Two Bunches of Ranunculus

We had high hopes for the day. We got our kids ready, packed up in the minivan, and set out.

It was Sunday, April Fool's, but of no relevance to us this year. (Our last big prank was in 2007.)

I was looking forward to some family time at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, for their advertised Kids' Day. Joey had taken the time off of his usual Sunday morning basketball with the UCSD college kids.

We went, made the rounds, did the kiddie crafts, and left around 5pm. It wasn't anything particularly memorable. I was wavering on whether to buy some ranunculus, but in the end passed. We had already paid $22 for two adults, and I really didn't think we had gotten our money's worth. Hayrides alone were another $15 per adult. Needless to say, we didn't ride them.

We had been invited to our friend's home for dinner & headed over there. They have four kids, and plus our two, there's a brady bunch of fun in there. We had a delicious meal, talked and laughed for hours, and finally left for home past the kids' bedtime, around 8pm. Unaware.

When we got home, my husband asked me, Hunny where is my black (man) bag? I went back into the garage to check. It wasn't there. And I felt that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My memory suddenly went on rewind mode. A car pulling up next to us to park...the stroller being in the way...moving it to the front of the car....changing both kids' diapers...then getting into the car to leave for dinner.

And I realized that we had left the black bag in the dusty dirt parking lot of the flower fields. Four hours earlier. The black iPad bag (which was a Christmas gift from me), along with an iPad, wallet, and $200 in cash were sitting in our trusty Maclaren umbrella stroller. Easily totaling over $1000. We had both assumed the other had put the stroller away.

So the hubby drove that night back to the flower field. I waited, tense, for 30 minutes. Then I got a text with one word: GONE. I hoped it was an April Fools' joke. When he got home, I realized it wasn't.

We looked online to check if there had been any fraudulent charges on the credit cards. First stroke of luck: there weren't any charges, yet. Then we had to decide if we should cancel all 6 credit cards and go through the hassle of waiting for new ones....or risk dealing with fraudulent charges and wait to call the Flower Fields first thing in the morning. We decided to wait.

I called them at 8am on the dot. No answer, an automated answering line, with no chance of speaking to a live person. I thought quickly. There was a flower shop next door. I called and spoke to Kent. He said that he hadn't seen a stroller in the parking lot the night before, on his way home from work. I knew the chances of finding our items were slim to none.

He said he would check with the Flower Fields at 9am, when they opened. I went about my morning.

And he finally called me back, a little after 9, with these words, "They do have a stroller that was turned in. Can you describe it to me?" I described it quickly, and he said "Yep, that's it."

I ran downstairs to tell my hubby the good news. He left a few minutes later to go and pick up our things. Several hours later, after running errands, he returned home with our things, every item intact.

We never discovered who had turned in the stroller, or if an employee had found it. But I discovered my faith in the people of Carlsbad. We wanted to reward someone, but didn't know who. It felt like I had just hit a hole-in-one and should buy everyone dinner. But we didn't.

Instead, he brought me back two bunches of pink ranunculus.