The Apel Family: Father's Day Excitement

This afternoon we went to Kurt's parents' house to swim and celebrate Father's Day. We swam and plated until it rained; then we went inside to play. Macey went to the bathroom, but she won't let anyone stay in with her. She shut the door, and when I went to open it, it was locked. Cheri and Ronny's doors are super thick- 2.5 inches of solid wood. And they deadbolt from the inside with no way to open them from the outside (there's no keyhole or anything, the deadbolt is only inside). Also, none of us adults (Julie, Kurt, or me) ever lock the door b/c we've all tried to turn the deadbolt before and it's gotten stuck. I never thought she would be able to turn it!

From the inside:

From the outside:

When I realized it, I ran and got Julie and Cheri. They tried to get her out while I ran and got Kurt, Hank, and Ronny. Everyone was standing by the door, trying to talk to her and get her to turn the deadbolt the other way. She was telling us that she couldn't because it was too hard. She kept saying, "Open this door Mommy!" Ronny and Hank tried for a while to take the doorknob off, but it wouldn't work. Macey was in a good mood and happy, but we were realizing there was no way to get her out! Kurt and I were in a complete panic. I called 911 and told them my 3 year old was locked in the bathroom. They kept asking me who I wanted them to send; police or fire. I told them I didn't care who they sent as long as they could get her out!

These are the coloring pages and crayons we sent under the door. She quickly shoved them back out to us. We also sent in Kurt's iphone and that came flying back out. :) She was in no mood to play!

While we waited Ronny and Hank went and got a hammer and decided to knock a hole in the sheet rock in the wall that is perpendicular to the wall with the door. The idea was that we could stick out hand through the hole and unlock the door. After they knocked a huge hole in the wall, we all remembered that the bathroom is paneled in thick solid wood. (That sounds 70s, but it's horizontal, painted, and nice looking. :) ) There was no way we could get through that without a saw. Macey had been in there at least 15 min at this point and the banging scared her. She was crying so hard, but I could tell she was trying not to cry, which was making me cry harder. I was trying to talk to her about all kinds of stuff, but she was just saying, "Mommy, I want you."

There is no frame of reference on this photograph, but this is a huge hole in their wall!

Finally, the firemen got there (Ronny and Cheri's address is wrong so they were driving on the wrong street for over 10 min.). I don't really know what they were doing, but they tried to get through the wall as well. Macey and I were both pretty much hysterical at the point, and trying to get through the wall took at least 8-10 min. I just remember them standing around discussing how to get her out. Kurt told them to move b/c he was going to get a chain saw and cut down the door. Then the fireman said, "Oh you don't care if we hurt the door?" He was so nice, but I just wanted to scream! I said, "I don't care if you rip this whole house down, just get her out!" He went and got this huge crowbar with a sharp tooth looking thing on the end and pried the door open. Poor little Macey was so scared. It broke my heart! She has been telling the story and saying, "and I was so scared and those good men {she thought they were bad men until we told her they were nice} got me out."