Okay okay… so it’s Sunday and I’m still writing about Friday. Sorry! I’m a little behind. My free time is measured in minutes right now. I know you’re chomping at the bit to hear about dd’s first Kolacky Days Festival, and her entry in the Kiddie Parade. I’ll tell you about that later. Right now, I’ll tell you about a southern gal and the Mall of America.
For those who don’t know yet, Minnesota is home to the Mall of America. In case you didn’t click the link to find out more, the M.O.A. is the largest shopping mall in America (in terms of physical floor space). Currently, the MOA is the 2nd largest in North America (2nd to the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton Canada) and 17th largest in the world. Asia has been busy over the past 5 years or so.
This place is a monstrosity. From the outside, its boring. No fanfare. No bright lights. No cool vantage points. Its a box, across the street from an airport. Inside, however, is a power shopper’s paradise. Store after store after store. Over 500 stores and a boatload of restaurants. Plus, there’s the giant indoor amusement park, Camp Nickelodeon (Formerly Camp Snoopy). Shopping for the parents, distractions (incentive?) for the kids. Its also one of Minnesota’s largest tourist attractions. As such, dad and jj figured they’d like to check it out.
Now the plan was to go in, shop a tad, then check out Camp Nickelodeon. For anyone who has ever dealt with a wide eyed little gal, then you can already see where this went. We entered on the somewhat vacant (but once hopping) 4th floor, cruised down to the first floor, and started shopping. Made it 1/4 of the way around before the sounds of the park found their way to jj’s ear. That’s all it took. The rest of our stay was spent watching her eyes go from pennies to dish plates. I guess there’s something really flippin amazing about roller coasters and swings and water rides inside a mall to a gal jj’s age.
Dad was dragged around that joint for the better part of an hour and a half, and only got 2 rides in: those swings, and one of the three roller coasters.
Of course, the only pics we were able to really get were the swings. Watching jj zoom around, acting like a kid, was fantastic and telling. There is nothing as cool as seeing that childlike wonder and amazement, pure and unadulterated1. Kids do that best, don’t they? Live. They make friends with strangers in the park, and never worry (that’s our job). I hear parents say stuff like “grow up” or “act your age”. Why? Were they not kids once too? What’s the hurry? Be amazed, right along with them.
She was a trip. We barely got the shopping done that we wanted to, but that’s okay. What lasts longer: things or memories? This whole little excursion made me realize that, one day, we will be seeing the same zest for life in the eyes of dd. She will remind us both, on a daily basis, what’s truly important in life…. living.
- unadulterated. Think about that. “Not mingled or diluted with extraneous matter; pure.”. It is us, as adults, that complicate things. Think about that the next time your kid is doing what they do best: act like a child. [↩]