When last we heard from the intrepid little Okie family, they were facing the dreaded opening day maddening "Crowds of Humanity" (not to be confused with the Cliffs of Insanity) at the American Girl Boutique and Bistro at the Dallas Galleria...
However, the banner day started off with the peace and tranquility that only a leisurely taken breakfast at the Ultimate McDonald's for Kids could provide.
Voted by Travel Channel as the Ultimate McDonald's for Kids, this Happy Meal festooned McD's provided enough eye-candy to get the girls off to a fairly decent hyperactive start of the day.
A post-breakfast/pre-noon swim at the indoor pool in the hotel revealed that my 4-year old retained the bulk of her swimming lessons from last summer and was now into seeing if she could hold her breath under water as long as her Daddy could.
Just as revealing was my conversation with a paunch-bellied jovial grandfather who originally came from San Diego but had retired to San Antonio. He also was in town with his wife, daughter and grandaughers for the American Girl opening and was taking in the peaceful sites and sounds of the hotel while the women kin stormed the beachhead of the Galleria.
A few hours later, we too found ourselves standing in a 40-minute line to enter the American Girl store, amid a storm of complimentary water bottle bearing store employees (it wasn't that hot, but they were prepared for it, so props to them), media (local independent news station getting color...must have been a slow news day), and face upon face of young girls, eager to get in and empty their guardian's checking accounts.
As happy customers exited, an equal number of anticipation filled customers were allowed in. It was all very civil and organized and even though the crowds inside were shoulder to shoulder at times, we were able to navigate the aisles with relative ease and even enjoyed standing in the 20-minute long check out line due to a lively conversation we participated in with other commiserating parents of young daughters.
Since I'm a stay-at-home Dad with two daughters, I like to think that I'm more in touch with my softer side than many of my male contemporaries. However even I was unnerved by the massive amounts of female hormones flying about this store.
My F-i-L didn't seem to fare as well, as he pulled an Elvis and exited the building mere minutes after he did his duty by making sure we all had entered the realm of dolldom safely.
Our bank account was pillaged only a tad, thanks to a last minute gift card from my brother (thanks Bro!) and we were already putting the opening day experience behind us no more than an hour later.
Later that day while cruising the Galleria, I stumbled upon these incomplete(?) signs while searching for the restroom facilities.
Sums it all up pretty well, I'd say.
2 comments:
Now that is funny! The perfect man...the body is there and willing without the inconvenient hassles of linear thought or male insight. You'd think they'd let us have our head back to go into our own restroom, though.
Given a choice, I wonder how many men would prefer to be a headless body, or a body-less head?
I know that some days I'm all about my body and some days (fortunately) my head will prevail.
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