Monday Monday

We awoke to an absolutely gorgeous morning. Sunshine, blue skies, fresh breezes, probably not more than the lower 70's at 9:30. I read in bed until Lauren was ready to get moving. Ran an episode of the first season of Sailor Moon while I ate breakfast and we both got organized. Usagi on vacation with her folks and her little brother Shingo in "The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family." A brainwashed Mamoru is sent to check out a monster rumored to live in a lake near a hot springs resort. He releases the monster...who promptly ignores him and tries to attack Usagi and her family instead. The other Guardians arrive to help get rid of her.

Headed out around 11 to catch the bus to the Moorestown Mall. Unfortunately, I misjudged how fast we could walk, and we didn't get to King's Highway in time. We explored the big CVS across the street briefly before finally catching a slightly late 12:37 bus. It wasn't full, and we were two of three people who went all the way to the mall.

As we did last year, we started with lunch at the Chick Fil 'A across the street. It was almost 1:30 by the time we got in, and it was still really busy. I ended up having a chicken sandwich with waffle fries and a very tasty frosted lemonade. Lauren had the chicken wrap with the waffle fries and an avocado ranch dressing that she said was really yummy.

We finally decided there wasn't anything else on that side of the street we couldn't find elsewhere and returned to the Moorestown Mall side to check out the Barnes and Noble. It's one of the largest Barnes and Nobles in our area, and the only one I know of to still sell music and movies. I settled for the novelization of Revenge of the Sith. While I'm not the biggest fan of the prequels, I did hear that the novel versions were quite good, filling in or expanding on points in the movies that weren't clear or elaborated on.

Since the Mall proper is right behind Barnes and Noble, we went there next. Neither of us found anything we wanted in Sears. I didn't have any luck in Boscov's, but she found a couple of shirts for work and a t-shirt. FYE (the last one in this area) was a mess; they'd mostly shoved their remaining DVDs and music in the back of the tiny store. The rest was given over to junk and t-shirts that even Lauren wasn't interested in. We peered at Toy Genius, admiring a realistic kid kitchen set with an ice dispenser that put out wooden "ice" blocks and a play grocery store register that had a belt that moved.

After Toy Genius, we headed back outside and to the very end of the Mall property to check out Old Navy. They were having a half-price sale on t-shirts and tank tops. Lauren picked up a couple of the latter. I found a really cool t-shirt in graduated stripes of coral pink, white, and blue.

By that point, it was past 6. We knew we weren't going to have the time for dinner at home, so we headed to the food court to grab a quick meal. Lauren got a salad from Saladworks. I bought a roast beef hoagie and baked chips from Subway. The food court was surprisingly quiet for dinner time. Maybe everyone was at the movies; the entrance to the Regal Cinema is right next to there.

Thankfully, not only did we manage to catch the 6:44, but there were no problems getting home. No traffic anywhere, not even Haddonfield or Cherry Hill. We stopped quickly at the big CVS on the corner of King's Highway and the White Horse Pike again to use the bathroom and for me to get money, then strolled home.

I hit the shower as soon as we got in. We chatted online while watching The Peanuts Movie. Poor Charlie Brown can't catch a break. He wants to impress that new Little Red Haired Girl, but everything he does, from attempting to join a dance contest to reading War & Peace for a book report, doesn't seem to work out. Meanwhile, his dog Snoopy is inspired by a runaway toy airplane to write a novel about him as a World War I flying ace who rescues a pretty poodle from the infamous Red Baron.

Blue Sky hit all the right marks with this one, from the use of the actual animation style of the comics in thought bubbles to Chuck's never-say die attitude. A must for fans of the Peanuts or someone looking for a good animated movie for younger kids.

Tomorrow, we're going to head further afield to the King of Prussia Mall.