Grandpa Mark and the Mall

Yesterday, my dad drove up to spend the day with Sam. We originally planned to take Sam to the Children's Museum, but I was afraid of him catching something so close to Christmas. Instead, we went to the mall.

Grandpa Mark bought us lunch. The food court was very busy and we ended up sharing a table with two other women and their 10-12 kids. (I never counted...but there was a LOT of commotion from their end of the table.) In comparison, Sam was an angel. He doesn't cry or throw fits when I tell him no. The only poor table manners he showed was the non-stop pointing and staring at all of the good (junk) food the other kids were having.

After lunch, we went to check out the little put-a-quarter-in-it-and-it-shakes vehicles. Sam sat in all of them, and was shocked when Grandpa actually put money in one. I'm cheap, and Sam is too little to understand, so I have always let him think just sitting in a little car is the fun part. Grandpa had no problem paying 75 cents, so Sam's eyes bugged out when his car began to shake and rattle.

After the cars, we rode on the carousel. Grandpa stood by Sam's horse and I concentrated on not feeling sick. As Sam's horse went up and down, Sam's head went the opposite way, staring at Grandpa. He was amazed each time he found himself looking Grandpa right in the eye.

Because we were having such a relaxed day, I thought it would be a good idea to try to see Santa. Eric took Sam a few weeks ago, and it was a fiasco. Eric saw no sense in buying a picture of Santa sitting merrily in his chair while Sam was a sobbing blur trying desperately to get away. So, we walked up to Santa's area and watched him for a while. Sam still looked pretty happy and I asked him if he wanted to go sit on his lap. He said yes, so we got in line. Within a minute or two the line advanced forward and Grandpa and I turned to see Sam still rooted to the floor. I asked him to move forward and he looked at me blankly. I asked if he wanted to see Santa, and he slowly shook his head no. And so we gave up - I was pretty happy Sam changed his mind before we made it to Santa's lap.

I shopped in a few stores while Sam played with Grandpa. They had the best time! Grandpa bought Sam a little ball and they must have sat on every bench in the mall, taking turns putting the ball in their pockets, while I shopped with no one hanging on me or whining. It was beautiful.

Grandpa Mark, you can come to the mall with us anytime!