Hangin' With The Girls

Last night, I had a gaggle of teenage girls at my house. Five, including Shannon. She talked me into letting them all spend the night.

At first, I was begging my Facebook friends to send reinforcements, but you know what? It was totally fine. They mostly stayed in the basement, coming up only for snacks at night, then for breakfast in the morning. At noonish they were still all here, so we ordered some pizza.

At about 5pm, three of them had been here all day, and the other two had left and come back. They wanted to go to the mall. But they wanted to go to a mall that I had never been to before, and one that's a little farther from my house than the two they normally frequent.

Since hubby wasn't home, I had to drag poor Kylie around with us. The mall was sufficiently far enough away from my house that I decided it would be a waste of time and gas to drop them off, go home, then go back and pick them up two hours later.

So Kylie and I went off on our own at the mall. This place is like no mall I've ever been to. It's called Park Meadows Mall, and it's like, the upscale version of a mall.

The theme inside is very lodge/cabin-like, with wood and stones everywhere. There are tons of couches and tables and places to gather. Lots of high-end stores that I can't afford, which at least stopped me from spending money. Except at Mrs. Field's, where Kylie had to have a cookie.

One corner of the mall had a place that kids could play. It wasn't a run around-type play area, but it had a big Lego table and some other hands-on stuff. The great part was it also had a lot of big overstuffed chairs around the perimeter, perfect for reading the paperback in your purse while the kid is playing. This Lego statue of a lion was pretty dang cool.

On the lower level in the middle of the mall is this fountain. It's gorgeous. I wish now that I had backed up and taken a picture of the whole thing. There are colorful flowers all around, the waterfall, rocks and again...lots of places around it to just sit and relax.

This was my favorite thing in the mall. In the food court, near the outside entrance, is this HUGE fireplace. It's open on both sides. On the other side from where Kylie is sitting, there are couches and chairs and even a coffee table. There is a large hearth all the way around it, where people sit and eat. I just happened to catch a time where some people had just gotten up, and I told Kylie to sit down quick so I could get a picture.

Kylie and I spent the rest of our time in Borders, in the kids' section. She looked at books and played with toys, and I read my book. Shannon and her friends were ready to go after about two hours. Then I took the whole lot of them to another girl's house, where they are spending the night tonight.

I like Shannon's friends a lot. They are fun and silly, and they actually all thanked me profusely for driving them all over creation tonight, and told me how much they appreciated it. Which prompted my daughter to say, "Oh Mom, I appreciate you so much!" Maybe one day she'll say it without being prompted by friends. *smile smile* It's also fun to be in the car with them. They seem to forget that someone's mom is driving, and you learn so much just by listening.

Tonight, at my house? Peace and quiet. At least until Kylie wakes up in the morning.