There and back again

Two quick reminders:

1. The Ella bundle sale is still going on today! Go here to get in on the great deals.
2. A reminder for justasiam to email me at jennyrahnlarson at yahoo dot com so I can get the EK Success punch out to you. If I don't hear from you by Wednesday, I'll draw another name so I can get that baby to use!
   

Back to the blog...


Our family has made our annual Black Friday to the Mall of America. We survived, and are back home. Here's the dirt:

First, you should know that the mall has a special place in our family's heart. Derick and I met there; we both worked at a bookstore called Readwell's. It closed, and Derick asked me out. We go to the Mall several times a year, and we have an odd ability to navigate the Mall without a map.

We left the house at 7 A.M. so we could get to the Mall by 8. In years past, we've found that the morning hours are not too busy. This year...well, the Mall got a Best Buy recently, so parking was insanely busy. Next year we park in the East lot.


We started in the Lego store. Derick took pictures of the boys holding the Lego sets they want; this is a good idea, since the difference between some sets is small.

Next was the Apple store. Amazingly, Derick found nothing! The boys, however, found the kids station where they could play games, and I had the amusing experience of a sales clerk trying to tell me that my iPod was so OLD that I couldn't get a jogging armband for it. It was amusing trying to see the clerk be polite, even though she was basically telling me how uncool I am. I do NOT have the most up-to-date tech supplies. That's OK.

Next we went to Archiver's. Well, I went there, and Derick took the boys to Games by James, where they saw a $15,000 chess set. That's right, $15,000. It was hand-carved into dragons. We didn't get it, in case you wondered.

The boys took a potty break with dad, which I only mention because they ran into Santa leaving a stall! Rowan told me this, which made me laugh and say, "Well, even Santa has to go sometimes," to which Rowan told me, "That's what Dad said!"


I took the boys into one of my favorite stores, The Afternoon, while Derick took something super secret out to the car. I'm not sure why I took the boys here: It's got a ton of fun and highly breakable things. Perhaps I wanted to increase my heart rate to burn off pie. I did see these awesome cookie cutters, though, which I totally want. Santa, I've been good.


Derick then took the boys into Nickelodeon Universe while I got some awesome jeans at Coldwater Creek for only 30 bucks. The boys loved the rides. Dominic was a little timid again and went on the Backyardigans swing and the carousel; Rowan went for the thrill rides:


That's him in the front row left.


After the rides, it was Eddie Bauer and an insanely long line, then Bubba Gump Shrimp, then home. All before the really bad crowds got there. Score!

Let's hear it for family traditions.