$20, 2 hours, 2 fun kids

This past Thursday while Daddy went golfing with his co-workers after work the kids and I spent the evening at the Mall. On our way we stopped at the ATM and took out $20, this was going to be our money for the night. First on our agenda was getting food. The kids had grilled cheese and chicken fingers, I enjoyed a bowl of chili and munched on the kids leftovers (cost $12.00). We sat next to the carousel and talked about which animals we would ride after we finished our meal. The big decision was whether we would sit on the lower level or the upper level of the carousel (yep, it's a double decker!). Casey choose the top and wanted to rid the elephant. Jake on the other hand was torn between riding the tea cups (on the lower level) or the white tiger or bench up top with us. He wants to ride the animals so bad, but the minute I put him up he gets scared and asks to sit on the bench. He's content just going around and around in his safe spot. Casey gleamed with joy riding her elephant making trumpeting sounds the whole time. (cost: $4)

After the carousel ride the kids wanted to play inside a photo booth just off to the side of the food court. They liked walking through the curtain and sitting on the bench pretending to take pictures. They begged and pleaded for me to put money in (normally I don't do this but tonight I was in the mood). I inserted $3 and this is what came out.

Next we took a walk to the mall playarea. On the way we took a ride down the escalator (a highlight of our evening). Also on the way we stopped at a interactive computer video game displayed on the floor outside of a store. The kids can stomp on characters in a short computer game. They love squashing the cars before they hit the frog crossing the street, or stepping on the popcorn kernels and turning them into popcorn. While arriving at the playarea we ran into some old friends of ours. Cindy (from my Beaumont playgroup) was there with her family. I haven't seen Cindy since last summer when she helped us look for our new house. Cindy works partime and cannot attend our playgroup on Fridays. We talked for 20 mins catching up with each other. Her two boys are Noah - almost 4 and Lucas - 21 months old. We said goodbye to our friends and played for another 20 mins in the playarea. By this time both kids were losing their patience and we headed out the door and home for bedtime.

We enjoyed our two hours together doing something we wouldn't normally do in the evening. I'll always remember that night when I look back at the photos.