Where is the monkey?

Labor Day my husband Dave suggested that we go to the local zoo since we had purchased season passes for S2's birthday. Before you get all concerned about him having to "share" his present, the kid already has all the toys he "needs" and the vast majority of clothes that he needs. He would love to go to the zoo every month. So anyway, Monday morning found us getting ready to go to the zoo. We had decided to rent a double stroller at the zoo but also brought along S1's leash so he couldn't run off. Well, we had traversed one side of the zoo and stopped to have a snack. My aunt had also come with us since we get a free guest. While my aunt Wrae and I were cleaning S3 up, which due to the cheetos was truly a two man job, Dave started to take off with S1 in the stroller. S2 followed after him. Apparently Dave didn't realize this and so once S3 was clean and we caught up to Dave, I asked, "Where's S2?"

Dave, "What do you mean. He was with you."

Me, "No, he went with you."

In this instance we realized that he was gone. It was a very busy day and after checking the snack area we knew he was gone. I stayed put with the other two boys and Dave and Wrae went searching.

Of all the kids to lose I would have thought that we'd lose S1 before S2. Dave managed to track down a security person on a bike and let him know what was going on. It was hard to find someone to help us. How would S2 be able to do it? They all took off and I was waiting. Next thing I know I see a little boy running up the hill towards me, not S2, crying and looking all around. I ask, "Are you looking for your mommy and daddy?" He cries, "Yes" as he speeds by me. I say very nicely, "Wait! Stop! I'll help you. Come here and we will look for them. If you keep running away they won't be able to find you. You need to stay in one place so when them come looking for you they will see you" as I wrap my arm around his quivering little shoulders. He was about five or six years old.

Now remember, I'm doing all of this while S1, who is on the leash, is pulling on one arm-which happens to be the one I am holding onto the stroller with so that it doesn't roll down the hill. It occurs to me that out of all the people at the zoo, why am I the one who stopped to help this boy. Surely someone else wasn't as busy!

Anyway, I asked him where he had last seen his parents and he said they had been over by the penguins. Well, we were standing about twenty feet up the hill from the penguins. I hadn't heard anyone calling for a child so I figured they were still there. As my little group was about to head down to find his parents, Wrae reappeared and I handed S1 and S3 over to her. As we walked down to the penguins I asked the little boys name. He repeated it three times and I never got it right so I asked for his parents names, which he didn't know. As we approached the penguins he said, "My sister's name is Kristen." I was glad he volunteered that information because I would rather yell out "Kristen!" than "Hey! Did anyone lose this little boy?" After calling out to "Kristen" a few times a woman suddenly exclaimed, "There you are!" Since the little boy was happy to see her and went straight to her, I figured it was his mom. She thanked me and I said, "Hey, no problem. My little boy is lost at the moment so I couldn't just let yours wander off!" Then she felt guilty for going to enjoy the zoo while my little guy was lost. I assured her that it was okay but if she spied a blond, four year old boy with a yellow shirt and grey pants, with a certain name, to please take him to the proper authorities.

I got the two boys back from Wrae and she went off looking for S2 again. Then Dave came back and still no luck. Same with the security guard. However this time I gave my cell phone to Dave and let him know that my aunt would call if she found S2. After a while, and another fruitless pass by the security guard, Wrae came walking back by the other path saying that S2 had been found. I was starting to get a little worried because S2 had been missing for almost half an hour. Turns out that when he left the table he headed towards Dave but got caught up in the wave of people and went past him. When S2 couldn't see dad he figured he was up ahead and kept running to "catch up." Eventually he realized that he had missed his dad and back tracked. But he never backtracked enough. S2 went back and forth a couple of times and once he realized how "lost" he was, started to cry. That's when another mom saw him and took him over to the "Beastro" where the worker gave him an ice cream and called security. Shortly after Dave was walking by and saw the other security guard and asked about S2 and they were reunited. He called my phone, got Wrae, and she came to get me. By the time I had gotten up to where S2 was (practically the front of the zoo), his tears and his ice cream were all gone.

Obviously we forgot to have the what to do if you get lost talk BEFORE we went into the zoo, but we had it afterwards for sure! Dave was worn out from circling the zoo three times so we figured we'd take a train ride and then go home. But the train was out of commission for an hour while they fixed their brakes. So, we called it quits and headed home. Now we know to get a leash for S2 also! Just kidding, but we will be a bit more careful and go over the getting lost protocol before going to the zoo again!