Shopping Malls

Last week Dante and I ventured out to the "real" (a.k.a. indoor) mall for the first time.  I must admit that it is quite sad that it took me almost 8 months of living here to get to the mall.

But anyways.  

We went in the afternoon.  It was not crowded, but it was pretty busy.  Because malls can be such overstimulating environments, we mostly just sat and watched everything going on so that Dante could take everything in.  He did well and was never overwhelmed, but he was very distracted and interested in everything.  We left with a we need to come back soon mentality.

Well, the opportunity to go back came sooner than expected, and we got to go yesterday morning.  One of the great things about being home schooled is that I can take Dante somewhere where it it usually loud and crowded, on a weekday morning when it is much quieter.  

We walked around some, and Dante was so good about checking in with me and keeping my pace.

We then checked out some of the little kid rides and watched some toddlers play on the playground.  I did not get any pictures of that because I figured I looked creepy enough just sitting there letting my dog watch their children ;-)

It took Dante lots of coaxing to "jump" on this.

There was no one in Build-A-Bear, and the woman who worked there was very nice, so we walked through all of it and took our time.  Let me just say it took all of Dante's self control not to grab one of those bears!

Watching the stuffing machine.

The "bath tub."  He didn't quite know what to do when it started shooting air.

Dante usually does fine with mirrors, but this one was along a whole wall, and when the "other dog" did not stop following him he barked at it twice.  Not ideal, but his barking has come a long way from where it was, so I'm not too worried.

Even though it was quiet by human standards, it was still one of Dante's biggest outings so far.  He was pretty tired when we left and slept most of the afternoon.

Tired in the food court