A Month of Gratitude: Day 16

Day 16: The Soft Play Area at the Mall

Steve had an 8am appointment this morning for tired and brakes for The Beast. The boys woke up around 8:30 and we hung out here for a bit and then I needed to go to Gus's school to get his fundraiser items (chocolate... yummmm). 

I had hoped to do this with Steve and then head to the mall to get Hugh fitted for shoes and buy a pair. But the school was only open from 10-12 today and I wasn't sure when Steve would get home, so I went with the boys.

We picked up Gus's order and then headed to North Point Mall. 

I've been to the mall numerous times and each time we've gone, we've visited the soft play area. This is an area for kids to play on these various town-themed items (police car, ambulance, fire truck, race car, bridge, etc) and they're all foam covered with a soft-spongy plastic. It's a really neat place and Gus loves it.

We stopped at Auntie Annie's and grabbed a pretzel and some lemonade to share (Gus was so excited) and then we stopped and saw Santa (no pictures with him) and Gus enjoyed the amazing decorations at Von Maur.

Gus saw the tree and said, "Ooohhhh presents..." I think he's going to really love Christmas this year!!

Anyway- we headed to the soft play area and Gus took off immediately. I took Hugh out of his stroller and he wasn't sure what to do at first, but then totally started to walk around. Several people commented on how cute he was and asked how old he was. Every time I said, "He's almost 11 months" I got comments of being shocked at how big he is for 11 months. 

One lady was standing next to me and I said something to Gus and she said, "Oh, is he yours too?" I said, "Yes." Then she said, "And that one (pointing to Hugh)?" I said, "Yep... they're brothers." Then she said, "Oh wow... they look nothing alike!

DUH (Sometimes people speak and shouldn't)

I said, "Yeah, they're both adopted." Then she said, "Oh, that's so great! Well, that makes sense then.

WTH? I know plenty of biological siblings (twins even) and they don't look anything alike. Anyway...

Hugh had a great time running around and chasing after Gus and I had a great time watching them.

After playing for about an hour, we headed over to Stride Rite. I wanted them to measure Hugh's foot so I could see exactly what size shoe he needs. I have some of Gus's old shoes, but for some reason, they won't go on Hugh's feet. 

Well... she measured him and I found out that not only does he need wide shoes, he needs EXTRA WIDE!!! No wonder nothing fit right! I got him a cute pair that's a size 5.5 (he measured at 5 and she said it'd be good to go up 1/2 a size) and then a second pair that was 40% off in a size 6.

She said he probably will outgrow the need to be in an extra wide, but for now, the two pair should work. I'm hoping that these shoes will give him the stability needed to help with his ankle (it still is weak and braces WOULD help, but we don't have money in the budget for them right now).

Anyway- it was a great day and I'm thankful for the mall having a great place for the boys to enjoy, and I'm grateful for Stride Rite being able to accurately measure Hugh's foot!