I decided to turn my shoe shopping trip into Avery’s day out. Separating the girls is usually exciting for the girl that gets to go with mommy but the girl that gets to stay home with Ana and Harper is only excited if the experience is presented properly. I didn’t tell the girls of my plan in advance purposely so I think they found out from Ana because when I went downstairs both them were requesting that they be the one that I take shopping. I had to remind Emerson of our day out last week and all the fun we had. Before I could even finish telling her what a fun day she was going to have with Ana, she was telling me to leave….so I siezed the opportunity and Avery and I left before either girl had a meltdown.
Once at the mall, we shopped for shoes first. Mommy had some success pretty early on and found some silver pumps for the wedding. I also purchased the pair of Uggs that I tried on the other day. So now I have a pair of Fryes (the one’s I bought on Friday) and Uggs that are similar and I’m not sure I really need both and at $300 a pop, I really should return one. (Don’t worry hubby, I used my own credit card:) I was able to keep Avery in the stroller at Macy’s shoe department but once we got to Nordstrom’s shoe department she wanted to get out, so I let her. She had a great time roaming around and looking at the shoes. She was pretty well behaved and kept talking and the sales man and customer’s were drawn to her.
She was well behaved so I let her walk as we made our way through the mall.
Next stop was going to be to Bloomingdales to buy some panty hose; however, along the way I saw the newly opened Spanx store and decided my thighs and butt were more worthy of Spanx than anything else. Avery was exploring the store as I was making my purchase and I caught her feeling the mannequin’s tushies (Avery is infatuated with tushies….she loves being naked and checking out her own by bending over…lol….and she loves to taunt mommy when we go on walks the 5 of us….when my stroller is in front of her she continually repeats ‘mommy’s tuchas’).
Anyway, meanwhile as I was paying, I pulled out my camera and the saleswoman has this mortified look on her as she turns around and asks me if I had the urge to take a picture…I think she thought I was about to take a picture of her. So I explained to her that Avery is a twin and also has another baby sister and that this was her special day out and that I was documenting it. She thought that was awesome and went to get a boa for a photo opportunity with Avery. Avery wouldn’t sit still for the picture and wanted nothing to do with the boa. The saleswoman was nice enough to snap some pictures anyway.
The American Girl store was across from the Spanx store so we went there next. Avery loved the dolls and kept wanting to hold them. I’m not sure if you are supposed to really play with the ones on display, but I figured what the heck this is Avery’s day out and I let her. She had a great time holding the dolls and doing what she does best, running around the store.
By the time we left it was lunch time. I thought about trying someplace other than Nordstrom’s cafe, but I wasn’t certain what Avery would eat anywhere else. So like many times before, we went to Nordstrom’s cafe. Instead of the chicken fingers, I ordered Avery the kids grilled cheese and tomato basil soup combo. It also came with fruit so I thought even if she didn’t eat the grilled cheese, she would at least eat the soup (as she has eaten some of Mommy’s many times before), the fruit, and the bread. For $5.50 I was impressed with the kids meal. It was a whole grilled cheese sandwich that was very good (and I don’t even really liked grilled cheese), a cup of soup, grapes and a strawberry, and a cup of milk. Avery refused to even try the grilled cheese or eat the soup. She drank her milk of course, ate the grapes, some bread, and a couple bites of Mommy’s risotto. I tried to give her a bite of my shrimp and asparagus but she refused it as well.
Our server took a special liking to Avery. She used to run a daycare and especially loved kids ages 1-3. She also had 15 year old twin girls. Anyway, Avery would hide her face every time she tried to talk to her….I know that is normal for kids her age, but a first for Avery.
After lunch we walked by the new cupcake place “Crumbs” that I have walked by several times before. This time I decided to buy a few as I told myself we were bringing a special treat back for Emerson. It was nearing Avery’s nap time and she was starting to not listen by then. I only had one more stop that I wanted to make and it was at Hallmark so I figured I would be quick. Avery wouldn’t get in the stroller so she was walking beside the stroller that was carrying several bags. Meanwhile I was also holding a cup of coffee. I still felt in control but by the time we got into Hallmark and Avery started taking entire sets of cards out of their spots, I felt like “that mom” and decided it was time to go. Avery had a great time as did mommy. She was worn out and fell asleep on the short 10 minute ride home.
