Monday, August 2, 2010

Vacation Day 2

On day 2 of our vacation we decided to have a day for the older kids...we have a busy 2 year old and sometimes our older ones don't get a much 1 on 1 time and so Seth stayed with grandma and had a GREAT time while we took the older ones to the Mall of America. We weren't sure what we were going to do while we were there other then check our Lego Land and visit the American Girl store. The kids hadn't been to either place and we thought it would be fun to look around. After that maybe we would visit the Under Water Aquarium or go on rides at the park there.

About a minute after walking in to the American Girl store Alayna spotted a doll that looked just like her. She very sweetly asked her dad if she could have this doll. We told her probably not, but we would talk about it. She was so patient and didn't beg or get angry that we told her probably not. Of course, that tugged at her dad's heart strings that she was being so obedient. So we walked around the store and enjoyed looking at all they had there and when we were done she very quietly asked her dad if maybe she could have that doll. Dad said, "mom and I have to talk about it", but first we're going to go build at Lego Land. She was again very patient and so off we went.

We went and built at Lego Land and looked at all the cool creations there. During that time Dan and I talked about it and decided that if the kids were ok with not going on any rides, not doing the Under Water Aquarium and the fact that we didn't stay at a hotel, they could each get something. They were totally fine with this plan...(good thinking on their part...a day of fun, or a toy that will last). After we had a quick lunch, the boys went to the 'boy store' and the girls went to the 'girl store'. It took us about 5 minutes because Alayna KNEW exactly what she wanted and was THRILLED that we actually said YES! (We are normally 'no parents' when it comes to buying things because we get so many toys from other people, so they don't usually even ask when we are at a store). It was so fun to be a YES parent for once! :)

building car and getting ready to race them


some cool dinosaur creations

After buying her doll (notice even the same hair style) we took her out of the box and she could not stop grinning! Moms even stopped and were so excited that she had gotten her, "first American Girl doll"...Dan and I laughed about that later because it's going to be her ONLY American Girl doll (unless they are gifts from other people). :) Since purchasing her, she has rarely left her side (very unusual if you know my not so girlie girl). Her first words after getting her out of the box were, "Now we have 3 girls and 3 boys in our family mom". That was the easiest birth I've ever had! She's only asked for a sister once, but if this works for her, Dan was more than ok with that idea! :)

After our Mall experience we went and hung out with friends and had a great time. We all just chatted and the kids played, we were so busy talking I didn't even think to take pictures. :)

What a great day with the older 2, I'm so glad we had the opportunity to have special time with just them. It was fun having quality time to talk to each of them and just overall spend time with them.

1 comment:

Our Boyz said...

Did you check out the books too. They have a full series of book,nice and wholeson. They teach some good morals too. I would think that the library would have them. My niece loved their American Girl Doll, one of them had Kit too.