Build-A-Bear!

Today was one of those rare days where Kendall had a teacher workday, and Brian didn’t!  Brandon and I both stayed home today and took turns hanging with her, and working.  She and Brandon took a trip to the Bass Pro Shops this morning (yup, after more Plano boxes!) and she came home with a cute Tinkerbell fishing rod!  It’s similar to Brian’s Star Wars one, in that it came with some foam “fish” to practice on, and it makes fun sound effects when she casts it.  I had cashed in the last of our Huggies Rewards Points (which, for how much you spend on diapers, don’t feel all that rewarding) and got Kendall this basic skills bear puzzle.  It arrived today, and she was so stoked to play with it!  She loves puzzles, but this one adds a whole new dimension.  She’s pretty good at all the skills, except the big green button gives her a little trouble.  To celebrate Brian’s first week in school, we had a surprise planned for him this afternoon!  We took the kids to Build-A-Bear for the first time!  Once I’d found out that there were 1) Star Wars, 2) Clone Wars, 3) Hello Kitty, and 4) How to Train Your Dragon stuff all available for Build-A-Bear toys, I knew it would have to be a part of our life.  I was able to round up a Captain Rex outfix online (since it’s been out of production for about four years), because I knew that was something Brian just had to have!  I also paid a bit of a premium to get him an unstuffed Toothless, which was so popular, they sold out in pre-orders before they even hit the shelves back in June.  We asked him if wanted to do a Clone Wars or a Dragon activity, and he picked Clone Wars–so, he made a cute fuzzy bear that he could dress up as Rex!  Kendall made a big Hello Kitty.  We all learned how the whole B-A-B thing works: how you pick a heart, choose characteristics for your bear, pick a sound (Star Wars main title song for Brian’s bear, and “meow” cat sounds for Kendall’s Kitty), and visit the stuffing station (there’s this whole ceremony when you put the heart in!)  After that, you give your bear a bath, and then name them and get a birth certificate printed up.  Finally, you dress your new friend and check out!  It’s a lot of fun. 🙂  Once we got home, the kids were excited to dress and re-dress their bears.  We went all in and bought the bears outfits, lightsabers, shoes, pajamas, etc.  Brian designed an entire “training program” for his new friend, who he named Commander Fluffy.  His reasoning is that any bear of his needed to be up for the challenge of keeping up with him!  Commander Fluffy had to work on strength and agility trials, and pass all sorts of tests, leveling up as he went.  Eventually, Brian declared him a graduate of his Bear Training Academy, and Commander Fluffy was able to take his place at Brian’s side.  Kendall, meanwhile, was dressing and undressing and dressing Kitty again!  I worked with her on how to dress Kitty feet-first, which is a must–ain’t nothin’ going over that melon. 😉  I couldn’t help but go ahead and tell Brian about the Toothless–which he was pretty happy about (but maybe a little confused, because Toothless’s head came stuffed, but not the rest of him..!)  We’ll have another round at B-A-B soon. 🙂