[Drowned] Mall Rats

For months now Sarah has been asking to have her ears pierced. I didn't have it done when she was a baby because, well, there was enough screaming going on.  I also really just wanted to wait until she asked and it was something she wanted to do. She's mentioned it in the past, but this time I could tell she was serious. It is all she has talked about. So today was the day. We were headed to the mall. It was just going to be Sarah and her friend, but Eli had quite the meltdown. He said, "I wanna go bad! I don't even remember what the mall looks like!" It was tragic. I did the proper Mom thing and asked Sarah how she would feel if she were in Eli's shoes. Eli went to the mall, too.

I had to stop for gas on the way and WHOA, I ended up calling Josh to ask if there was a hurricane coming. The wind came out of nowhere and I thought I was going to have to hang on to the gas pump! By the time we got to Panama City it was POURING. Thankfully it let up a little as we made our way to the food court. One Hi-C spill and 18 chicken nuggets later we were ready for ear piercing. Almost. After a bathroom trip of course.

We made our way to Claire's and despite being asked to buy and/or do everything we passed, we showed up empty handed. I could tell Sarah's nerves had set in.  The girl showed her the earrings to choose from and of course, being my daughter, she picked the biggest, most expensive pair. :)  This was her birthday gift so I was going to get whatever she wanted, but even the piercing girl agreed they were a little too big. So, she took it down a size.  As she climbed into the chair I began to wonder if she would really go through with it. She couldn't even pretend to smile, y'all.

                                                   
                                             We made it through the first ear....

                                                   Now I was really worried....

She did it!

There were a couple of Moms and their daughters standing around and they all winced in pain with Sarah and praised her new earrings. It was a special moment. Is there anything more fun than being the Mom of girls and hanging out in Claire's? I think not. I had not been in there in a loooong time. In fact, it brought back memories of being 15 and running in there to hide behind jewelry racks because weird boys were stalking me and my friend. Oh the memories! Anyway, I see a back to school shopping trip to Claire's in our future for sure.

After that we headed to the arcade so that Eli could detox from the estrogen overload that is Claire's.

Then it was time to head home. We left the mall just as the monsoon struck again and we literally swam to the jeep. We got SOAKED!!!!

Aren't they the cutest little mall rats you've ever seen?????