An Hour at the Mall

I took the kids to the mall today and picked up my engagement ring, which I had resized.  Now it's all shiny and pretty and my wedding band is not.  I would have asked the lady to clean it while I was there, but I thought the fewer minutes in a store filled with glass and a 2 1/2 year old was probably best.   Wouldn't want to push it in there.

Then we went up to the food court and indulged in McDonald's.  The Happy Meal was a waste of money, except for the Spiderman toy.  (Just add Spiderman to the "must-haves" in Jack's bed at bedtime.)  All Jack wanted was the fruit and walnut snack pack that I actually bought for Casey.  He didn't have a spoon and I really didn't want to walk all the way back over to the counter with the stroller and kid in tow, so he used the yogurt as a dip.  As in, dipped his chicken nugget in there and dipped a french fry in there.  Then he asked for a spoon again as apparently those weren't a good combination.  Instead of getting him a spoon, I told him he could go into the play area and play.  He didn't want the spoon anymore.    

After having a fun time playing, I indulged some more and let Jack ride on one of the coin-operated trucks.  I buckled Casey in too...more for the money if she was riding in there also.  Thinking I was such a nice mom, I pushed the START button and instantly the truck starts bucking.  Apparently this was the rodeo truck.  A look of horror crossed Jack's face and immediately he wanted to get out.  Casey was a little startled but I think she actually enjoyed it.  I made Jack stay in there for the whole minute just because I'd paid for it.  He didn't cry but he didn't act like he enjoyed it that much.  Meanwhile, I was thinking how motion sick I would have gotten in there.  But as soon as it was over, Jack talked about it all day so I think I got my money's worth.  

On the way out of the mall, I noticed some umbrellas in the parking lot.  Hmmm.  Maybe I shouldn't have left their rain jackets in the car.  There wasn't much I could do except tell Jack we were going to walk fast to the car and pull the cover over Casey in the stroller.  We certainly weren't sitting around waiting for the rain to stop.  But we got some lovely advice on the way out.  "Oh, the baby...it's raining out...you really need to cover her."  Thank you.  I can see that it's raining.  However, it's not pouring and it is 60 degrees out.  She has a fleece hoodie on and the stroller cover is pulled over her.  Would you like to go out to my car for me and get the rain jackets?  Or would you like to trust that she's not going to melt in the minute it will take us to walk to the car?  I love unsolicited advice like that.  And she really didn't melt.