FYI

this is a belated post but I believe the information contained therein could be useful to you at some point in your life.

rewind to september 22. I was 38 weeks pregnant. we were in bakersfield to watch my nephew's football game (he scored a touchdown!) and The Great Kern County Fair just happened to be in town so we went (sheerly coincidental I assure you). I really love the fair. okay, I really love the food at the fair. besides the baked potatoes and yummy yams from the boy scouts booth, the taquitos and sometimes corn dogs, funnel cake and old west cinnamon rolls (but not this year. that was a little much on the pregnant belly), the apple dumplings are a MUST! papa dave even requested that we bring one home to him. so as we were leaving, after 6 hours of walking, micah said he would run and get the dumplings and meet me at the exit. upon his return, I see him carrying TWO apple dumplings. I quickly did the calculations in my head (one for papa dave. one for micah. and where's mine?) and realized there wasn't quite enough to go around. upon questioning him on the matter, he informed me that he thought, "we could share." excuse me?! NO corn dog. NO funnel cake. NO old west cinnamon rolls. and he wants to share the apple dumpling?! I apologized for not specifying that I wanted my own and offered to go get it myself and meet him at the car. being the gentleman that he his, he refused my offer and asked me if I would be able to find the car. we'd parked in an obvious location (or so I thought) so I replied in the affirmative, took the fob (keyless entry remote) from him along with both apple dumplings, forks and knife included and he set off for another apple dumpling. so here I am: 38 weeks pregnant. pushing an umbrella stroller with one hand (not an easy task) juggling the apple dumplings whilst trying to keep jaden close-by so he doesn't get kidnapped or run over by a car as we s-l-o-w-l-y maneuver through the parking lot in. the. dark. to the car. after going down the aisle I was sure we'd parked in twice, I decided to try the previous one for lack of a better plan. all the while I'm hitting the panic button on the fob just hoping that the alarm will go off and save us. at this point jaden is on the verge of tears. as I'm explaining to him that crying won't solve anything and that we just need to work together to find the car and that if we don't find it, daddy WILL find us (which is why I LOVE my husband so much. because I'm SO confident that he'll always save me or the kids no matter what kind of trouble we're in), two police officers drive by and ask if we need any help. To which I reply, "Oh, you know just trying to find the car." I wonder what they must be thinking. this crazy lady: two kids, one on the way, no husband, by herself at the fair at night, can't even keep track of where she parked AND she had to have TWO apple dumplings. I tell them that I know the car is somewhere around here. at least I think it is. but it's not responding to the panic button so maybe I'm way off. then I assure them that my husband is here, too and he'll find us eventually if we don't find him first. and then I ask them check back on us. so they do one lap and come back. the driver asks me what kind of car it is. I tell him. he then tells me that he knows a trick. I look at him confused wondering if I really look like I'm in the mood for tricks. he says, "no, I"m serious. just trust me. it works for me every time." I raise my eyebrows conceding to listen realizing I don't have any better options. he proceeds to disclose "the trick": touch the fob under your chin while you push the panic button.
me: trying to decide if he's for real or just trying to see how ridiculous he can make me look to his friend, "seriously?!!"
him: "I'm serious. trust me."
burning with embarrassment, I very reluctantly raise the fob to my chin just waiting for them to burst out in laughter and push the panic button. suddenly w-a-y off in the distance I hear the faint sound of a horn honking. the police officer smiles, "I told you." I profusely express my astonishment and gratitude and we quickly, slowly set-off towards the honking. as we approach the car so does micah, jogging and out of breath without an apple dumpling wondering where we've been. beckam has just dropped his ice cream so I can't explain over his sobs nor do I bother to ask about the apple dumpling at this point . beckam's also had to go to the bathroom since we left the fair so I pull him out of the stroller, take him around to the front tire to relieve himself, get him buckled into his car seat and get into the car. when micah opens the car door to get in, he's laughing and holding the apple dumpling. I look at him totally unamused and ask him what he could possibly find so funny right now and wonder where the apple dumpling came from?! the apple dumpling? well, he'd hid it beside the front tire when he went back to the fair entrance to look for us. luckily it had a lid. and I ate it happily!!!