With a high temperature today of 95 and a heat index of 105, even with our a/c quickly working itself into a sweat, our house reached a balmy 87. Jack was whining. Parents were whining. What's a miserable family to do? Why, go to the mall!
We headed up McKnight Road to Ross Park Mall. There is a kid's play area with slides and a carpet representing the Pittsburgh rivers that Jack likes to explore. On a typical visit, he obsessively goes up and down, up and down, up and down one slide or crouches down to examine the large carpeted letters spelling out the three rivers.
It was 7:30pm when we arrived, and it was hopping. There must have been 30 kids running amok and hanging off the play equipment while parents chilled on the sidelines, texting or deciding which store to hit up next. Jack, recognizing the joint, immediately gave us that gold medal smile and started excitedly babbling and gesturing emphatically with his arms.
After removing his sandals (mall policy), we put him on the Ohio River portion of the carpet, and he was off. While screeching and squealing, he managed to run the perimeter of the play area, successfully avoiding contact with any other child's body, or eyes for that matter. It always amazes me to watch him navigate a crowded space, whether crowded with people or toys. I never see him LOOK at what he so expertly avoids. He just knows that there is something to evade. Every once in a while, he'll approach one of the other parents and smile, which we always like to see.
Ten minutes later, Jack realized that there are too many bodies on the slides, making it difficult to do his typical up/down, up/down, up/down routine. So, he started escaping the play area, barefoot, and running toward the outside doors. Bob's after him, and Jack quickly cuts to the right and races, still barefoot, through the mall thoroughfare. And let me tell you something, Jack is quick. I'm hobbling after them, and finally catch Bob stuffing Jack's feet into his shoes near the escalators. A mall cop, riding a Segway, chuckles and says to me, "It looks like you've got your hands full." Yeah, buddy. Sure.
Jack wanders around this area and discovers two leather benches pushed side-by-side with a grooved horizontal pattern that feels much like a gymnastics mat. He shimmies his body up on the couch and starts commando crawling to the opposite end, peering over the side onto the floor. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Once satisfied with that experience, he rubs his hands and arms across the grooves, smiling and babbling to himself. Then, he log rolls across the couch, stopping only to examine the sky lights and beams above. This full-out, unexpected sensory experience happily occupies about 15 minutes of our mall visit.
All of a sudden, he's off and running again. He noticed an Abercrombie and Fitch sign outside the store and examined the letters closely, rubbing the back of his hand on the words to gather more information. The boy loves his alphabet, and the mall is an excellent place to view letters of all sorts.
Then, it was off to the escalators. I needed to run and pick up a few things for a bachelorette party that I'm throwing tomorrow night for two lovely brides-to-be. So, I left the boys to their escalator fun. Bob told me that they must have ridden up/down, up/down, up/down about fifteen times. When I returned, they were on a downward returning trip, Jack smiling ear-to-ear with Dada talking him through the "step off" portion of the experience.
Who knew the mall was this interesting? Capital letters entice the eye! Furniture built for a tumbling routine abounds! Moving stairways to paradise (or the food court) take us to new heights! Kid's playground? Bah! Who needs it? Jack knows where the party truly is.
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