New things...!

On Veteran's Day, My friend M came down to visit for the afternoon. We were planning on going to Applebee's for their veterans meal special, but alas there was a line out the door when we got there. That's what you get when you have a VA Hospital in town. Hubby thinks they were probably bussing veterans over there during the day. E decided to fall asleep before we got there. So after deciding to go elsewhere, she suggested a small adventure. Thought what the heck. Asked her what she had in mind.
Her response "Hard Rock Cafe." (Minneapolis) We had been there once before years ago, before we were ever deployed. This time we had E with so it was do-able, but took a little thinking to make sure we were set to leave town.

Made it down to the Mall of America (MOA) with no issues. Turns out the 77 that I had in my head is the exit/road we need to take to get to MOA. Had more issues determining where to park in order to get to the transit station. Have to be smarter then the elevators also. Finding one that went down to the S level was a little difficult. We made it. Had E in the stroller at that point. Always have the most difficulty figuring out how to purchase tickets.

So got on the train. It was pretty empty. It was midafternoon already so not too many people out and about. Half hour on the train to the absolute end of the line and then a couple blocks up is the Hard Rock Cafe. Right next to the Target Center. Could have driven there, but easier to find parking at MOA. We had nothing but time to kill anyway. I ordered a citrus chicken salad. It was really good. I have never had a citrus salad before so it was something different. E had a little mac and cheese. Big twisty noodles. She ate some. She had snacked on some cheerios and chips on the way down so she wasn't starving by then.

After our late lunch, we walked back to the train and rode back to MOA. E walked to the train and did okay the first few stops with sitting on my lap. But she was tired of being cooped up all day so she started getting a little antsy. Then a handicapped person with a service dog got on right next to us. Of course E wanted to pet the puppy so that was a little hard to explain that puppy was working and she couldn't. After she got too cranky and hard to handle, we put her back in her stroller for the rest of the train ride. She of course didn't like that either, and proceeded to throw her stuffed bear on the floor, which happened to hit the dog. Dog wasn't phased at all. Of course E wasn't allowed to have bear back the rest of the ride. She pouted, but no real issues. Thank god. She normally isn't a problem so when she is cranky and acting up, it's a little unnerving. Myfriend still thought she was for the most part an "angel." Iwasn't too sure about that.

We made it back to our vehicle and hit the road for home. Of course it was rush hour (about 5:30pm) so there was a little traffic to contend with in the dark. We survived and made it home. E slept almost the whole way (Thank god,she needed a good nap). All in all it was a good day. Nice to just do something different once in a while.

The biggest news I have to report at this time is that 1) E is working on tooth # 17, her top right molar. The last set of teeth she gets until she starts loosing them all. I know this isn't helping her crankiness either. And news # 2) she peed on the potty at daycare! First time! She always sits on the potty, but this time she wanted to stay on there longer and actually peed! Only a matter of time till she really gets the idea. Again still not rushing it. For the most part she sits on the potty about 5 times a day (her choice) and usually goes at least once on the potty. Since I use cloth diapers at home and on the weekends, it makes it really easy to reuse the dipe (as long as it's dry/clean). I hate trying to reuse disposable dipes, because the tabs never really hold quite the same the second time around.

So all in all my little girl will be 2 in just a couple weeks! She is growing up so fast. Hard to believe that she was just a newborn only what seems like yesterday....