Ellis was invited to a rock-climbing birthday party in Rockville today. Helen asked me to drop him off and take Anson with me so she could clean the house in advance of the maids coming tomorrow. So after dropping Ellis off, we drove a few miles down the road to White Flint Mall. Anson loves an occasional trip to a local mall.
Here he is eating a distant variation on Chinese cuisine in the "Food Court", while holding forth on a variety of topics. Probably something related to superheros in one form or another.
After his meal, we went to read in the book store and purchase a gift for the birthday boy. By then it was time to pick up Ellis, so off we went. There's an immense video arcade in the mall, which I've taken the boys to before. Ellis made me swear not to take Anson without him. So after picking up Ellis at the party, we drove back down to the mall for about an hour of sensory overload in the arcade. Every machine is turned up to maximum volume, and most of the games are unplayably boring (in my opinion), but the boys loved it. I got a headache from the screeching sound of the motorcycle rally game. Ah, the joys of fatherhood.