It's been awhile since we've gotten away, so yesterday we went up to the Cities for a day trip. Our ultimate destination was the Mall of America, but since we were up there, we went to two of my favorite shops - Once Upon a Child, and Half Price Books. I found several new outfits for Amaya - size 5! - and even had a 15% off coupon making my deals even sweeter! And Steve found a Stuart Woods book that he hadn't read yet at the bookstore! There were a bunch of Berenstain Bear books and some Arthur books that Amaya didn't have, but she had her money set aside for other things, so I reluctantly put them back since I couldn't justify buying her more books when her bookshelves are already overflowing.
Afterwards, we went to the Mall of America. It was insanely busy, but considering it was President's Day weekend, we shouldn't have been surprised. Typically, we'll park in the same place so we don't lose our car, but since it was packed, we parked just outside the Nordstrom entrance. Generally, I don't shop at Nordstrom's, but we entered right by the women's shoe department, and I couldn't help but do a little browsing. There's just something I love about fancy shoes, although in reality my feet wouldn't last an hour in anything higher than an inch heel. However, if I had an extra 665 dollars laying around, I would love to own a pair of Jimmy Choos - just to say I owned a pair! Yes, that's right... a simple black heel from Mr. Jimmy was 665 dollars! I cringe paying more than 40 dollars for a pair of shoes (with a coupon of course)... I would have to be delusional to ever consider forking over that kind of money for a shoe that would leave me limping from blisters, but a girl can dream....
Our first order of business... RIDES! Unfortunately, it was so busy that the lines were pretty long. I thought Amaya would get tired of waiting, but she didn't complain once! She went on all of her favorites... the Swiper Sweeper... the train... the "drop-splat" ride... the kiddie roller coaster (just another inch or two and she'll be able to go on the BIG roller coaster)... the Big Rigs... Amaya would rather go on rides than do anything else at the Mall!
We ate dinner at Noodles... gotta love the Wisconsin Macaroni and Cheese! Then, Amaya wanted to pick up some taffy for herself and Grandma Gustafson at the candy store. Amaya's favorite kind of taffy is the frosted cupcake and we think Grandma will like it too! After the candy store, we went to the American Girl store to pick out her Bitty Baby a new outfit. After looking at several different outfits, she decided to buy the sweetheart/Valentine dress. I was a little disappointed that she wasn't as excited about looking at all the different American Girls as I was, but she had RIDES on the brain! Oh, well...
She paid for her candy and her outfit out of her own hard earned money. After taking the Dave Ramsey class, we've decided not to give Amaya an allowance, but have decided instead to give her "commission" for doing jobs around the house. And it makes sense... no one gives us money as an allowance... we work to earn it. There are certain chores that she does because she's part of the family - picking up toys, putting her dirty clothes away, clearing the dishes, setting the table etc. But there are other chores that she can do to earn a quarter - emptying the dishwasher, dusting the dining room table and banisters, putting away the groceries, folding the laundry, etc. She has three separate jars... one for GIVING, one for SAVING, and one for SPENDING. The system works great because she learns that she has to put a little in each jar and she can do whatever she wants with her spending money, but once it's gone - it's gone - no extra money from Mom and Dad.
We had a little time before we had to leave and still had points left on our tickets, so we went on a few more rides... the Diego Bus... the Carousel... AND the LOG RIDE!!! Amaya was a little nervous to go on it - not because the ride looked scary, but because she didn't want to get wet. Silly girl... I explained that we had extra clothes in our bag in case she got soaked. As we went through the mine tunnel, I explained what to expect and she was pretty cool about everything... I think I was probably more nervous trying to figure out how to get her in and out of the log... how to hang on to her and hang on to the bars as we went down the steep drops... and what I was going to do if she did freak out! We got in and out just fine... she LOVED floating along the "river"... she wasn't crazy about Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox... but she LOVED going down the "hills" and all the splashing! Amaya was pretty wet since she wanted to sit in the front and was sitting on my lap, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Amaya was so brave and I couldn't be more proud! I can't wait until she gets a little older and taller to go on the other wild rides with me - that is if I can still handle the wild rides!! :-)
It was nearly nine o'clock and all of us were pretty tired... although Amaya said she could go on rides "ALL NIGHT!" However, as soon as we left that parking ramp, Amaya was zonked out... and once we got home, Steve and I slept like a rock. Awesome day!