Don't let them out of your sight!

So sorry to all of my local friends if there is a new sign at the Flower Nursery up the road that says "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED".  Pretty sure that is my fault.  Indirectly.  It is really the fault of my two darling youngest children who seem to think that anytime their lovely mother is occupied means that they can take off running.  And silly me, I thought I would show them that it is a good thing to actually PAY for things that you want so I was paying for my tomatoes and other various plants that are still sitting on my front porch, unplanted.  Silly check out girl at the counter who assured me that they would be just fine and there is NOTHING that they could harm.  And silly me, once again, for believing her.  There happens to be two dogs that come to work with their owners each day at the nursery.  One of them is old and flat out refuses to acknowledge the presence of any children.  The other is still fairly young and loves to play chase.  As it so happens, so do my children!  While I was checking out, I believed that yet another rousing game of chase was on. 

That was not the case.  The children were missing.  Not completely missing just not easily located on the two acre plot that makes up the nursery.  I checked all the greenhouses.  I checked underneath all of the tables of plants.  I checked behind all of the trees.  No blonde haired little boy or black haired little girl.  This mom was starting to get a bit nervous especially because the nursery is located on a busy highway.  But knowing that they were much more likely to get into a lot of trouble rather than get splatted on the highway, I continued my search.  After about ten minutes that seemed like an eternity, I spotted them trudging up the path behind the main area of the nursery.  Their shoes were making a squishing sound and their pants were dripping with a strange green substance. 

They were so so excited to tell me about the wonderful pond and the slimy green water that they waded into trying to catch the fish and the frogs.  Ahhhhh.  So that is where they had been.  Chasing the dog had turned into something so much better!  Chasing frogs and fish in a decorative pond that had the purpose of displaying all of the water plants available for sale at the nursery.  I hadn't know that it existed because water plants are not in my landscaping plans, mainly because this experience would become a daily one. 

So, I apologize to all those out there who have well behaved children, who stay planted at their mommies sides while their mommies shop for tomatoes and flowers and bushes and even while they do the boring things like paying for their purchases.  If you find that your children are not allowed in a store, it is probably because mine have been there recently!