Bad Outing

So after a number of successful outings with the triplets, today's trek into campus was by far the worst. It started off well, with the less-than-ambitious plan of showing off the triplets to some of my old professors, and doing a little research at the library while Erin walked the babies around on this nice fall day. The problem came when we ended up chatting in the history department far longer than we thought, and violated the number one rule for outings - FEED THE BABIES ON TIME!!

I had one more stop on my list in the department when the babies started fussing. As there were classes going on, I quickly told Erin I would meet her downstairs, and helped push her and the stroller into the elevator. Less than five minutes later, I got a phone call from her on my cell to meet her *NOW* by the women's bathroom on the first floor. Needless to say, as the elevator had not returned yet to the floor, I had to run down the four flights of stairs to meet her. Hearing cries from one of the triplets, I arrived at the women's bathroom at the same time as another professor, who certainly must have thought that one of the freshman girls had just given birth to a baby in the bathroom!

Flash backwards a few minutes for Erin's side of the story. After squeezing herself into the elevator with the triplet stroller (and Arthur in a sling because he was fussy), Coraline decided to spit her pacifier out onto the floor. So once on the first floor, Erin had to extricate herself and the stroller from the elevator, and go in to retrieve the lost pacifier before the doors shut, trapping her from the other two babies. Luckily, she managed this feat, but was brought down by her desire to wash off the pacifier before giving it back to Coraline.

So the professor and I open up the bathroom doors, to find Erin and the stroller trapped neatly between the two double doors of the bathroom, unable to go into the bathroom, and unable to leave. After we rescued everyone, we headed over to the library where I ran in to pick up a book and quickly look at some microfilm, while Erin took the babies for a walk. Not five minutes later, I got a call again. Running to meet her, I found Erin holding two wailing babies, and a third crying in her carseat. At that point, we glanced at the time, and realized that we were overdue for their feeding. Choosing not to stay out a minute longer, we quickly ran everyone to the car and fed them at home.

Lessons learned:
1) Set a timer so we don't lose track of time again.
2) Make sure bathrooms are stroller accessable.
3) When you see someone holding three crying babies, don't say "Gee, those babies sure are loud!" (Oh wait, that was a lesson learned by some poor undergraduate who faced Erin's wrath before I came from the library to her rescue)