Mall of America

It was a rainy afternoon, so we cruised over to the Mall of America for some rides and a snack. I had some left over ride points for the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, so I figured this would be an inexpensive afternoon. To make sure there was no confusion, I had a discussion with the boys to make it clear that we would not be buying anything at the Mall. We could visit the Lego store, but we would not buy anything. Was I clear? Crystal. Or so I thought.

We started with the Lego store and we all ooh'd and aah'd at the new stuff. The kids didn't entirely forget about the "we're not buying anything" talk. Instead they said stuff like "I really wish we could buy {insert expensive Lego kit here} or {insert other expensive Lego kit here}." Or "why can't we buy {insert yet another expensive Lego kit here}?" It's like they understood the words I was saying, but they completely missed the point. Apparently I need to refine my speech.

After we had exhausted the possibilities of the Lego store, we moved onto the rides. Xander did a truck ride and Nick did the bumper cars (where he mostly drove in circles with a puzzled look on his face). After that Xander didn't want to go on any more rides. Nick only wanted to go on rides that Xander couldn't, but that he didn't want to go on by himself. Since abandoning 4-year-olds at the Mall of America is frowned upon, Nick was out of luck.

Since we'd hit a ride impasse, it was time for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. I'm not a big Cold Stone fan. The ice cream is good, but it is all just a little TOO MUCH. Too rich, too sweet, too many toppings. We kept it simple and walked away happy.

We browsed a few stores around the mall and then headed for home. It was a nice trip. Despite my grumbling about kids asking to buy stuff, the boys were actually well-behaved and fun to be with. There would probably be something wrong with them if they went to the Lego store and didn't ask to buy anything.

Now they have a friend over and they are all in the basement playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii. Ahh, George Lucas is the ultimate multi-media babysitter!

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