I was most grateful yesterday for the opportunity to brainstorm and communicate to make a plan that everyone felt happy about and was respectful to all of our needs (including Yoshi!)
This is what it looked like: our family (Mike, Marisol, Gerry, and I) leaving after lunch to drive to Charlotte. Once there we were on a mission to find a store that has the wiiU set up, so Gerry could get his fix. Best Buy did not so we walked across the street to Target which was a winner. Target also always involves perusing the toys. Gerry was finally persuaded to leave by encouraging him to use some allowance money to buy something - he chose two new action figures: the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, a two pack for $4.26, quite a deal!
From there we head over to the NASCAR hall of fame museum, an activity chosen by Mike that was lots of fun for all of us. I text my mom to let her know they should start getting ready to leave. They stayed back with Yoshi to cut back on her crate time.
Then we all met at Dale Earnhardt Jr's restaurant, Whiskey River, for dinner. Grandpa and I rode the mechanical bull (or "convertible volt" in Gerry-speak)which led to Marisok declaring it the "Best. Restaurant. Ever!"
It was a great day that could have gone much differently if we hadn't taken the time to discuss our plans to begin with. Marisol particularly was not happy with our original plan which didn't include my mom and dad joining us for dinner. I'm do glad we took the time to work things out.
By the way, did you know in tribal cultures they discussed things for hours or even days before coming to a consensus that everyone agreed to?