"It's okay. I can do interpretive dance!"

So, what's missing from this picture?

2 hours earlier:  Last Saturday while the Bits was sleeping and after Amelia had packed, we decided to go work on my suitcases for the trip to Illinois.  We had the windows open because the weather was perfect.  Amelia and I were packing, Tony was watching football, and the kids were playing.

When the football game hit halftime, Tony came in to check on our progress.  I had him shut the door because I didn't want to risk waking the baby.  We chatted about my clothing options, and then we heard the baby waking up.   I finished packing the last items and zipped up the suitcase.  (We can't leave anything out or Terror Bits will be into it!)

As Tony was heading out of our bedroom, I heard a thud followed by sounds of rattling and jiggling.   "Umm, Amelia, can you come here?"  I look up to see Tony and Amelia fussing with the door knob.  "Hey, Chloe, try to open the door."  I hear Chloe desperately trying to open the door, and then declaring the kids' impending doom because all the grownups were locked inside the master bedroom.

I did my best to calm Chloe down.  She got the baby out of bed and, following my instruction, took a picture of them standing by the door.  Tony often loses his sense of humor in these situations, and this day was no different.  For my part, I think this kind of stuff is hysterical.  Poor Amelia was stuck in the middle.  She and Tony came up with a plan to unwedge the little metal thingie that goes in the little part in the door jam.  (Hope my technical terms didn't confuse you!)  Tony barked at me to stop having the kids take pictures and find something productive to do.  There was no room by the lock, so I determined that interpretive dance was the way to go.  (Unfortunately, the video camera was on the other side of the door with the kids so there is no footage of the dance.)

After a solid 15 seconds of dead silence, Tony recovered from my interpretive dance and refocused his attention on the door.  Quite fortunately, Tony keeps a series of Leatherman and Swiss Army knives in our closet.  The Handy Duo was able to free us from the room.  Chloe all but wept with joy that we were released and able to care for the "children" once again.  Even more fortunately, as I was looking for my old Staples Rewards card to tape to the door to prevent further problems, I found $40.00.  I thought that was fair payment for my dance!