Automatic Trash

I took the kids to the mall this evening since we didn't have anything to do here in Sioux Falls. The weather was supposed to turn bad, so we decided to head out and get some dinner before it started to rain. Of course the kids wanted to play first at the germ infested play area. That lasted about 5 minutes until Kaitlyn slipped and fell backwards off of some stairs and James had to go potty. Long story short, after getting shoes on, James didn't have to go potty anymore, and Kaitlyn was back to running around. Doh. Oh well, I thought, this would be a great time to get hands washed and head back to the food court.
The kids enjoyed a ride on the miniature carousel for a WHOLE dollar (geez). They had a blast though, and it actually lasted a while, to my surprise. Then, it was off to the DQ.
I love Dairy Queen, but really only for their ice cream. I did notice though, that they had a kid's meal for around $3.00, which included a hot dog, drink, applesauce, a toy, AND a free kid's ice cream. Really? $3.00? Wow. Must be some quality hot dogs... sigh.
The kids and I sat down to eat... me my bbq beef burger and them their hot dogs, and they weren't the least bit interested in the hot dogs. Both kids ate their applesauce first, and while they did that, I cut their hot dogs in half for them. I looked in the center of the hot dog, and honestly, I could NOT tell if they were cooked all the way through. SICK! I tried a bite of Kaitlyn's and still wasn't sold, but she gobbled up a few bites and seemed happy with it. James had one bite, and after the past history of his touchy stomach, I decided to not push it. So basically, for dinner, they had applesauce, and ice cream. Nathan, I've lost it, haven't I?
The best, most awesome part of the night was me showing James the automatic trash door on the garbage cans in the food court. I told him, "James, watch this!" and I waved my hand in front of the door, and voila! It opened! You should have seen the look on his face! For the next five minutes while we waited for Kaitlyn to eat her ice cream, James put one thing after another into the trash just so he could wave his hand in front of the door to open it. Every time, he giggled. One older gentleman, who had just finished his ice cream, came over to the trash to throw away his cup. James quickly waved his hands in front of the door to open it for him and then rushed off to the side to get out of the man's way. The man looked at James and said, "Why thank you!" and James bent his elbow, putting his hand up to his waist, slowly bowed forward and said, "With pleasure!" LOL! Where does this kid come up with this stuff???
Pretty soon the trash can door stopped responding. I told James that it must be because it was tired. As we headed out through the rest of the food court to the parking lot, James waved in front of every trash can door he could find. When it opened, he said, "Nope! This one's not tired!" :)