Scary moment

This afternoon I was at the kitchen table working on the computer when I thought I heard someone rattling the wooden gate to the basement stairs. Sometimes the cat squeezes through, so that's not too uncommon. We try to keep AnnaMaria away from there, but if she has the opportunity she likes to rattle it also.

I got up to see what was going on and found AnnaMaria with both hands on the gate and the gate wasn't latched. The last I knew, she was downstairs with Claire and Ollie. I called down to ask them if they had brought her upstairs. They both came to the bottom of the stairs and their jaws dropped. AnnaMaria crawled all the way up the HARD WOODEN STAIRS, went through the unlatched gate and tried to shut it behind her! Claire and Ollie had no idea she had gotten away.

If anyone knows where 13 yr old brains go and when they return, I would really appreciate some enlightenment :-)