The Mall

Hello everyone! It's been a long time...I've missed you, just as much as you've missed me I'm sure ; ) Today I'm going to give you a play-by-play of one of our favorite things to do with the kids: go to the mall! It may not sound very exciting to YOU but it's actually quite exhilarating for us, and I'm sure that when you're finished reading this you'll understand why. Be prepared for unfiltered/blurry photos; I had to move fast as I was chasing after Lilly Belle at the same time.

Let's start off with where: we go to South Coast Plaza because it's very close to our house and there's a carousel inside...and it only costs one dollar to ride. Apparently there's a Tiffany's in this mall...among other fancy shmancy stores...clearly not one of our usual stops.

We park in the same area every time and go down the same escalator. It wasn't until a few months ago that Caleb was able to walk down the escalator; without having to be carried while trembling with fright, shouting "NO! NO!" the entire way down. It's a huge accomplishment for him, which is one of the reasons why we come here.

Our first stop is the Carousel (which Caleb calls the merry-go-round). He pretty much loves watching it go around & around, but he absolutely refuses to go on. If I even HINT at asking him to ride it he has a near meltdown. This particular day he hadn't had a nap, so we were racing against the clock and against his ever changing emotions. There was no way I was going to suggest riding the carousel with LC, but it's fine because she loves riding with her daddy.

Ever seen a kid just lying on the floor of a public place? Thinking to yourself "MAN, where is that kid's mom?! How could she just let him do that?? Disgusting." Well I quickly whisk him up and tell him that we don't lay on the floor when we're not at home. But I can't help but wonder what he's thinking...maybe the floor feels nice and cold, maybe it's slick & slippery & hard, maybe he's looking at the reflection of the lights in the sleek marble, maybe he's figuring out how the sound carries differently closer to the floor...?? Whatever the answer may be, and as "normal" as he may look, he's still Autistic and he experiences the world differently, so just let him lay there for a second.

After Lilly rides the carousel we go straight to the Disney store. Sorry to disappoint you, but this was not the day when Caleb opened the store and got his special key. I was too distracted and excited that day to take a picture of what was going on. Anyway we still like to go in and play with toys that aren't ours: I know, we're a retailer's dream! This Disney store is super fun. It has a walk-thru castle on the girls' side, and a tunnel to crawl through in the back where they display the plush toys. They've even got a giant screen showing Disney clips. Did I mention we love Disney?? Lilly was very interested in this spinning Tinker Bell (and the Flynn doll behind her).

This was a very sweet moment. One day last fall, Caleb told me that he watched Finding Nemo at school. He also has a Nemo story in a Disney book at home, but we've only read it a few times. Well this day he was so in love with this Nemo! He grabbed both Nemo and Dori, crawled into the tunnel and laid down...I had to make him get out "so other friends could crawl through" and he wasn't very excited about it...with those plushies and him running on no-nap, he would've fallen asleep in there!

The next place we go is what Caleb calls "The Baby Einstein Store" because they sell toys that he's seen on Baby Einstein. It's just another place where the retailers are fine with kids running a muck. Caleb found a spinning toy (hellooo stimming) and entertained himself for a few minutes. We had a close call in there when Caleb just about had a cow because TJ was playing with the toys too..."No daddy play with the toys!!!" Yeesh...

Our last stop is always the gift shop at the Rainforest Cafe. Caleb goes to look at the fishies in the huge tanks, play with some bouncy balls, and look at these key chains that blink & blink & blink. He was pretty annoyed that there were people near him...so he totally boxed them out while he was picking out his bouncy balls. Oh I forgot, Lilly used to love it in there, and now she completely HATES it...the talking tree, the growling cheetah, etc. TJ just walks around with her outside until we're done.

And that's pretty much it. But it goes exactly the same way each and every time we do it. After this trip we went to Sonic...had to get Caleb a coconut slush (his fave) and then race home so he wouldn't fall asleep in the car and mess up the whole system! Oh the adventures we take as parents : )