Feeling Slinky

Winters in Oregon are brutal. Winter may also be brutal elsewhere, but this is where I live. I have seen "America's Funniest Video". I know there exists palces in the Winter where they get snow, but you can play in snow in-betweens storms. Even if it isn't raining, everything here is wet from November to March (sometimes October to April), and there isn't a contraption out there that can keep a 2-year old dry for any length of time. If it isn't wet and rainy, it is freezing cold and windy.
We spend a lot of time at the Burger King in the Winter, and yes I am shamelessly plugging this food chain. One near our house has a play structure, so we go in for lunch and stay an hour to an hour and a half. For the dollar, it is cheaper than any museum or movie, and a bonus is that Asa burns off the crappy food I just fed him by chasing every kid his size. The nap to come after that energy burn is a huge bonus as well.
So last Sunday it was rainy and Asa was antsy, so daddy and I took him to Burger King. There were only 2 other boys, but I failed to notice they had no shoes on. I never take Asa's shoes off, regardless of what the rules say. Call me a rebel. But since these new friends were shoeless, so followed Asa. Only he took just one shoe off, somewhere in the play structure. His brand new sandal. Why do kids never loose the old shoes? We send Asa up to look for his shoe, multiple times. Nick is getting into "you are in trouble" mode with Asa, and so I pulled him aside and reminded him that at Asa's age, we are lucky if the kid even remembers what we said by the time he get's to the top of the play structure, let alone remember to look for the damn shoe.
So guess who gets to haul her pregnant butt into the play structure at Burger King? Daddy isn't going because, besides his fear of heights, the structure sways when I am in there, let alone a full-grown man. And if anyone thinks I am letting a brand new shoe go without a fight, doesn't know the Girl Scout in me. I felt like the Grinch in the Christmas cartoon, slinking my way through tight spaces and sucking my gut in. And of course one of the other boys followed me, partly amazed that a mom would get in the structure and partly annoyed that I was blocking the path.
I get to the top of the structure, and am crawling through this tube when I hear Nick call up "Hey Dena, shoe is down here." I swear, I did not call my kid a four letter name. But I did think extremely uncharitable thoughts. I take the slide down, because I do fit and I thought it would be faster, but I lost momentum and Nick had to pull me out by my ankles. More entertainment for the kids-they thought it great fun.
In the end, we discovered that Asa and one of the other little boy's had taken their shoes off at the top of the structure, and then threw the shoe BEHIND the structure where no one can get. So we had to call the staff in to unlock the gate, so we all could go back there and grab these shoes. Again, I did not call my kid a four letter name, but I was thinking extremely uncharitable thoughts as I sat there trying to get my breath back. Lesson learned-we glue the sock to the foot and staple the shoe to the sock so new shoes stay where they are suppose to. If you see Asa walking with a limp, do not be concerned.