Last Night.....

.... was a night to forget. According to Geo.
I, on the other hand, feel it's worth remembering.

I was in Lethbridge doing an appointment and attending classroom training at the office. Geo was keeping the girls while I did that, and ended up going to Elkford in BC to pick up a vehicle that they needed to bring back to their lot. Grandma Penny had Sorority (sp?) that night, so she couldn't watch the girls. It was only an hour and a half drive to Elkford, and he decided to take the girls with him.

Brayden (Scott's son - Geo works with Scott) was playing soccer in Elkford so it worked out for them to take Brayden to soccer and bring home the vehicle they needed to pick up. They put the carseats for the girls into a mini-van from the lot, which they had just bought that day, and away they went.

Unfortunate Event #1 - they are late picking Brayden up from the swimming pool in Pincher Creek to be on their way.

Unfortunate Event #2 - Avery says "Daddy, my tummy is sick". He gets her blanket over her just in time to catch the mess as she pukes. Yuck

They get to Elkford to pick up the truck from the garage (Mountain Mechanical) where it's sitting and Unfortunate Event #3 - the keys are locked inside the truck. George asked the guy at the garage to leave the keys in a specified place OUTSIDE the vehicle, but garage guy insisted on leaving the keys inside the truck and leave the door unlocked. Well the door was not unlocked.....

Unfortunate Event #4 - George phones the guy from the garage to let him know what has happened, and he is no help at all. No apology, no offer to come help.... "You'll have to call Elkford Towing and see if they can come break into the vehicle for you." George tells him that he doesn't have a phonebook to look up the number - and the guy is no help with that either......

So George goes to the MiniMart to look at a phonebook for the phone number to Elkford Towing and Unfortunate Event #5 - Elkford Towing doesn't break into vehicles anymore.

Lucky Thing # 1 - The lady at MiniMart THINKS that the post-office lady's husband MIGHT be a locksmith, but she can't remember her name. The kid working behind the counter at MiniMart says that his Mom works with the post-office lady and he suggests a name to try in the phonebook.


Lucky Thing #2 - Yes.... her husband does it.... it'll be $50 cash, and he'll be home in 20 minutes. "But - how do I know it's your vehicle you're trying to break into?!"

So Geo tries to get ahold of the garage guy to confirm for post-office lady that he is, indeed, supposed to get into this truck. Unfortunate Event # 6 - there's no answer. He tries to get ahold of the couple that own the truck and Unfortunate Event # 7 - he can't get in contact with them either.

He calls back the post-office lady and lets her know that he can't get ahold of anyone to confirm his story and isn't sure what he should do.... Post-office lady remembers that she knows a girl that works at Mountain Mechanical and gives her a call. Lucky Thing #3 - Mandy from Mountain Mechanical confirms that George is supposed to get into this truck to pick it up.


Post-office lady says "My husband will be home in about 20 minutes and he'll probably have a tea before he comes down to help you...." Geo reminds her that he has his 2 young daughters with him.....


With time to kill while waiting for the 20 minutes to pass, they go watch Brayden's soccer game. Avery has to go "Potty" but there are no bathrooms, so Geo has her squat to pee and Unfortuate Event #8 - she pees all down her legs and soaks her pants.... he needs to change her clothes.


An hour goes by.... George phones back to the post-office lady's house..... Her husband has just left to come help him..... They get to the truck and it takes the guy 45 minutes to break in... Meanwhile, London decides she is not happy and cries and cries.


They're on the road again now. It's nearly 9pm and they're on their way home. George is driving the minivan from the lot, and Scott drives the truck back. 5 minutes out of Elkford, Geo hears "Daddy, potty" but its too late.... Unfortunate Event #9 - She has pooped in her pants. (Did I mention we're potty training? so she isn't wearing a diaper...)

Geo puts Avery in a diaper, but there are no more clean pants. She sits in her carseat wearing only a diaper and her shirt. They are all starving and stop at Sparwood A&W for chicken fingers and a hamburger.

Somewhere in here - I call Geo from my cell phone to let him know that I'm leaving Lethbridge and on my way home. He sounds frazzled and tells me that he is driving through a snowstorm... I'm thinking of my little family and all the bad luck they've encountered on their trip. I was overcome with a huge feeling of love and gratitude for George for being such a great and competent daddy to his girls. I remember thinking that most kids would be longing for their mommy if they were sick or miserable, but thanks to Avery's independent personality and George's fabulous father skills - they were all managing just fine despite the terrible turn of events. There were no kids screaming in the background, and George had things under control. He was miserable! But he was surviving!

Just outside of Lundbreck, Unfortunate Event #10 - Avery throws up again! We've decided that she gets motion sickness because it only seems to happen in the car, then she's fine afterwards.

Geo cleans her up as best he can. The carseat is covered in puke and soaking wet. She's drenched, so he strips off her shirt and she is wearing only a diaper. Not wanting to make her sit in her own puked-on carseat, he seat-belts her into the front passenger seat beside him. He has this knowing feeling as he does it, that based on his luck tonight, he'll get pulled over by the police...... That's all he needs right now.

Just outside of Brocket, he sees headlights in the rearview mirror and thinks... "Uh-oh" Unfortunate Event #11 -and then the red & blue lights come on.

The officer asks for licence, insurance, registration and George stutters out the information he's looking for. Remember: Geo's in a newly aquired minivan the business just bought that day... So none of the insurance, or registration is in his name - and he has a bare-naked toddler sitting in the front seat... not in her carseat!! The officer walks around the vehicle shining his flashlight in... no comment about Avery in the frontseat, but he did point out the burnt out headlight and that the licence plate was hanging crooked because it was missing a screw. Geo's hoping that Avery can just "lay low" for a bit.... oh no, she starts talking while the officer is questioning Geo "Who's that?" He ignores her, hoping she'll just be quiet.....


As the officer walks back to the cruiser, Geo throws her back into her pukey carseat and does up the buckles quick-like. She's telling him "Ew, pookey, Daddy. Pookey"

SUPER DUPER LUCKY THING #4 - The officer returns to the mini-van and sends them on their merry way. No comment about Avery having been in the frontseat. We figure the Good Lord must have blinded that officer from seeing her sitting in the front seat.... there's no other explanation.


I wish, wish, wish I'd have gotten my camera ready for when he walked through the door that night. It was a moment and a look that I never want to forget. Geo looked so stressed, so relieved to be home alive, and so anxious for the night to be over... He just kept saying "I don't know how I'm not in jail right now!" He told me the whole story, and we couldn't believe how things just kept getting worse and worse!

Just before going to sleep that night, I had him tell me the whole story from the beginning and I took notes so I could write it out like this today. We couldn't help but laugh... and sometimes we were crying... and then we'd laugh again, and shake our heads in disbelief. What a trooper he is! And the girls, too!

Just when it looked like the worst was about to happen, it didn't. We thanked Heavenly Father for that blessing: Surely His Spirit was with our little family at just the right moment, protecting them from any further complications that would have only made that night more miserable than it already was.

And that's why I feel it was a night worth remembering!