Shopping with Alex and Eric

We actually had a "free" day this weekend--Saturday. Eric had his last basketball game, which I'll do a blog post on later, and we had nothing else planned. Of course, we always find something to fill up our "free" days.

Natalie got invited to see a play with some friends. Her friend's mom picked her up and everything. Alex wanted to go to the mall to go shopping, so I went back to the scene of the crime--North Star Mall. I haven't been back there since that fateful night of December 1st. Lastly, we attended the Quinceanera in the evening--more on that later.

First, I'm going to describe our shopping trip. Eric wanted to go with Alex and me, of course. Anthony had homework and Patrick stayed home until Natalie could be picked up for the play. Alex specifically wanted to buy shoes for himself (i.e., with his own money). This time I was able to convince him to start comparison shopping before going out to buy shoes. He looked at a couple of places online the day before, so when he found the white Sperry Topsiders he wanted, he bought them for what he thought was a good price. He also wanted "dressier" jeans or khaki-colored type jeans that he could wear instead of the conventional khakis as part of his uniform for school. Lastly, we looked for a dressy-type button down shirt that he could wear to the Quinceanera that evening. This last part was quite painful because Alex took forever just to try one the four shirts that he brought into the dressing room, but I really only got to see him in one of the shirts before he decided he was done trying on shirts.

Eric got to go to his favorite store, the Disney Store, and eat at one of his favorite places to eat, Wendy's. After that, he didn't mind walking around and he even carried Alex's bag for a bit. He enjoys  hanging out with his big brothers and he loves to go shopping. He started to get tired, though, even lying down on some chairs at the mall and complaining that his feet hurt. In the end, I had to break down and allow him to play Angry Birds Rio on my iPhone. He was sprawled on the carpet in the men's department at JCPenney, comfortable and happy.

This is the only photo I took of the Quinceanera. It was held at the downtown area that used to be Pearl Brewery. Estelle was part of the carpool to Alex's school for the last two years with her younger brother, who is in Alex's grade. She is now a freshman in high school and turning fifteen. The "Quinceanera" is a special celebration of the fifteenth birthday for girls with Hispanic backgrounds, like a "Sweet Sixteen" party. There were mostly adults at the party, but I could see Estelle's touch in the decorations, food choices, and entertainment. This was the candy table. They had a selection of candies with a sign that told you to fill a little bag. They also had fresh-popped popcorn and cotton candy. We brought a bunch of this home for the kiddos. Eric and Natalie really enjoyed these treats.

I know that Alex's eyes are closed in this picture, but I didn't realize it at the time and I didn't think he would want multiple photos taken. Only Patrick, Alex, and I went to this party. Alex ended up wearing Anthony's shirt. I described that shopping trip in a previous post. It figures that he would like the same $45 shirt that his brother wanted, instead of the $20 shirts that he had tried on. Patrick and I thought he looked really good dressed up like that and we were happy that he wanted a dressy shirt like that for his own. I really wanted a picture with my good-looking son, but next time, hopefully he won't have his eyes closed. :)