This mall is massive. Walking all the way around each level is almost a mile. Bring the stroller! There are actually pretty good deals to be found here especially at Nordstroms Rack, Macys, and Marshalls. The center of the mall has Nickelodeon themed park, formerly Camp Snoopy. They have a lot of fun things for kids maybe 5+ while the little kids will enjoying seeing (and begging for) the Dora paraphernalia. There is a lot of general mall food with real restaurants on the top floor. This is easily an all day trip, or even two days.

We went to a birthday party here last summer and it was really nice. The play space was large, open and clean. There was an elaborate play kitchen area and a super fast climbing slide. The staff seamed very attentive and watchful of the children while giving them the space to play. There was a nice cafe with wi-fi for the adults and good healthy food for both adults and kids. The cafe also had a reading room by it full of books and kid furniture. It is probably the perfect rainy day place.

These have to be the best cupcakes ever. Every time we go back to Palo Alto I make at least one stop in here. My toddler gets so excited when he sees the cupcakes he tries to count them all. Thankfully he doesn't like to actually eat them. So he gets to be excited and I get the whole cupcake! He then plays with the utensils. The shop is also in the Stanford Shopping Center which is an easy place to kill a day.

This is a great little mall. It is a bit pricey in the stores, but if you just need to get the toddler outside it is a great place to go. It is a nice outdoor mall so the kids can play in the sun or shade depending on your preference. There are a number of fountains that toddlers are almost always climbing on and playing in. Coffee shops abound so it is easy to wake up with some caffeine while the kiddos run and get their wiggles out. People tend to bring small dogs to this mall too which always brings some excitement to the small kids. At holidays the Easter bunny/Santa/other seasonal character usually makes a visit. They also have jazz concerts in the summer.

The Cantor Art center is home to an interesting collection. They have a couple of mummies, some Greek pottery and a large African art collection. It really isn't a place with anything for small children. We did some of the basic "lets find colors" but too much is highly touchable/breakable for a toddler to run around. It may be fun for older kids though. My toddler did enjoy running around the statues outside. Cute little gift shop though with a nice selection of books.