Steppin' Out: Family Edition

Last week Scott, Ellie, and I set out on a day that I had been looking forward to for a looong time! I love doing things as a family, but unfortunately, most of the "things" that I like us to do together cost money. Well, this particular outing had been in the works for a while, so we made sure to plan ahead and save a little. We had one afternoon off together, and the three of us spent it at Bellevue Square Mall.

I had it all planned out! I wanted to have Elliott meet Santa and have her first Santa photo taken. Next, we would wander around and knock out some of the remaining items on our Christmas shopping list. Then we would have dinner (and maybe dessert) at The Cheesecake Factory. Finally, we would finish off our night by visiting Snowflake Lane! (Bellevue Square does an awesome job of creating fake snow, and having it fall to the ground as drummers, ice princesses, and Frosty dance around, pass out candy, and pose for pictures. How fun is that?!)

Steppin' Out

Scott: Coat (the North Face), Shirt (Target), Jeans (Buckle), Shoes (adidas)

Me: Cowl Neck Sweater Dress (Target), Leggings (Target), Boots (Target) ummm....Necklace (Cookie Lee)

Elliott: Onesie (Carter's), Cords (Old Navy), Socks (Target)

Sometimes, when we're out to dinner......

We take pictures of each other :)

Our awesome waiter put together a special plate for Ellie, without us asking for anything! He brought out this plate full of bread and bananas, all nicely arranged and fancy-looking!

Mmmm.....an unplanned stop on our fun-train: PinkaBella cupcakes! They looked so good, I made Scott pick out a few for us to try!

Hehe, I love how Scott looks all protective as Ellie is making a friend :)

The day was even better than I could have imagined it being!!! I had been looking forward to it for so long that I was worried it wouldn't be all that spectacular. Well, with my goofy husband, and babbling happy little girl, how could it be anything less than fantastic?! There was one incident with the escalator (I feel like now is a good time to tell you about my insane fear of escalators, and how I have actually reenacted that famous scene from the movie "Elf" more than once), and the time when Ellie thought it was cool to throw a fit in The Cheesecake Factory and spill a glass of Coke all over daddy and the diaper bag. But there were also really fun and unexpected times, like these:

We walked passed this kiddy play place on our way to get cupcakes, and I decided to let Ellie out to see what she would do....I dunno, I just thought she was too little to enjoy something like this?! She totally loved it!!

Waving at random strangers coming down the escalator (daddy went up and down the escalator, we just sat at the bottom and waited and waved)

Elliott loving the snow (ok, I admit, I guess I got a little excited too!)

I totally expected to have fun. That was the purpose of this family day. But to actually see my baby in awe of the snow, or watching Scott hover over Elliott as she played with the other kids......that is priceless, and that is why we will continue to plan "family fun".

~Amanda