cold and the wind, I discovered the "someone". Only it wasn't some-ONE! I saw a HUGE firetruck pulling into the parking lot (#16 as Noah so observantly noted). This was not one of the small firetrucks... this was a full-blown HUGE one... the kind like you tour in preschool!

After it found a large enough place to park, firemen (in their bright orange coats) starting pouring out of the truck.

The first one came out and started walking towards me...

Then another one followed him....

And another one followed him...

SIX firemen piled out of that truck... SIX!

And guess what?

They can't do anything to help me because the city of Wichita took away their "slim jims" for liability reasons.

Then why on earth were SIX firemen dispatched?!

The best thing they could offer me was the use of the Captain's cell phone.

I called my neighbor to go over to my house and get my extra car key from my house...

only to realize (AFTER she was already there!), that my house was locked and there was no way for her to get inside to get the key!

While I was attempting to get a hold of my mom and/or my husband (on the captain's phone), the City of Wichita Police Department showed up. So now 2 Wichita police officers are now on the "scene".

And in case you are keeping track, we are now up to EIGHT men hovering around my mini-van in the Target parking lot... and me now donning the fire captains ENORMOUS orange fire coat!

(picture the above... only with BRIGHT ORANGE stripes!)

And guess what? They can't do anything either! Same issue about the "slim-jims" and liabilities.

They did "radio" a cab company for me. Apparently the cab companies do have "slim-jims" available for a $25 fee. That sounded like a great plan to me!

At this point, you may be wondering how my locked-in children are doing.

So far, they are laughing, smiling, and relaxing from within... where it is warm and cozy.

Noah reported to me:

a) I received 2 emails on my phone,
b) His Sissy had thrown her shoes and bow on the floor,
c) He spotted a "blue cruiser" and was now winning our game of "Slugbugs & Cruisers",
d) His Sissy was requesting a "nana" (which means banana)!

And Sissy Kate... well she was just hamming it up with a great big grin on her face!

So as we wait...

and wait...

and wait...

for the cab company to arrive, I attempted to make small talk with the entourage that had assembled near my car.

Have you ever tried to make small talk with 6 firemen & 2 police officers in the cold wind?

Well let me tell you... even my etiquette training didn't prepare me for that scenario!

After about 20 minutes had passed with no cab company, the police officer "radioed" to check on it only to hear that it would be another 30 minutes!

At this point, I was just ready to call my husband out of the "management meeting" he was leading and get this car opened!

However, one of the officers remembered that his friend, "Vasquez" worked for the Maize police department where "slim jims" have not been banned. So he "radioed" Vasquez and lo and behold, he HAS a "slim jim"!

About 8 minutes later, Vasquez enters the scene.

For the record, we are now at 6 firemen (I still have no idea why they were still there!), 3 police officers, and me now donning a wool fire blanket around my shoulders!

(while the above is not actually me, it is probably what I looked like!)

With 8 men surrounding him like this was a spectator sport, Vasquez began trying to get the car unlocked.

After trying for nearly 10 minutes, he FINALLY got one of the side doors unlocked!

Good thing... because by this point...

a) over an hour had elapsed since the ordeal began,
b) both children were now inside SCREAMING,
c) the van alarm had gone off again and had ensued with the "HONK", "HONK", "HONK" ing,
d) my husband's secretary had offered to drive to my house with my husband's keys to put an end to this mess,
e) and I was starting to reek of smoke (from my wool "fire blanket" that they assured me was brand new...hmmm)!

Although the actual "unlocking" was a bit anti-climatic, all NINE of the city personnel cheered aloud! After receiving my sincerest words of thanks, they returned to their "emergency vehicles" in search of bigger and better emergencies!

Really, I wish I would have had a camera.

Even more than that though...

I really wish I would've taught my 4 year old how to unbuckle his own car seat!

And in case you were wondering, Noah did, in fact, WIN the game of "Slugbugs & Cruisers"!