It was a Wednesday afternoon.  I had to return some things at Zara and Nordstrom.  I knew if we went to the stores at The Grove in LA, we’d at least see some Christmas lights.  Since I’m working on my holiday cheer, I thought it might be fun to make an evening out of it! Paul had to work late anyway, so I put on my cool mom hat to take my kid out on the town. You can’t say I never try.

I, as usual, was prepared for a magical evening.  Stevie would be mesmerized by lights and water shows and people.  And if he wasn’t?  Well, I came prepared – and manned the diaper bag with bubbles! This kid cannot resist a good bubble-blowing fest.  Maybe we would meet Santa.  Or even a real-life celebrity.  Maybe we would sit down for a nice treat outside and watch the sunset.  Maybe Stevie would get that holiday twinkle in his eye and be the most well-behaved baby we’d ever seen!  Maybe I would find a new shirt at Zara that actually fit.  Now that would be a Christmas miracle.

So we headed to LA and it took us an hour to go 13 miles.  OK, not the best start.  So perhaps we wouldn’t get to see the sunset over crepes and Diet Coke.  That’s ok.  At least we saw the sun from the parking garage. There was still hope for some holiday magic.

And from the looks of these photos, you will assume that we had the most wonderful evening together.  You will think there was all smiling and giggles. Perhaps you envision me, chasing Stevie through the shopping center with a big smile on my face.  Him turning to look at me and laughing his sweet laugh before he takes off again.  I cheer and run up to tickle him.  We hug and exchange a kiss and I throw him up in the air, much to his delight, before we go off to get some shopping done.  After finding all the gifts we need, we are just having such a marvelous time, we have to stop for a treat.  We sit and enjoy ourselves, exchanging loving glances with each other.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!  Oh you!

It certainly didn’t work out that way.  As usual.  In fact, after this, I silently vowed that I would never take this child shopping again.  I got cupcakes afterward.  It was either cupcakes or crying.  I choose cupcakes often.

But hey, the pictures look like we had a magical evening.  So we’ll just go with that. (Click images to enlarge)

He’s laughing, but if you look closely you can see there are tears in his eyes from his fit just prior.