That Time We Locked Our Keys In The Car In Rural Alabama

Brian asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day and I said, "I just want to bring the babies to the ocean one last time." So being the awesome husband he is, he used some free hotel points and booked us 1 night right on the beach in Fort Walton Beach.  We thought it'd be best just to leave bright and early Saturday morning (leaving Rascal with some friends) and come back Sunday night. 

It was a good plan in theory.

About 2 hours into our trip, Brady starts complaining that his tummy hurts.  He had that "I'm a about to vomit all over" look in his eye so I told Brian that he needed to pull over, and quick. We pull into this country little gas station as it was the first thing we'd seen in miles. As soon as we stopped the car Brady seemed to be doing better but we decided to all make a trip to the restroom since we had taken the time to stop. Brian locks the car and we started our way into the gas station when Brian says, "Shit." "What??" I locked the keys in the car."  "NO YOU DIDN'T!" We walked over to the car and yep, keys in the ignition still (luckily, it was off!) and doors definitely locked. We both look at each other like omg we are seriously in the middle of nowhere. Our clicker sometimes get stuck so we often lock the door from the inside but this was the first time we'd actually locked them in the car. And in probably the worst place to do it.  

So we go to the bathroom, keep it calm, and ask the lady inside if they know of someone we can call. Because we are in the absolute middle of nowhere and our phones have little to no service. And my dad was also having kidney stone surgery at the time so I was a little anxious!

I took the kids for a little walk because they were getting super confused as to why we weren't getting back in the car. It was a beautiful view.

Here's the front of it. The gas pumps looked like they were from 1960. All 3 of them. We finally got ahold of the sheriff's dept and they said they could send someone out to help us. So we waited. Turns out all of the locksmiths went to the beach that weekend and they were having a really hard time finding anyone that could help us.  

And we waited. We did lots of people watching.  Brady found a stick and that kept him entertained for awhile. The mullets kept me entertained for awhile. And I'm pretty sure everyone there smoked. I know this because I was sitting by one of the ten cigarette dispenser things so I got to say hi to nearly everyone.

And then it started to downpour. Sideways.

Layla, not amused. She kept saying, "I WANT TO GET BACK IN CAR!" I know, Layla, me too.

Brady was having fun though. Sticks and Skittles!

Finally the rain stopped and we did what anyone would do in Wing, Alabama. We threw rocks in the puddles.

And stirred the mud puddle with more sticks.

After about 2.5 hours and no sheriff in sight (we were told the sheriff dept was 40 minutes away) it started to not be so funny anymore.  We called the sheriff's dept and they said, "Oh no. No one's coming out to do that. That's illegal." Uhhh. Thanks.  We finally got ahold of a locksmith that said he'd be out in about an hour or so. Another HOUR?! Right around that time a guy walked in to the gas station with a ton of tools in hand. The ladies at the register asked him if  he could help us. Another guy behind him said, "If anyone can break into a car, Bob* can).  Not super comforting but we were desperate.

*I don't remember his name but I feel like he could have been a Bob

20 minutes later, with a large crowd of locals (including a group of about 20 bikers) watching, we were in!! Everyone started cheering the second our alarm started going off. I would not be surprised if it made the paper there. 

Sooo not the morning we had planned, but I feel like we got the true southern experience now.  And I have to say, the people in Wing, Alabama were some of the nicest people I'd ever met. They were so accommodating and so sweet to our kids.  The guy that got us into our car broke the ANTENNA off of his car to get us in.  I mean, really. I know they talk about people giving the shirt off of their back, but the antenna off of your car? That's a true gentleman.  And he would't take anything for helping us. 

Finally an hour later we reached our hotel!

And were on the beach!

We stopped by Brian's favorite place, McGuire's

which Brady thought was about the coolest place ever.

And Miss Sassy Pants put her toes in the sand.

But that was about it. Because the ocean is very, very scary. 

But this moment made it all worth it. I just adore my family.

There was also a splash pad at our hotel so we did a little splashing before dinner.

We were a couple blocks from the Boardwalk so we walked on the beach there. Because Layla could not obviously drive home. Lush.

And we stayed just late enough (8:00) that Brady could hit the dance floor and get some older women to dance with him. His night was complete.

The next morning Brian woke up early and got me a Waffle House waffle. He's a keeper. The kids also got me the sweetest card and flowers.

For brunch that day we were able to meet up with some of our best friends from pilot training that we hadn't seen since graduation over 4 years ago.

It was their first time meeting our kids as I was pregnant with Brady when we last saw them and it was our first time meeting their sweet son, Ryan.  

This was us almost 5 years ago at an ugly sweater party!

Us with our babies

And the boys! They're in the Mississippi Guard and it was great to see them again. That's one thing I love about the Air Force, you may not always be stationed together but the military usually brings you back together at one point or another!  We had a wonderful time catching up with them.

After that we went back to the beach where the waves were ridiculous. There were crazy riptides occurring so we couldn't really swim in there.

Layla was fine with that. She didn't even want to put her swimsuit on. Just her shades.

But Brady did. So although it wasn't a picture perfect weekend, it was still a pretty great Mother's Day weekend because I got to have my family with me and I was at my happy place, the ocean.