On a mad drive from Lucy's preschool to the mall, we stopped at the first sit-down restaurant along the way, the Big Boy. Lucy loooooved him, as you can tell!
Today we went to a mall, and surprisingly it wasn't too bad. We were there early enough to avoid a horrible crowd -- except for inside Gymboree. The Santa setup was giving away 20 percent off coupons to Gymboree, and that was on top of a 25 percent off sale already going on, so there was much madness there. Lucy was afraid of Santa at first, but when we got her a cookie she amazingly calmed down and warmed up to the jolly guy. We met a friend of ours and her daughter there, so it was kind of a playdate for Lucy and the friend, who goes to the same preschool. See video below for an account of the experience!