Lost Parents

Today was the first nice day we've had in a while, so I decided to take the three boys to Sesame Place. Unfortunately, we got a later start than I would have liked; Tab had taken the minivan to the garage last night for an oil change and a warrantee repair, and he had to get a ride back to the garage to pick it up this morning. While I waited for him to return, I packed a lunch and put sunscreen on the boys. Then we dropped Tab off in Princeton and headed for Pennsylvania and Sesame Place.

By the time we arrived, it was already 10 a.m. The park had been open for an hour and was filling up rapidly with families getting an early start on their July 4 long weekend. Although the twins and I already had our photo passes, Daniel still needed to get his. We waited in an interminable line for nearly a half hour while, behind us, hordes of people streamed into the park.

Finally, it was our turn to be waited upon by the slow-moving drones behind the service counter. Daniel smiled for the camera and seconds later we were out the door and into the park. Daniel stopped short at the sight of the one big non-water ride, a roller coaster called "Vapor Trail."

"Cool!" His eyes gleamed. "Can I go on that, Mama?"

As roller coasters go, the Vapor Trail is pretty tame, but I'm not sure Daniel is ready to ride it solo. "Well, you're old enough," I said, studying the posted restrictions. "But you'd have to go alone. Your brothers are too small, and I can't leave them by themselves."

I saw the hesitation on his face. "Tell you what," I said. "There's already a pretty long line here. The next time we come to the park we'll get here early, and if you still want to ride the coaster, you won't have to wait in line so long." He accepted this answer.

We wandered around the place, revisiting some of the attractions the twins had liked best on our previous visit: the Count's Ballroom, Cookie Mountain, Ernie's Bouncy Bed. Daniel wanted to try the Nets and Climbs, a multi-level maze created out of cargo netting. Matthew had announced that he didn't want to do Nets and Climbs so I told him he could slide down the nearby sliding board instead. Stephen and Daniel had set off together through the net maze when I realized Matthew had not returned. I looked around the sliding board area for him, but couldn't spot him anywhere.

I called Stephen and Daniel back. "Matthew's lost, guys! We have to find him."

We searched the immediate vicinity with no luck. I was worried, but not as panicked as I had been last year when we lost Stephen at the zoo. For one thing, the boys are a year older now. For another, I had pointed out to them the Sesame Place employees with their Big Bird-yellow shirts as we entered the park. "If you ever get lost, tell one of the workers," I'd told the boys.

I now sought out one of those very employees, who advised me to try the "Lost Parents" building. As soon as I walked in, I saw Matthew playing with a Sesame Street toy in the corner. Two other children were there, also: a boy about Matthew's age and a sobbing girl, a little older than Daniel, who was being comforted by one of the Sesame Place employees.

I hugged Matthew in relief. "Let's try to stick together from now on, OK, guys?" I said. "No wandering off."

The rest of our stay passed uneventfully. We saw a few of the shows. We returned to some of the boys' favorite attractions. Daniel looked wistfully at the water rides. "When is Matthew getting his cast off?" he asked.

"In a week and a half. Then we will be able to do the water stuff." Daniel accepted this with good grace.

As we left the park, we walked by the Lost Parents building again. I took Matthew's hand in mine, held it tight, and whispered a little prayer of thanksgiving.

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