Mall Lunch Hits the Big Times

You know how our family has the weird tradition of meeting at the mall once a week or so. We each get what we want to eat and gather for a quick break together in the middle of a work day. It is a quirky tradition but it works for us.

Well, last week we took our mall lunch to the max! Yep, you guessed it! We were at the Mall of America! I went  into exactly one store there, but I had a delightful time.

Maria and the girls enjoyed the merry-go-round.

Cordelia and I rode together on a little kid roller coaster, with Maria and Elise just in front of us. It was a bit too tame for Cordelia.

The ferris wheel made that girl pretty happy.

Maria, Eric and girls on the ferris wheel.

Mike took this artsy photo of the escalator, looking into the amusement park.

Another artsy shot by photographer Mike.

What a wonderland for kids!

This project was made out of legos.  The photo doesn't accurately capture the true size of it but notice the people walking down below.

Later, Cordelia and I rode on that roller coaster that went over the top of most of the amusement park. It was a bit TOO much for her but she handled it well with just a bit of reassurance that the car we rode in would not go flying off the rail.

It was kind of a carefree time.  Nice.

There's Cordelia on the big kid roller coaster with me.

Honestly, everyone was not on their phones throughout the entire lunch!

Girl Time

I love it when I get off early in a Friday. We meet our men for lunch and then it is GIRL TIME!

Silliness at the Mall

                              

                           

Thrifting and Mall Lunch and Floating the River

Yesterday I do believe I made good use of my day off. I did do some laundry, bought a few groceries and did a teeny bit of cooking, but otherwise I just had fun.

Sam came with me and we met up with Maria and Elise for some thrifting.  Cordelia was having a play date with her preschool teacher, Teacher Gwen. She was sooooo excited and felt so special to be invited to the teacher's house (or maybe she invited herself...not sure)! 

Anyway, Elise found a hat she needed.

FYI, she is wearing clothes that Maria wore as a baby.

Sam was a good sport and tried on

some fun things. I had his photo here but decided maybe

he would not appreciate that.

I will definitely save the photo, though, in case

I need to blackmail him someday.

Cordelia was back with us in time for mall lunch.

She had some fun at the little indoor playground there.

Actually, one little girl was kind of rude to her.

Cordelia is baffled by such behavior.

She went right up to an adult man and asked him why his

daughter was being mean to her!

He very kindly told her that girl wasn't his daughter so Cordelia

headed toward an adult woman to ask the same question.

Maria and I intervened. 

Elise doesn't know that she is smaller than Cordy.

She just takes off and plays like the big kids now!

 When Grandpa arrived, both girls wanted him!

By lunch, Cordelia was beat.

She was sad.

She said she missed Teacher Gwen.

After the mall, Mike and I had a river date.

It was our first float of the season!

 We have a new raft!

I think Mike missed the old way we rafted

but I think we looked cooler in this new raft.

It was a good day.

Yesterday

I had a lovely day yesterday. I was supposed to work but many of the surgeons are out of town with their families (it is Spring break here) so I wasn't needed. Is there anything better than an unexpected day off?!

I picked up Mike and we met Sam, Maria, Eric, Cordelia and Elise at the mall for our weekly mall lunch.  Elise has recently reached that age where she is excited when she sees us. She is very affectionate and hugs over and over.  It's wonderful!

After lunch today Cordelia left with us. She worried a little that her family would miss her or that she would miss them, but we did fine.

After dropping Mike back at work Cordy came with me to run an errand at a home improvement store. She was quite intrigued. What would otherwise have been just another chore for me, turned out to be an adventure!

We explored a little playhouse before we even went into the store.

Inside the store, Cordelia was mesmerized. In fact, we had to go back a couple of times to take a look...

...at the Koi pond.

We walked all around looking at all the things they had there, discussing how it was for fixing up houses or for building new houses. I told Cordy that I didn't know how to build a whole new house. She told me that I just needed to look at a poster and it would tell me how to do it. Easy as that.

She also told me several times that when she grows up she wants to be a "nurser" like me. Aaaah. I told her she could even be a doctor if she wanted to but she was pretty insistent that she wanted to be a nurser. She told me that when someone in her family got sick she would come to them and save them and they would be better. I love that little girl.

We met up with her family at Walmart. Don't judge us!

Elise was pretty happy to see us!

I did have to return home to laundry and tax preparations and other mundane chores, but I have to say that the dose of granddaughters made the entire day brighter. 

Words Optional

Credit or Debit?

Last Thursday was mall lunch day.  As usual, we all went through the lines at various businesses in the food court.  I chose pizza that day.  Boy, was that expensive pizza!  Actually,  before I even received my receipt I heard the clerk make some funny gasping sounds.  She seemed pretty upset and then finally explained to me the problem.  She'd accidentally charged me over $800 for my meal!  Yikes!

I had used my debit card for this transaction so she then had to figure out how to issue a credit.  That took some time but she finally managed to do it and gave me that receipt as well.  I was surprised by all this because I thought our debit card had a $300 daily use limit anyway.  I'm not sure but maybe it is because she ran our debit card as a credit card.  I don't know.  Anyway, I didn't throw a fit.  It looked as though she'd reversed everything so I assured her all was well.  She really was more upset than I.  She then ran the transaction for the proper amount and I went off to eat my lunch with my family, telling them of my little adventure.

Do you use a debit card much?  I love the simplicity of it!  I am careful, though.  For instance, if we are eating in a restaurant where they take your card from you at the table and go to a back room to run it, I will only use cash or a credit card.  Why?  Because stuff happens.  I don't want my debit card out of my sight.  As far as I know it wouldn't be more likely to happen with a debit card than a credit card but the repercussions can be more difficult to manage.  

If there is a problem with a credit card, I am pretty confident it will be corrected...eventually.  We've experienced a couple of cases of credit card fraud years ago.  The issuing bank always fixed it for us with no problems.  Actually, it was the credit card company that found one of the errors and reported it to us before we even knew it occurred.  It was some company far away that set off some sort of alarms with the fraud department of the credit card company.  I even had our credit card company fraud people call me on a Christmas morning  regarding a charge they were investigating.  As it turned out, it was a gift I'd ordered for one of our boys.  I asked why that one made them suspicious and it was because they'd had a lot of fraudulent charges of that item in particular.  Anyway, I figure if someone does something bad with a credit card I will have some time to deal with it.

If someone uses our debit card fraudulently I assume the bank will work it out as well.  However, in the meantime it could cause a lot of problems.  For example, it someone used our debit card for a large amount, that amount would immediately be taken out of our bank account.  Even if it is later put back in, during the interval time that money would not be available to us.  We may unknowingly write checks that bounce or have the card rejected when getting groceries or something.  So, I only use it when it stays in my sight, never online or over the phone either.

Well, in the situation of my expensive lunch, I thought the immediate refund would balance it all out.  I learned something new.  Although the clerk put through the credit on that gross overcharge only minutes later, $843.43 was immediately noted on our account as a pending transaction.  Although it didn't ever really go through, that amount was deducted FOR THREE BUSINESS DAYS!  The credited amount did not appear at all until the third day.  I go online and peek at our bank account frequently and I'm glad that I did so that I could adjust as needed!  On day three, everything went through, the refund negated the charge and the drama was over. 

What I learned from all of this is that when your card is used, even though it appears on your account right away, a company has three business days to put it through in its final form.  That is useful for things like renting a hotel room.  The hotel can put the charge through as a pending amount, to be certain your card (debit or credit) will cover the room charge.  However, they may need to change the final amount if you charge room service, a movie or something more on the card.  Or, if using a card for a meal a restaurant may run it through for the cost of the meal to be certain it will be covered.  When you sign for it, though, you may choose to add the tip amount on the bill.  They have up to three days to go back in and adjust that total.  It all seems kind of messed up to me but that's the way it is.

Have you had any weird problems with a debit or credit card?  It can happen with checks as well.  Once, several years ago, Mike's paycheck wasn't applied to our account when we deposited it.  Although we had a receipt, something weird happened at the bank.  We were oblivious to the problem as that was before I could go online and check our account regularly.  That was quite a mess before it was all resolved!

So, here's my banking advice for you.... pay attention.  That's it.  That's the advice.  Just pay attention.  Look at your receipts, check your accounts regularly and report any problems.  That's all the financial advice I have for you.  

If you want real financial advice, including a FREE investment plan,  visit Financial Tailor.   

Mall Lunch

Recently our son, Ben, called to chat.  I love it when he calls as he lives far away and I get lonely for him.  When he asked what I'd been up to I told him I'd just returned from Mall Lunch.  He claims that I've always just returned from Mall Lunch.  That's not true but we do, as a family, attempt to meet at the mall for lunch about once a week.  Is that weird?

Wyoming has long winters.  This hasn't been a bad winter at all, but it just isn't good picnic weather.  In fact, even when it is warm here it is sometimes difficult to find a good picnic day because it is often windy.  Anyway, somewhere along the way we started going to the mall.  None of us are really big shopping kind of people.  It's funny, though, to take Cordelia somewhere makes everything more fun!

Usually Maria, Cordy and I are the first to arrive.  Sometimes we let Cordelia play at the indoor playground (AKA germ pit).  Sometimes we wander through Bath and Body Works to "smell stuff".  We also frequently find ourselves at Target looking at pretty little dresses for Cordelia.  She prefers the twirly kind.  If you are female, you know what I mean by that!

Eventually, we head toward the Food Court and watch for the arrival of Mike and Sam.  We all get our lunches from the fast food of choice and meet around a table for lively conversation as we fill our bellies.

We've also carried our people-watching skills to a new level.  Maria and I started noticing one lady who is almost ALWAYS there. She is always alone and very quiet.  Even when I attempt to say hello to her it seems to make her uncomfortable.  That's OK.  We still look for her each week.  We've even given her a name.  I suppose you think that is weird, too?

After lunch we wander around a bit and look for little adventures for Cordelia.  Grandpa often leads the parade for this part of the day.  Often they head toward the pet store.  I forbid myself from visiting the puppies with them.  I have a good reason for that but I covered that in another post.  Sometimes we wander through campers that are on display or visit the little arcade room.  Our mall is not too big but we always manage to have a good time.  Do you suppose it is just because we enjoy being together?

                     

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Grandparenting Up Close

Is there anything better than holding a sweet child in your arms while reading a book about baby animals?  I think not.

Mike took this photo one recent evening when Cordelia spent a few hours with us.  When she comes over, she is a delight the entire visit.  She doesn't throw fits for us or cry when her parents leave.  She's delighted with almost any little thing we do and she frequently, without prompting, tells us she loves us and gives us powerful little girl hugs. 

This tiny charmer is super smart as well!  Riding in the car yesterday she wanted to discuss each turn, usually correctly stating whether we were going left or right.  She knew the way to the mall!  We were going there for our usual "mall lunch", a weekly ritual.  This lunch was special, though.  We were meeting Mike's sister, Karen, who was in town for some appointments.  Cordelia was planning ahead.  She told me she was going to give Karen a BIG hug.

Time with Cordelia is one of my greatest joys.  It makes me feel rather guilty, though.  During most of the years our children were young we lived a great distance from either of their grandmothers.  I have to say I don't think I really got it.  Now I know what exquisite delight it is to be able to see this little person many times each week and I am so sorry that Grandma Carol and Grandma Grace did not get that with our children. 

I think there was a lot of good in the way things were in the past, when many generations of family lived in the same area.  Don't get me wrong.  I love that my children have so many opportunities and can follow their dreams.  I would never want to deprive them of that.  My own mother never ever made me feel guilty for following mine. 

I also know that with our 3 children, it is unlikely that I will be able to always live close to all my future grandchildren.  I guess that is why I am savoring every moment I can right now.  I have come to appreciate "moments" so much more than I ever did before.  I'm just very, very grateful for this chance at up-close grandparenting.  I see it for the precious gift that it is.   

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