A young boy sits on the shoulders of a woman, who is carrying a young girl.
A family is at the mall
Not every group consisting of a young boy, a young girl, and a woman is a family; there is no indication that anyone is at the mall.
A boy and a girl can be with a woman without being a family. A boy and a girl and a woman can be at a place that is not the mall.
No reference to the mall, and the collection of people doesn't have to be a family.