Breaking and Entering

I was working in the kitchen yesterday (doing some Superbowl Slaw prep) and needed to grab something from the outside freezer. I came around the corner and saw my front door wide open, which usually means one of the twins has escaped. But I just saw Case in the playroom a few minutes ago, and Tess was asleep on my bed. I hear kids' voices out front so I head out to gather whoever has escaped without my noticing. I cross the driveway toward the kids' voices just in time to see the door from my neighbor's open garage into their house swing shut, and all the kids' voices are muffled. Not sure if Case was even among that little crew, I went back inside to make sure he wasn't in the playroom (had the door been open for a while? did the wind blow it open?). As I walk back into the house my phone rings. My neighbor. Mom to Jakie, with whom Case loves to play. They had just returned home, walked in the door and found Case standing in the hallway of their empty house.

The kid had left our house, gone next door, seen their garage door open and figured it was an open invite for him to just waltz in and make himself at home. Thankfully it all happened the way it did... if they hadn't come home precisely when they did I would have been frantically searching the neighborhood. And he couldn't have been in there for more than a minute or two, since I literally had just seen him in the playroom minutes before he escaped.

This is not Case's first runaway attempt either. Our front door handle sticks, and he was previously unable to wrench it open. But Jarad fixed it last weekend, so Sunday he was free and clear. The last time, though, he realized he was locked in, so he tried to escape through the garage. He can't reach the button to push the garage door opener, so he came back into the house, found a broom, unscrewed the handle, carried it out to the garage, used the stick to push the button and took off running. Broom stick in hand. The best part about this was that I was outside talking to another neighbor. I had shut Case back in the house for a second while I finished my conversation. Next thing I know he's tearing out of the house with a broomstick in his hand. How resourceful of him!!

Thank Heaven for our awesome neighbors who returned him to us. Or should I be offended that he was returned so quickly? Just kiddin' Anne. Thank you!!