A grand adventure

First things first: Isaac's lip did heal. He's back in the game. I was seriously freaked out, but now am better. Thank you.

Sunday I decided to blow the kids minds and take them on an adventure... an adventure in public transportation. Isaac has been talking about busses and trains for a year - CAN WE GO ON A TRAIN? WHEN? WHEN? So this weekend, Pamela was out of pocket for most of Sunday doing an insane and extravagant flower arrangement to welcome the new pastor to her church... and I got to take the kids on an adventure with dad. Sunday morning, we piled onto the 6U bus headed downtown at around 10am.

Isaac was beside himself: We're on a BUS? WOW! Bella was much cooler about this, since she's been taking the yellow school bus for a while now, but she was fascinated by the differences - the seats, the advertising, the lighting, the paybox, the transfers... many many questions. I pointed out the city as it rolled past. Once downtown, we walked to the light rail stop and hopped on the train out to the Mall of America. Both Isaac and Bella commented that the train wasn't quite what they expected - it was so QUIET! And low to the ground! They have memories of the big clunky commuter train in Palatine, and the Light Rail is a different beast entirely. Once we got onto the rails and off the street they started to appreciate it more.

We got to the Mall in good time - the total transit was about an hour, so not really the BEST for the kids, but they were well entertained. A whole gang of people coming from an Eckankar meeting got on and were laughing uproariously at two in their part (who were German), eating bananas. Laughing a lot more than the situation indicated, really, but hey, let that light shine. A woman sat with me and chatted up the kids - she had been an 8th grade schoolteacher for 40 years, and knew how to engage them.

Once at the Mall, it was wallets open for fun and full steam ahead. We went through Underwater World, which blew all of our minds: What a great aquarium! They have Sawfish! SAWFISH! I assumed those only existed in Warner Brothers Cartoons. Bella loved the turtles - even the VW Bus sized one. After a quick lunch, we went into the amusement park, and blew through $20 in "points" on a number of rides: Isaac is now tall enough to go on rides with his big sister, and his big sister is now big enough to accept the savage thrills of the kiddie rides in good grace. I got to watch them sitting together on the Big Rigs, the Blues Clues airplane dogs... Though when it came time for the Merry Go Round, Bella insisted on finding an animal that did NOT go up and down. A sturdy camel did the trick, while next to her, Isaac whooped it up on a rabbit that DID go up and down.

We stopped at a cake decorating contest and decorated a pair of cupcakes for later, and then went back through the aquarium again. This time, we spent extra time "playing" with the starfish and crabs, who really didn't have time for us - being busy all inanimate-like. Helping with the Starfish petting area was a nice lady dressed as a zombie surgeon. I mean a surgeon who is also a zombie, not a surgeon who specializes in operating on zombies. We had to clear that up.

The hour of rides home was longer than the ride there, and Isaac was clearly tired. He had a 3 minute liedown with a didda, but then went right into flirting with an early 20-something girl who looked a bit like the kind of people I was hanging out with in my early 20s - punk-lite but with a smile. She was journaling or sketching or something, and having a great time peeking at Isaac. Bella and I had our own cuddle.

It was a wonderful day - and the kids were fantastic: Isaac stayed close and listened, Bella was a great helper, and she was obviously having fun. Apart from the food and experiences, we bought nothing (though I would have totally sprung for a plush Yo Gabba Gabba set if one existed).

Back home, we all relaxed and built up our reserves for the week ahead.