In Which Connor Shops Reluctantly, And We Make An Unusual Find

It was raining today but I was feeling cooped up and really wanted to get out of the house, so after Connor was finished with school and Quiet Time I loaded him in the van and we took off for the antique mall.  I absolutely love the antique mall because there are so many fun things to look at, and it's a rare occasion when I don't walk out with at least one find. 

Connor, however, was not particularly thrilled with our outing.  Connor was convinced that going to the antique mall was the Worst Idea Ever.  You can see just how thrilled he is to be there.

He's still in a funk from the previous week, though I think he's just showing us the attitude at home as I haven't received any reports of it from school.  Kids always seem to save those special moods for their parents, right?  At any rate, he spent the entire time with a variation of the Pouty Face or the Angry Face on.  He signed "Bye bye" to every single person we passed in the store. 

The women who work at the antique mall know Connor and me pretty well by now-- we've been coming in there for over three years.  They all think Connor is absolutely adorable, and coo over him every time he comes in, which he normally eats up.  Today he waved "Please bye bye" to them and went back to pouting.  At least he was polite about it.

We also ran into a woman who had been a special education teacher for many years, and knew sign language.  Of course she fell under Connor's spell too, found the store cat for Connor, and brought him over for the little guy to see. 

Connor waved "Please bye bye" to the cat.

So my antique store outing didn't last as long as I'd expected it to because the little guy was asking very nicely to leave, and I like to reward that sort of behavior.  I would much rather see "Please bye bye" than hear a whole lot of ear-piercing shrieking, which is what he usually resorts to if we're somewhere he doesn't want to be and I don't leave immediately. 

As a result I didn't end up picking up anything this time, but I did see an interesting wall hanging leaning on a little hutch in a country-style booth.  This was a booth filled with tea cups, scented soap, teddy bears in overalls, lace doilies and wooden chickens-- the kind you'd picture a sweet little old lady selling.  The wall hanging was labeled "Leaf Picture" and was leaning against a shelf along with a bunch of other frames filled with pressed leaves and flowers-- violets, roses, oak leaf arrangements, daisies and the like.

So if anyone was wondering, apparently $11.50 is the going rate for "Leaf Pictures" these days.  At least when they're sold by little old ladies in antique malls.


~Jess