We all hopped into the CI van, including the father. I was vey happy that he came along this time because he has never come on an outing before. He told me later that this was his very first trip to the mall. During the ride, I was able to find out how the girls are doing in school. Today was to be their first day of school but they had special permission to be out because of the sponsor visit. Both girls are doing well and passed onto the next grade. I asked if they used the CI community center much and I learned that they do not go as much as they would like to because it is late when the girls come in from school and they are up late doing homework. I also found out that Bleidys and her mom argue about whether or not she is old enough to have a boyfriend yet :) :) And Maria showed me some of the clothing that she wore that came from a Special Needs donation I sent earlier this year.

Once we arrived at the mall, we waited  for the food court to open and enjoyed passing the time taking videos and photos. We ordered pizza for the girls and me and the others enjoyed chicken and beef. I was very surprised to see how much Bleidys ate this time because she never ate much before and Maria ate several slices also. Their little cousin, Alexandra,  did not eat very much this time.

After lunch, we all went shopping for clothes and groceries and this proved to be very interesting in that teens of course have definite ideas about what they want. As Dad went off with Vince the van driver to get groceries, the rest of us looked for school clothes but the girls were having  hard time finding something that they liked and the store was a little more expensive. Mom suggested that we visit another less expensive store that had a greater variety of clothes for teens and preteens. Before we set off for this store, Bleidys had a little incident so we had to postpone the shopping until this was taken care of!

Once we arrived at the new store, the girls had a ball looking for clothes. They had a certain type of pants that they were looking for. I guess it is the style in their area because I have not seen them here in the USA where I live but we spent what seemed like hours looking for this particular kind of item. Dad, who has an injured back, was in pain at times but he has very patient as the girls searched for what they liked. Then we were able to get some school shoes also. Although I do not sponsor Alexandra, she was able to get some school shoes also. She is a very sweet child.

As we were traveling through the mall, Maria eagerly took my hand, but since Bleidys is a teen, the CI guidelines say that we are not allowed to hold hands and she seemed a little sad, so I gave her plenty of hugs. She was a little afraid of going down the escalator although she is 14 so  I tried to help her. I understand because I use to be the same way. Maria was fine with the escalator!

On the way back home, we stopped by a McDonald's to get ice cream for everyone. It was a nice treat on a hot day!