Then we headed to the city. Maya took about a 30 minute nap, while I chatted on the phone with my mom parked outside of a bookstore. When she woke up, we went into the store in search of a yoga DVD for pregnancy. No such luck, so we headed to the mall to look for some jammies for Maya, a couple more maternity t-shirts for me, and most importantly, a chance for Maya to play in the germ pit, er, I mean, the playground. Much to our bitter disappointment, the playground was MIA, to be returned sometime around Thanksgiving! I was totally bummed for Maya. She loves that place! Instead of playing, we ate lunch at Subway in the food court, then made a slow trek (with Maya walking instead of riding in the stroller) back to our car. Along the way, we stopped to play on the ride-on toys. Maya LOVED driving the bus! She would even hold out her hand to kids who walked by as if to say, "Come on in! Let's go for a ride!" It was really cute...
With full bellies and a need to burn some energy, we left Woodland Mall in search of an indoor playground...
We found a great mall playground at Centerpointe Mall, just across the street. There were big bumble bees and fish on the floor to climb on, a tent and log to crawl through, and boat to climb in, and a tree house to climb up and slide down!
It was awesome! Maya literally ran around that place for an hour. She had a blast! There was a little boy that took special notice of Maya. He was probably almost two years old, and all he wanted to do was hug Maya nonstop. She was pretty tolerant of him, but I'm pretty sure it was only because she didn't know what to do with the vise-like grip of a bear hug he kept putting her in! She would just stand or lay there, frozen like a statue. Only once she got a look on her face that said, "Get me out of here!", so I went over and broke them up. It was kind of funny... another instance where you don't really want to punish a kid for showing affection (I mean, at least he wasn't hitting her or something), but geesh, enough is enough! I kind of wanted to tell him to keep his paws to himself, but I held back, not wanting to be "that mom". Maya was holding her own, so I let them work it out on their own. Eventually, he always let go, and Maya would run away! All the while, I would be cheering (in my head), "Go, Maya, go!!" She's so even-keeled that nothing gets her riled up. Sometimes I wish she would stand up for herself, but I guess she's going to be a lover, not a fighter. That's okay with me. I might just have to step in every once in a while to rescue her! While at Centerpointe, we met up with my friend, Gwen, who I met through Aero Med. We had a snack and walked around for a little bit, and when Maya started to come unglued, we bailed on the mall. Maya was far past due for her afternoon nap, so she needed to get to the car ASAP for some much needed rest. Within minutes of being in the car, she was fast asleep.We headed to our final destination for the day, to visit with some smaller, more gentle playmates, Maya's twin girlfriends, Mackenzie and Caitlin...
They each napped while we were there, but Maya did get to play with them separately and together. She enjoyed giving them toys, watching them eat, and wildly rocking them in their bouncers. I was slightly concerned that they may end up with whiplash from "Maya's Wild Ride" (something that could have easily been featured at Six Flags or Cedar Point). Miriam didn't seemed worried, so I just kept reminding Maya to "be very gentle with the babies!" For the most part, she was... kind of. I think we're going to have a lot to work on once Liam arrives! It was great to visit with Miriam, too. It's not quite as easy to visit when you're constantly taking care of kids, but we managed a good (even if broken) conversation about pretty much everything. We ate a very yummy dinner of homemade triple mac and cheese and peach pie. It was delicious! We look forward to our next visit with Miriam and the babies!Poor Maya was wiped out after our long day, and she cashed out about halfway home. She had a little snack, a bath, then it was off to bed right after we returned. Truth be told, it was an exhausting day for both of us! I don't think I'll make a trip like that again, where Maya doesn't get a single proper nap in a day, but overall, she held up quite well. What a trooper!
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