In A Desert, Far, Far Away...: The Mall

Today, my friend, Heather, and I decided to take the kids to the mall. For many of you, this is no big deal, but we don't have a mall in Yuma. The closest mall is in El Centro, California, a desert town, in fact the only town between Yuma and San Diego. El Centro is in the center of the two, hence the name. Besides having a mall, El Centro is the unemployment capital of the U.S. right now, not a stat I'd like to have as a town. It's a border town too, so most of the people in the mall are from Mexico...it's like being in Ft. Lauderdale again where you hear more Spanish than English. The mall there is brand new, so it's nice and clean, and best of all, it's nice and cool due to the air conditioning!

Anyways, El Centro is about an hour and 15 minutes from YPG. We don't get over there a ton, but we've been trying to go a little more often, especially during the summer months when it's so hot. The air conditioned mall is a major plus for us!

Edward worked all night in the ER, so he needed a quiet house to sleep today so he could go back to work tonight. Heather's husband, a Free Fall instructor (combat skydiving) here at YPG, was back at Ft. Bragg with several other instructors picking up the next class of students, so it seemed like a good time to take the crew out...

We had a great day, and all four kids were really well-behaved. Naps were non-existant, despite our trying to get them to sleep on the way home. Well, Alex didn't miss his naps, but he's not much trouble anyways. The biggest fights of the day revolved around who was sitting with whom in what stroller. I took both of my double strollers-my sit-n-stand and my side-by-side Chicco...okay, I have a third double stroller, my Phil and Ted :) Heather got to experience pushing a double stroller and dealing with a handful of kids...I think she enjoyed it :) Everyone wanted to sit with Kate, so we had to rotate seats in order to avoid conflict :)

What could be better than a day at the mall...lunch at Subway in the food court, walking around, Disney Store, Gymboree, ice cream, dumb kiddie rides in the center of the mall, movies in the car, snacks galore, and pizza back at the house...good day to me!

I guess we all could have done without the 100+ degree temps, but hey, that's the desert, right?

Madison LOVED having a riding companion in the back. She and Kate enjoyed having girl time. Madison was very sweet with Kate, and Kate brought several of her baby dolls so they could play, or try to play...

Full load of kids...girls in the back, boys in the middle, and girls in the front :)

Holding hands...

Luke in his mancave with his "copter" and dino

...oh and the Magna Doodle too

Back at the house, we had dinner with Edward before he went to the hospital. Heather and I picked up pizzas at Da Boyz, a local favorite, and took the kids home to play. What Alex didn't know is they wanted to play with him.

Kate loves Alex and enjoyed holding him.

Alex is thinking, "Geez, I just want a bottle!"

Kate saying, "Baby." She and Luke are six months apart and in the same preschool class. It's funny both like to call Alex, "Baby."

Kate then had to help give Alex a bottle. Heather had a rough job of feeding Alex...not that she likes holding babies or anything :)

Neither of the girls have a sister, so each enjoys playing with the other. Heather and I love watching their reactions when we dress them alike. Both girls love having some of the same clothing. At the mall today, I'm guessing if people did speak English, they probably would have asked if they were sisters!