Three cheers for Firestone at the mall!

Whoever thought to build an auto repair shop in the mall parking lot was genius. I mean really, what's the worst part about getting your car fixed? OK, true the money. But what's the second-worst part? Right, the waiting! Yesterday Jackson, Selah, and I took Jason's car to get fixed. I was not looking forward to this trip because I was told it would take a few hours for them to work on it. Great! I thought hours with 2 children stuck at the car shop. However, we have a friend who works at Firestone in the mall parking lot, so I thought hopefully we could find some entertainment at the mall. (On a side note, when you know nothing about cars like we do it is priceless to have a friend you can trust to work on your car!) That morning I packed up a mommy bag full of diapers, changes of clothes, snacks, juice boxes, activity books, and toys, and we headed off to Firestone. Selah got a whopping 20-minute morning nap in the car. After dropping off the car, we strolled over to the mall. I'm happy to report that we actually had a great morning. We shopped for a new vacuum (did I mention that the car is just one of a long list of things that seem to be falling apart at our house, including the vacuum), rode the carousel, hung out in the play area (I even let Selah get out and crawl around), played at the train table in Hungate's, and ate lunch at Subway. Jackson decided to put Cheetos on his sandwich. I'm telling you, this kid has culinary creativity. Later in the afternoon, he decided that yogurt-covered raisins would be delicious frozen...not bad!

We went back to Firestone where the activity books and toys came in handy. We got the bad news about what a piece of junk Jason's car is and just how much it's gonna cost us just to get it to pass inspection...this is the subject for another blog entirely! We were in the car and on the way home right as the naptime grumpies were setting in. I was so pleased with our successful morning. It's so nice to have those rare occasions that things seem to go smoothly! It gives you motivation to keep going; it gives you strength to fight another day.

This morning I also had success with some teaching trays with Jackson. Last week, they didn't go so well, but I bought some mixed beans at the grocery store yesterday. He loved them. I just filled the tub with beans and let him use his cooking tools. He played independently for a while, which was nice. After he was done pretending to cook he used the measuring cup handle to make a "bean slide". So funny! He also worked on counting/math with poker chips. Here are some pictures of him working on his trays.