We may have made one of the bigger mistakes of the vacation today and we did it twice. Today has become known as "Black Friday" due to its popularity as a major shopping day in preparation for Christmas. So what did we do? We decided that it couldn't be that bad and we took the kids to the play area (which was promoted in the little freebie guide in our room) at the large outlet mall down the highway a couple of miles.
Yeah, not so smart. At least my daughter has now seen why kindness and compassion are necessary parts of a driver's arsenal and even more important at times like this. They did get to play, and we actually ended up with a decent parking spot, but it took about 20 minutes of circling. Some of that time we spent looking for the play area first and judging whether it would be wiser to go somewhere else.
After a quick restroom break, conveniently close to the play area, we gave the kids about a half an hour to play and then we walked them to death again. We actually didn't do much shopping, but in the "lifestyle center" layout for the mall you end up walking most of the very long W-shaped strip to get to the 2 or 3 places you want to go. Any normal day I'm sure we could have driven between stores and come out way ahead on time.
At the end of it all, my son fell asleep in my wife's arms at our last stop; conveniently keeping her from fixating on additional dinnerware. We made it back to the resort, consumed leftovers, then we all took naps at slightly overlapping times. The plan was to get out for an early dinner and then return for a final swimming session and to pack up as much as possible as to get an early start on the driving tomorrow.
The second attempt at getting out was a quick stop that actually turned out to be just that. We found a parking spot nearly immediately. I'd say the just-before-dinner time-frame worked to our favor. After that, we stopped for dinner at a tourist trap that, had it been a little warmer, would actually have been worth a longer stay. Instead we coerced the kids off the play equipment, away from the crocodiles and back to the resort for the promised swimming session.
The kids, thoroughly exhausted at this point, are sleeping and I shall join them shortly. It has been a good family trip and bonding time. We can't do this every year but I will certainly remember this trip fondly, even if through a head cold and drug-induced haze.
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