Family Day

We decided that we needed to get out of the house today and do something as a family. This area has so many amazing family-friendly places and activities! Sadly, most of these places close down during the winter. Boo! Still, the mall was open, and it has quite a few fun indoor things. So we ate lunch, loaded the kids into the car, and headed out.

We started by playing some miniature golf with the kids, for their first time ever! This particular place is indoors, and it's "glow golf." The holes weren't especially fancy, but they were very... neon! Lots of black lights! And honestly, the difficulty level was on par with the kids' abilities. Well, if you factor in the (unintentional) cheating, haha! Both seemed to enjoy it, and Nikos even got a hole in one! It was very inexpensive, too, so that's good to know for the future.


After that (and a potty break), we headed down to the carousel at the other end of the mall. We had the entire thing to ourselves this time! Maya insisted on riding the black horse, and Nikos chose to ride in the little car that spins around (think: tea cups at Disneyland). Both of them loved it, and Maya cried when we got off.


We consoled our sad girl by heading to the mall play area, which gave Gus and I both a much-needed opportunity to sit and rest while they ran around.

Then, we actually decided to get some shopping done. Gus and I each got some new shoes, and then some new pants (jeans for me, "nice" ones for him). While we were at Old Navy, we realized that they had something we hadn't seen before-- a "sidewalk chalk" area! Gus sat on the bench and watched as they both colored to their hearts' content... and I got to look around in peace! Brilliant move, Old Navy! And when I came back, Nikos was so excited to show me his snowman. And hey-- it actually looks like one! His hand is covering the head, but it even had a little hat. I love that his artwork is starting to become more recognizable!

And that was our day! Oh, we made cake pops, too. Maya's been asking for a while, so I figured we'd make them as an early Valentine's Day treat. Aren't they pretty?? We made pink ones, too. AND they're delicious! :)

On a side note... it's funny just how different our kids are, despite their many similarities. Case in point: public restrooms. Nikos was kind of scared/disgusted by them from day one, so he would basically hold it until we got home. We managed to avoid using a public restroom for a very long time. With Maya, it's the exact opposite. Everywhere we go, she has to go potty. I have learned a lot about the locations of restrooms over the past few weeks. And half the time, she doesn't even go! I think she just likes seeing the different restrooms. Oy!