Thee MALL

John’s sister, Karla, got married on Saturday (sept 20). We had plenty of time to plan for it, but didn’t have any extra money until last week. We needed to buy some new clothes for a few of us to wear to the wedding. Tad had already outgrown his church clothes and needed new ones anyway, so the timing was great for him. Eli had also outgrown his white shirt, so he needed a new one. Ati was fine, she has plenty of dresses. John was mostly ok, he just needed a new tie, and I needed a new dress (I guess I didn’t really NEED one, I just wanted one).
In the past I’ve gotten some pretty good dress clothes from Burlington Coat Factory, so my plan was to drop Tad at the bus and then drive straight up to Orem to go to BCF. We made good time and arrived there about 5 minutes to 9am; I was rather annoyed to find out they don’t open until 10am! What a silly time to open. So, I drove to Kohl’s because I knew there was a new one opening next to the mall. But, of course, they weren’t open either, not until October 1st! I then decided to go to the mall, and waste some time until Burlington Coat Factory opened at 10am. I thought we’d do some window shopping and maybe get some snacks or drinks, it would be a fun little activity.
I decided to start at Mervyn’s because I thought I might actually find some pretty inexpensive, but nice, clothes there. The first thing we had to do was find the bathroom, because I had to pee. Of course, the bathroom was being cleaned, and the entrance was blocked by a big cleaning cart; my double stroller would definitely not fit by it. I waited a little while and browsed around the kids section, looking for clothes for Tad and Eli. I found Eli clothes right away, but could not find anything for Tad. So, I kept looking and looking. When I don’t find what I’m looking for I tend to get really confused, and spend extra time wandering around.
I went back to the bathroom, but it was still being cleaned. So, I browsed some more…still being cleaned. Finally, Eli was starting to stink, and I was gonna pee on the floor, so I asked someone if there was another bathroom. The lady told me to just go in when they’re cleaning, it’s no big deal! She walked me over there to help me get in, but by then they were done, and I just looked like a big idiot; but oh well. I changed Eli, and found out I only had 1 wipie left! I had to use wet paper towels, and hoped I wouldn’t have to change him again any time soon.
We did some more browsing in the kids section and I finally settled on a pair of pants for Tad (I was wanting to buy a whole suit) that I decided I would bring back if they didn’t fit or if I found something better. The cashier asked me if I wanted to apply for a Mervyn’s card to get a discount. I laughed out loud and told her I definitely wouldn’t qualify (I’ve recently slaughtered my credit), but she could run it anyway. I laughed even louder when she told me I was APPROVED! Immediately I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I suddenly had all this extra credit and I needed to buy more stuff! Plus, I got an extra discount all day, just for getting approved, so I HAD to take advantage of it.
I started browsing in the women’s section and the kids were now thirsty. I knew it was just going to be annoying if I didn’t take care of them, so we went to the food court to get some drinks. Suddenly they were starving too! By that time it was just after 10am, and we were on our way to buy lunch. It was really early to be eating lunch, but I thought it would hold them off for the rest of the trip.
Finally we went back to the women’s section. I was having a really hard time finding anything I liked, or in the right size, but ended up with a bunch of stuff that was “ok” that I wanted to try on. I had it all stacked on top of the stroller and was ready to try stuff on when suddenly Ati had to poooo. Ugh! I had to unload all my stuff, and then find the elevator to go back upstairs to the bathroom. When she was done and I was able to try stuff on Eli was at a point of being out of control. He was playing swords with the hangers, and banging them on the wall and doors. He was trying to escape from the dressing room by crawling under the door, which was just barely too small for him to fit under so he kept getting stuck and screaming. Malachi was trying to sleep and started screaming because he was being woken up. Ati was thirsty again. Eli was getting into the stuff under the stroller and throwing it everywhere; he got my phone and threw it out of the stall. I was stressing because nothing was fitting just right. I got dressed and went back out to find some different sizes. They still didn’t have the right sizes, but I made do with the next best things. While I was looking for more stuff to try on Eli was screaming because he wanted to get out of the stroller, and Malachi was just screaming. I finally let Eli out, but then him and Ati were running all over and hiding in the racks. I had to chase them around. People were giving me all kinds of dirty looks because of my screaming, out of control kids. When I thought I had lost Eli I decided that was ENOUGH, and he had to stay in the stroller, no matter how loud he was; and he was VERY loud.
I hurried back to the dressing room to try on more stuff. The kids were still being out of control, so I got even more stressed and just decided to buy everything and try it on at home. I did talk myself out of a bunch of the things, though, and only took home half of what I wasn’t sure about. I had been there for several hours, and was so stressed I wanted to just run away!
Ati was still thirsty, and had decided she wanted ice cream. I talked her into a milkshake (less mess), and got Eli a lemonade. I was so glad to be done and we were heading for the car when some lady came up to me and gave me a coupon for a free video game (or carousel ride). I thought “hey, why not” and took the kids to ride on the carousel, cause it was free, and free is good. That was finally the end (I thought) and we left the mall.
The baby was hungry, so before we drove away I fed him in the car.
Because I had the car it meant that I would have to pick up John from work. It was still kind of early, so to pass some time we went to Super Sonic to get the car washed, that’s always a nice treat. Then we drove to WalMart, and at last the kids ALL fell asleep…peace and quiet for about 30 minutes! It was a much needed break.
At WalMart I just needed to buy diapers, and we only had about 45 minutes before John got off work, so the WalMart trip was a quick one, not too painful. I did put a bunch of cute shirts and some shoes in my cart (for myself), but had talked myself out of them by the time we got to the check out (I tend to do that often-I have a hard time spending money on myself).
When I told John about the new Mervyn’s card he was just as excited as I had been, and wanted to go buy some more stuff. So, after he showered we loaded up again and headed BACK to the mall! Some of the employees were still there from earlier and they recognized me; I felt like part of the family! Well, this time it was a little more pleasant because I had John to help corral the kids. We did have to find the bathroom again, though, because Ati had to poo; but at least we knew right where it was!
After returning and buying a bunch of new stuff at Mervyn’s we went to Nordstrom’s. Nordstrom’s is really nice, and more expensive, but John wanted to buy me some perfume. It was actually kind of fun. The lady in the perfume section was very helpful and explained a bunch of stuff about perfume to us, and had us try all kinds of scents that she thought I would like. I picked out one that I liked the best, Juicy Couture, and it was Really expensive! But, it was a nice treat for me; hey, it’s good to be spoiled every once in a while.
By then we had been at the mall another 3 hours, it was past bedtime, and the kids were all acting tired and crazy (what else is new?). We hurried home, and the day at the mall was finally ending! The kids went to bed, and I was happy.
But, Ati woke up around 3am. She was freaking out, which she does sometimes. I almost expected it, though, because she tends to have “issues” when she goes to bed too late and is over tired. The other reason I expected it is that Malachi had finally started to sleep through the night, so Ati had to hop back on the non-sleeping train. It’s a fun little game they play…who can keep mommy up all night?