I found out on Monday that Autumn’s daycare was going to be closed today for teacher in-service. I haven’t taken a day off yet this year, so I decided I definitely deserved one. Plus, I feel so bad that Autumn doesn’t get a normal summer break like most kids. We still have to get up at the same time as during the school year so I can be to work on time. Anyways, it was such a treat to turn off my wake up alarm on my phone last night and sleep in this morning. When we woke up around 7:30 I told her we were spending the whole day together (she thought she was going to Papa & Mimi’s) and she was SO EXCITED! We snuggled, watched cartoons in bed, and then got ready for the day. We left at 9:00 and had to get a selfie in the car before we hit the road.
Stop #1: IKEA. I had posted on Facebook about me taking the day off and had asked what people would recommend we do. Sis. Lee had commented that IKEA has a breakfast plate for just 99 cents! I had no idea, and this might just have to be a regular Saturday morning tradition once a month or so. Plus, you can also get 4 French toast sticks and syrup for just 99 cents!
Look who we ran into while eating breakfast! YAY!
After we ate breakfast, I offered a few suggestions to Autumn of things we could do. I had a specific store I wanted to take her to at the mall, but we just wandered around for a bit to see what we could see. These cute plates were on display in Dillards when we walked in. I loved them and had to stop to take a pic.
Stop #2: We saw the Disney Store and had to stop in there just to check things out. Such a cute Indian Princess in her pretty castle. She sat at a table that was in front of a big screen that was showing Frozen. She was done w/ that after about 5 minutes. I’m surprised she wasn’t for everything in sight, but we left the store w/ out buying anything.
Stop #3: Build-A-Bear. It took Autumn about 20 minutes to pick out which animal she wanted, and I was proud of myself for not rushing her along like I would usually do. She finally decided on a pink glittery cat. We went over to the stuffing machine where the nice lady told her to step on the pedal to start the fluff.
I had planned on today being a “YES” day, where I say yes to everything (within reason), b/c I’m always having to say NO. But, I wasn’t prepared for how much they try to upsell you at BABear w/ all the extra add ons. I had to say no to the extra sound and beating heart. But I did let Autumn add a smell. This part was super cute. The lady had Autumn take the (free) heart and rub it together to warm it up. Then she had Autumn rub it on over heart to fill it w/ love. Then she had Autumn kiss it and twirl around to bring it to life. Autumn was eating it up!
After the back was stitched up, it was over to the air bath. I just love this face that Autumn makes where she’s got a little half smile, b/c I know that means she’s just beaming on the inside. She stepped on a pedal to give her cat an air bath & used the brushes to brush her fur.
After that we went over and picked out 2 outfits that were on sale (2 for $15) and then we created her cat’s birth certificate. Autumn decided to name her cat Angela. Kind of random, but she loves it so who cares? All in all, it was an expensive little stuffed animal, but Autumn was thrilled and we created some great memories so it was worth it.
Stop #4: The Carousel. I thought I had some change in my wallet, but I didn’t have the right kind so we had to ask the carousel attendant to switch out some quarters we had for a $1 bill. Autumn went and picked her horse and thought she was fancy stuff. Again, I just love this little smile she had on her face all day. The first few times she went around, she would take her hand off the pole for just a second to give me a shy wave.
By the end of the ride she was throwing me “I love you” signs and pretending like she was a queen in a royal parade, and would dramatically wave hello to her humble subjects. She cracks me up!
Stop #5: She wanted a smoothie at the food court. I about croaked when the lady said it was $4.50 for this little tiny cup, but I just smiled and paid and reminded myself we don’t splurge like this very often. We people watched for a while and then I gave Autumn a few suggestions of what we could do next.
Stop #6: The Escalators. She ignored all my suggestions and said she wanted to ride the escalators. So, we rode them up and down about 18 times. First we rode together, then she would run ahead and come back up. Then she wanted me to ride the down one while she rode the up one so we could give each other hi 5’s as we passed. LOL! I’m sure people thought we were crazy but we didn’t care b/c we were having fun.
Stop #7: The Kids Play Area. After she got tired of the escalators, she wanted to just wander around. She saw the kids play area and wanted to go in there. She saw this buffalo & said we had to get a picture of her on it, b/c she’s an Indian and they used to hunt buffalo!
There were some boys her age that were jumping from one structure to the other and after watching them for a while, she finally decided to be brave and try it herself. She has such long legs that it wasn’t a problem for her at all. Soon enough, she was hopping from one to the next like a parkour expert. LOL!
We were there for an hour and a half, and by the end of it she was pretty worn out. I finally told her that we had to leave, b/c she would have stayed there all day if I let her.
Stop #8: McDonalds. By this time it was 1:30, and we were hungry for lunch. I suggested a bunch of different places we could go, but she kept saying she wanted McDonald’s. I told her we go there all the time and this was a special day, but she kept insisting. So, that’s where we went.
It was actually a pretty swanky McDonald’s. She had fun b/c it was a different playground than the one by our house. Her favorite thing was this big orange tube. It was like a pogo stick where you would stand on it and jump up and down to make it move.
Stop #9: $1 Jewelry Store. We were close to Sam Moons, which is one of my favorite jewelry places. But, they’re kind of pricey and it was on the opposite side of the freeway. So, we opted for the cheaper jewelry store. Autumn wasn’t too excited about going there, but I talked her into it by letting her choose one thing for her Angela Cat. She ended up choosing a fancy bracelet.
Stop #10: Michael’s Craft Store. There was one right across the street from the jewelry store, and I really wanted to see if they had the new Heidi Swapp Project Life stuff. They did, but it wasn’t on sale & there was no 40% off coupon & I didn’t need it. So, I put it back … shocking, I know! We did see some Rainbow loom bands on sale, so Autumn got some of those. By this time we were both DONE & just wanted to go home.
We came home, walked straight into my room, turned the ceiling fan on HIGH and laid there for a while to cool down. We watched some TV & Autumn made some Rainbow loom bracelets w/ her new colors.
Stop #11: Kylie’s House. This morning when I told Autumn we were going to spend the whole day together, I asked her what she wanted to do. The first thing she said was, “go to Kylie’s house!” She ADORES Kylie, and all day she kept saying she wanted to go to Kylie’s. So, I texted Kylie and asked her what they were doing tonight. She wrote back & said they were having some friends from the ward over to eat dinner and play and that we should come. We went over at 6:30 after dinner and Autumn thought she had died and gone to heaven (as evidenced by her being super silly & super hyper in this picture). The kids were having a BLAST upstairs while I sat downstairs and visited w/ Karri and Craig.
We had root beer floats or purple cows to cap off the night. I finally dragged Autumn away from all the fun at 9:00 so we could go home and go to bed. It was a super fun day, and I’m glad we were able to spend the day together and make some great memories. I tell her all the time that she’s my greatest blessing and today we got to solidify that even more.
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