Passing time at the mall

Sunday consisted of freezing rain all day, so we headed to the mall with the munchkins.  It is about a five minute drive from our house, and they have a play area for kids, so it made a convenient way to pass some time, and we actually hardly ever go there with the kids. I ended up being on my own with Alice and Simon most of the time so that Zac could do a bit of clothes shopping.  He did magically appear when Simon had a poopy diaper, so that was nice.

After running around in the play area for a while, we headed towards the other end of the mall where there is a little train, a toy store, and an open area under skylights where they have a bungee trampoline.  The few times I've been here before with Alice, we always watched the jumpers, and rode the train. She'd asked to do the trampoline before, but I just told her no because I assumed she wasn't big enough or would chicken out at the last minute.  But today, she said she wanted to do it, and I told her to watch for a while to make sure she wasn't scared. It turned out the only requirement was that you have to weigh 20 pounds, and Alice weighs somewhere around 30 pounds these days.  She kept asking, and I kept delaying, to see if she really wanted to do it. Then I made her wait in line by herself, to further test her resolve. She passed all my tests, so I gave her the money so she could pay for it.

I was still worried she would chicken out, but she really did it. She was so happy the whole time.

It's a bit dizzying to watch, and I actually handed my phone over to a nearby parent  halfway through because I'd had the bright idea to put Simon down and he had wandered off and was headed into a shop.  So let's fast forward three minutes and watch the end of her bouncing.

After that, we headed to the carousel and watched it for a bit. I never let her ride because it costs $2.50 per person and the one in Pullen Park is only a dollar and the ride is much bigger and longer.  Then the kids played on the little things that move (but I don't put any money in them) for a while.  I'm convinced if I put the kids in the space shuttle often enough they'll end up being astronauts.  That's how it works, right?

Finally, we headed to the toy store.  I'd done this before with just Alice, which turned out to be a lot easier than keeping track of two kids.

Simon was thrilled when he found some stuffed Peppa Pigs.  We watch that show on YouTube a lot lately for their bedtime snack.

Zac finished his shopping and pulled the van around to pick us up at the entrance near the toy store.  The kids were sufficiently worn out and after a good lunch, they took good naps.