So, Sunday morning we went to visit the Udvar-Hazy Annex of the Air and Space Museum. We figured it wouldn't be a complete disaster with 4 adults to keep an eye on CW and SG (mostly for him). We had SG wearing the monkey, because neither one of us wanted to have to explain why he was IN the Space Shuttle, or a helicopter, or climbing on top of the SR-71. He was basically fine for a while, we ran rather quickly through the floor displays on the right side of the building, and then he charged into the space wing, dragging me, and leaving everyone else behind. He kept trying to get past the "ropes" around each exhibit, frequently getting to the other side before we could retrieve him.
CW had been DYING to go on the flight simulators, so Jim went with her to see how much they were going to cost. Somehow, Peggy and I ended up on a balcony/walkway above the simulators - conveniently out of reach, so Jim ended up taking CW on the blue simulator. Matt had SG and was wandering around over on the left side of the museum. They eventually came back while CW and Jim were still on the simulator, and we were all watching the footage of what they were seeing on the ride, since our positioning above and behind afforded us a clear view of the computer terminal's screen. We went downstairs to join them when they finished and Matt ended up taking CW on another simulator. Jim stayed with them and Peggy and I tried to keep SG away from the golf carts parked under the stairs.
That didn't work at all. He kept circling back to them and climbing past the barriers. Finally he pitched a fit in the middle of the floor, so Peggy and I stood there next to/over him and just gabbed, since he was being pretty quiet about the whole thing and only occasionally attempting to kick me. He laid there for a while, long enough to afford the small group of Asian tourists who went by a good giggle. Good enough in fact, that one of them came back and asked (with gestures) if he could take a picture of SG on the floor. Then he took a picture of all three of us standing there. Excellent - international notoriety for his tantrums, just what I'd hoped for!
Finally we tried to take him upstairs. Which sort of worked. I took him up, and he laid down again in protest, so I tucked him up against the bottom of the railing and stood over him so that we were out of the public's way. Jim and Peggy had stopped on the landing to look at an exhibit, so we just chilled out for a minute. I heard his shoe velcro being opened so I checked to see if I was in danger of him lobbing or dropping it over/through/under the railing. Nope it looked fine, so I relaxed and didn't bother to fight him to keep his shoes on.
*thunk, flump*
I looked over the railing in puzzlement at the Cessna below and what did I see but my son's sneaker on the floor next to the plane, still inside the restricted area. In horror I looked at the railing again - there was enough room between the floor and the bottom of the railing for him to get his shoe through, I hadn't seen it at first. At this point he's in a good mood and grinning, and I'm in shock, seriously - WTF do I do now (I'm still out of breath from carrying the struggling boy up two flights of stairs in the first place)? I called Matt's phone (which I found out later was locked in a locker in prep for the simulator they were about to board) and didn't get an answer. I called Peggy's phone and asked her to have Jim go retrieve the sneaker. I looked down and noticed a bare foot waving around. Where the hell is his sock!? I mentioned to Peggy that the sock might be down there too, and then I saw it about 8 feet away from us, right next to another lady standing at the railing. I told Peggy to never mind about the sock and hung up. I went over and grabbed to sock, excusing and apologizing the whole way. The woman cracked up and told me that hers had been just as bad. I grinned and said, "Really? They threw shoes over the railing and onto planes too?" Her eyes got wide and she looked over the railing, started laughing and said that no, they hadn't been quite that bad.
At this point I'm standing there alternating between looking over the railing, and looking at Peggy, who was over on the stairs. One of the times I looked over at her a gentleman on his way over to me caught my eye and asked if I needed any help. I stared at him for a few seconds, and said, "James Rosen?" He nodded, grinning and asked again if I needed any help. Being COMPLETELY flustered at this point, I told him no thank you, my father in law is getting the shoe, and waved him off.
By the time we got back into the car to leave, we'd only been there for 2 hours. oy.
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