I don't think it was my intention to stay that long. It just kind of happened. We have a teenager and she just shopped til she dropped! My parents (Poppy and Nonny) eventually showed up, encouraged us to stay for dinner, and made us want to hang around a bit longer.
So back to the beginning. At lunch time, I tried to do good, but let's face it...good is VERY difficult at the food court. I'm always thinking about what food choices to make for my littles ones when eating out. I think that next time we go out like this I will make the effort to either feed them ahead of time or pack them a lunch. This will save my worry and my pocket! I'll just have to get geared up for more thought and preparation before hand.
After eating, we bought the boys an all day pass to the Merry Go Round. At $5 per kid, it wasn't a bad deal considering that the price for one ride is $2 per kid. This was one of the best decisions we made for the day. They must have ridden that things 20 times :) So after we finished lunch we headed in that direction to let them have some fun before being confined to the stroller for awhile.
After lunch, we attacked the mall one floor at a time, starting at one end of the mall upstairs. We walked the whole length of the upstairs and then took the elevator down in the last department store. Then we proceeded to attack the bottom floor. Although I'm sure my hubby was in agony. He took it all in stride!
There was lots of time for joking, laughing, and talking as we strolled around. I timed our visit to the mall during the boys naptime so that we would have a guaranteed time for quiet and calm as we shopped!
We don't frequent the mall too much (preschoolers/toddlers are a lot of work in the mall) so my boys were in amazement. So many sights and sounds. It just brings my heart joy to see how excited they get about "Christmas Time" or "Kissmas Tiyam" as my 3yo says :)
When my Mom showed up, we were just about done but somehow her presence gave my 15yo daughter new energy for going in and out of stores! So...we kind of called a meeting place and separated. The middle of the mall at the big Christmas tree was the stop.
A vendor was there selling one of the neatest toys I have seen. We stopped there for awhile and played. It is like a seated scooter with no motor or batteries. It moves with wiggle power! The salesguy told me it could hold up to 400 pounds so I decided to give it a whirl too. This little spot held our attention for quite a while.
When my husband looked like he just couldn't take anymore, we all found our way to the foodcourt. The boys were delirious, my husband was rolling his eyes, my Dad was looking overwhelmed (as my little ones were all over the place), and we STILL HAD A GREAT TIME. It's all about being together. Even at the end of a long day there was still fun to be had.
Since we were so close...we took a few more rounds on the Carousel!
Our last stop was the mall play area. The little ones got to burn off whatever steam they had left. My daughter got to lay around on her grandmother's lap. My husband got to experience watching BOTH little ones in that crazy spot. My Dad got to help my husband...and I to watch it all thinking how blessed I am during this special time of the year! There is nothing better than family!
Great day!
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