Trimathlons and missing children

Still no computer yet, so phone posting it is. This last Saturday was an eventful day in our family. Haddon begged me to enroll him in a tri-mathlon that he found out about through school. His excitement was so big, I couldn't refuse. We enrolled him, and attended Saturday afternoon. With two hours to kill, Joel thought it would be fun to take his girls to a movie and the grand opening of Scheels sporting goods store. So off they went, and off Had, Amelia and I went. I was expecting Haddon's event to be similar to a city spelling bee or something of the like, but when we got there, it was a much smaller scale event, with about 8 contestants in a strip mall math center. They checked him in and instructed me to return in an hour and a half for the awards assembly. Haddon then took a test that was 3 parts - and finished 5th out of the group, which is still pretty impressive since the other contestants were seasoned mathnasium students. :) Little did we know that Joel and the girls were having an adventure of their own - They went to see the movie Trannsylvania, and afterwards, went to see about the new store Scheels. Apparently, as the story goes, it was standing room only, but had quite the attractions, including a 2 story ferris wheel, a tunnel for viewing the giant salt-water fish tanks, and a huge stuffed black bear with picture posing opportunities. It was in front of the bear where Joel turned his back for one second and then realized that Paige was gone. 15 minutes passed with no sight of her. Store doors were being blocked, managers starting to get frantic. Joel was beside himself...And then they were told a little girl was downstairs by the front door with a manager. A well meaning mom had taken her there. Hugs were exchanged and Paige shakily held out the frisbee she had been holding for her dad, and said "I didn't lose this dad!" ***** Later that night, after stories were swapped, and bedtime routine was started, Paige tugged on Joel's shirt, and when he leaned over to hear her secret, she whispered "I forgive you for losing me dad!" *****