Barbie's Finally in The Family!

Three years ago, when my oldest was three and my youngest was 1.5, I realized, "wow, I have little girls---BARBIES!!!!"  and I bought them their first barbies:)  They of course loved the Barbies, didn't do a whole lot with them at the time, but non-the-less, loved their barbies.  Well, soon after, I had gotten into a Goodwill stage for "treasure" hunting--and as luck would have it--the girls spotted Barbie cars--two, as a matter of fact--for $.50 each!  So their Barbies now had wheels!  Well, no long after, it was in my head (though I didn't say a word to Little Angel) that Barbie needs some place to live.  Believe it or not, the very next day three yr old Little Angel said, "Mommy, Barbie needs a house!"  And it was that day that I started looking---and I was shocked by the sticker prices--upwards of $200!!!!  The next day, something told me I should check e-bay---and I did.  And guess what I found--I found the above-shown house, as a local pick-up only, which happened to be in the Milwaukee area, with tons of wooden furniture--oh, and it was only $10!!!!!!  And, not only was this in the Milwaukee area, when we exchanged addresses, they happened to have to be in my town, just a few blocks from my neighborhood; and told me to meet at the local Ace Hardware, just outside of my old subdivision!  Talk about the law of attraction in action!  So, I showed up with the Jeep Grand Cherokee--it didn't fit!  (we have a dog barrier between the trunch and the backseat)---so then I ran home and came back with the Explorer, with the seat down--victory!! 

Well, the girls were of course excited about the new house, but honestly had no idea what to do with it.  So pretty much, for the last three years it's served as a storage shelf---it's been upstairs, it's been in the basement, it's been in both girls' rooms--but, again, pretty much my $10 treasure collected dust.  And, I ALMOST considered donating it before we left Wisconsin, almost...

Excitement arose in our household--last night in fact; my girls finally discovered the magic of barbies, together!!!!  And now, they can't get enough of playing Barbies!!!

My little girls: Fairy Girl, age 1.5, Little Angel, age 3

 

A Field Trip and My Trip Down Memory Lane

We had a fun day today. We went to Kenosha where I grew up to visit the Dinosaur Museum--it's free--it's small, it's perfect. The life-size exhibits were fun, but honestly didn't grab the girls' attention all that much. They did however really enjoy the interactive area in the basement--there were some arts and crafts, books, and the most fun--the large hanging magnetic puzzles--they were really neat. I'd love to put something like that up for us--where we paint the background--so it becomes art and fun!!! After, we drove over to the music store of Kenosha where I grew up to see what was going on. Emil, the owner of the shop since I first started playing 30 years ago, recently sold the shop. So I spoke with the new owner (a trumpet player I've known from playing in Kenosha community bands)--I've always been very close to Emil, so I was sad to find out he's not doing very well.

Following, per Kevin's recommendation, we had lunch at a place downtown called Keiser's---no, it's not authentic Kenosha Italian (which they are very well known for)--but they had a decent pizza there. Per some recommendations of FB friends we then headed over to a new-to-me icecream shop called Scoops---it was so darn cute in there! They also had candy and some cute easter baskets, etc. I snuck a purchase of a couple of wicker purses which the girls will receive from the Bunny this year--and received a free large bag of mini jelly beans too---bonus. So, what could be the one thing that makes an ice-cream/candy shop that much better???? When it's attached to a classic toy store!! I loved it in there---and the girls sat and played with a Thomas train display for about an hour while I chatted with the store associate.

I then drove past some memorable locations--such as the band shell, which was built my second year with the Kenosha Pops. It's set right on Lake Michigan and is beautiful! I spent 15 years with the band and have a lot of terrific memories! The band also provides a lot of wonderful free summer-time entertainment for the community of Kenosha (they easily draw 300 or more people a concert!).

It was nice being in my old neck of the woods. We all had a lot of fun. We had a great day!!