My Little Alynna, the Escape Artist

Alynna will be turning four in September. She's still short and super squeaky and says funny things. I sometimes think she can't get any cuter than she is right now. She will sit with anyone who looks somewhat friendly or might be looking in her direction. Just the other day we went to the little library near our house and she found an older woman to ask, "Can I sit in your lap and you read me this book?" And these people will usually tell me how cute she is.
Now let me take you back to when I was in junior high school. I was homeschooled. We lived in a German neighborhood where I did have friends, but not many. One other good friend of mine was homeschooled (love you, Jenna!) but she didn't live close and she eventually moved. I did have one really good girl friend, but she was German and her mother would often forbid us from playing, because she knew us moving away was inevitable. One day another American family moves into our town. They were fellow Believers, also homeschooled, and their only child was my age! Not only that, but their only child was a fantastically handsome boy named Ashton. However, the problem with Ashton turned out to be that he was fantastically handsome... and he knew it. I learned at an early age that those are the people to be least trusted. Okay, I might be exaggerating a wee bit, but was he ever a pain in the tush! We never really got along. Actually, he enjoyed calling me, a 15 year old that weight somewhere around 115 pounds or something, a land whale!
Well, I digress.
Anyway, I think of Ashton often these days. Not because of his beauty, but because of my little cutie Alynna. This little girl is darn cute and she knows it! She is my new escape artist. I have never needed to use a leash, at least in my opinion, and yet here comes the Super Cute. Super Cute knows that if she can sneak away from Mommy and feign being lost or deserted that she will get many people looking after her and caring for her. I had suspected this was happening on purpose as it began to happen way too often and in very easy-to-stay-with-Mommy places. How is it in a very small library that she could have wandered outside "looking for me" when I was on the other side of the short library shelf?
When we arrived at the aquarium I drew the kids to the side and gravely told them that the place was much more crowded than I thought. They must stay close to me to be safe. I told them to stay near the stroller. Within five minutes of me walking through the door Alynna was gone. I was watching Alynna, knew where Kaeley was, Simon was buckled into the stroller, I turned to talk to Nathan, turned back to where Alynna was before and... Alynna?
After a few minutes of searching I found a very calm little girl behind the customer service desk. She was just about to start coloring. Two of the female workers were chatting with her. Another worker was telling her they were going to send her a paycheck. Oh that girl.
Next was the lorekeet area. Gone again. This time a very tall male worker came carrying her out. This time she didn't get the promise a paycheck. She got a stuffed turtle for walking away from her mother! Argh. The injustice! I had to take Simon out of the stroller and Alynna was put into "jail" for the rest of the trip.
So another first for Saavedra family. I will be investing in a leash. And by "investing" I mean borrowing a leash from my best friend until Alynna can learn to follow instructions.
Thank goodness she's cute.