The Lost Lamb

The first stop at MGM Studios HAD to be the Star Wars Tours. It was destined before we were born. I live in a family of four, three of which are boys, two of whom are Star Wars "geeks", and one of whom will soon be one, I'm sure. That's the whole draw of this park. Star Wars. It didn't matter if we saw anything else in Orlando.

And so, Coen and I got in line to get the Storm Trooper and Darth Vader's autograph for Mason's autograph book, while Martin and Mason headed in to brave the "flight". The time dragged by, and I watched the gathering storm clouds anxiously while we waited and waited. For real, the sign out front said 20 minutes, and we were at 30 already. I walked through the Star Wars shop- you know how it is at Disney- they always have a shop at the end of the ride, so you can "complete" your experience with a souvenir. I thought about buying a girl's Star Wars tee-shirt... picturing my two guys' faces at the sight of me being a Star Wars Geek. That thought lasted about thirty seconds, and, noting that there wasn't even anything cute enough to be considered, I moved on, exiting the shop and doing my thirtieth lap around the stroller area.

A woman stopped me, and wanted to see the little animal that Coen has recently adopted as his cuddle buddy. I have to thank my Dad's sister Carol for it- he's been dubbed "Lammy", and is the cutest baby Gund floppy, tan lamb. He's very cuddly, and I'd even sleep with him. Anyway, she stops me, and wants to see Lammy... she lets out a little squeal when she realizes it's the same as the one her little girl loves. "She's loved it and carried it for four years now", she says, "it's all gray and nasty now". I told her I know how it is... and explain how Mason has his nearly five year old PeeDee that's nasty, dirty, and now has PJ's sewn on, to hold him together. Her little girl comes by with her Dad, smiles, and eyes Lammy with a love in her eyes tells me she just wants to yank him away from Coen. They move on, and Martin and Mason finally exit the ride.

We move on through the park. Martin and I have laughed because we notice how Coen is CONSTANTLY throwing things from the stroller- the sippy cup, Lammy, the sun hat he WILL NOT wear. It's a problem we've noticed from him alot. The other night, I actually went and bought a pacifier clip, and clipped his teether to his shirt- we were both sick of picking it up off the floor, and cleaning it.

Cut to about 5 hours later. Coen and I are waiting in line for Kim Possible's autograph, and Coen's fussy. I'm digging for Lammy. Can't find him. I motion to Martin, who's waiting in line for Quincy and June (from Little Einsteins) autographs "Where's Lammy?". He can't understand me, so I resort to sign language, cuddling my make believe Lammy and sucking my thumb at him from across the way. Anyway, eventually, we both realize Lammy's gone. We mourn the loss of the very cute Lammy. Martin said that he would check the Guest Services before we leave to see if anyone found him, and mentally, I start window shopping for Lammy's replacement. Maybe a cute squishy Winnie the Pooh will do- or a floppy Mickey Mouse.

Three hours later, we're pooped, the kids are pooped, and we decide to head for the exit instead of hanging in there for the Fantasmic show. I was wishing I could hop up in Mason's rented big kid stroller, and have him push ME for a change. Martin decided to run over to the Guest Service while Mason and I window shopped for the replacement. Nothing was striking me, and we headed out to find Martin.

There he was, rolling up with Coen who had Lammy in hand, thumb in mouth. I couldn't believe it. In all those people, some kind soul had picked him up and turned him in.

We headed into one more store, and to our amazement, Lammy was missing AGAIN within five minutes. I quickly covered the store, recovered Lammy, and proceeded to hook his leg to the pacifier clip on Coen's shirt. Maybe that will do.