Our April Fools Day excitement

April Fools day bloomed cold and uneventful, little did we know that it would not take long to change into something no one could have planned for.

About 11:30am I was still in my pj's reading and finishing up my final question review when the helicopters arrived. I thought that it was Hill Air Force Base doing test flights but we get more rumbling from F-16's buzzing the house then we do from choppers. So of course I go out into the back yard to investigate. Why they are camped out over my house? It is not the military but our local news channel helicopters - Chopper 5 and Channel 2's helicopters circling our quiet neighborhood. That was when I looked up the street and saw the mighty presence of law enforcement camped out in our neighborhood. Many of which stationed in front of our house. What the........?

Of course there is nothing on the news, nothing to report and the reverse 911 missed our number so I was in the dark about what was happening. Thank goodness for a caring VT that called to tell me that we were on lock-down along with the school. Some bad guys had ended a chase in our neighborhood and they were still looking for them. GREAT!!!! So I went around and fortified the doors and checked to make sure that everything was locked up tight. Then I realized that if they had us evacuate I was still in my pj's and that might be a problem.

All afternoon, I kept checking the news, watching the police walking the streets with their guns drawn, it was unnerving to say the least. As time passed on I knew that we were going to have a problem. The School was on lock-down, I had to go to class and I was having a hard time getting a hold of the man. What were the kids going to do? I knew that they were completely safe, two weeks earlier they had a drill lock-down - how ironic that they were going to use it so soon. I called the school and got nothing, called again and still no answer, what to do with the kids. So I went to the school and with my poster in hand that told them I needed my kids, I was cautiously allowed into the school by a big burly gun toting district man. He scared me to death, but was not real keen on becoming a babysitter for my kids, nor letting them go home to an empty house while all this was going on. I was allowed into the office and staff went to retrieve my kids. I had to show ID to everyone (even though they all know me and my kids - I am still not sure that is a good thing) and with my kids in hand we got a police escort to our car. The kids were a little uncertain about what was happening and asked if a bad man was waiting to get them in the school or at our home and so we had great talks about the things that had happened that day. I am sad that we had to discuss this but also glad that I got to answer their questions and help reassure them of ways to be safe in an uncertain world. They were in the safest place to be and the school handled things in such a great manner I never once was worried about their safety. I was also so impressed with how the many and I mean many police agency's worked to make our neighborhood safe again. I was also impressed with how much time Chopper 5 dedicated to helping search for the last bad guy.

In the end all bad guys were found and went to jail, for what I hope will be a long time. We still live in a really safe neighborhood and I am glad for all the people that worked so hard in calling to make sure that many in our neighborhood were safe and also kept updated as to what was happening. Things could not have been better.

If you want to read more click here for the story.