Build A Bear Nightmare!

Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Lynn take the kids to Build A Bear for their birthdays. We decided to brave the crowds and go to the Boise Mall for Alyssa and Rylan the day after Christmas. We went after Christmas last year and don't remember it being bad. Boy, this year was a nightmare! Our first clue should have been the exit to the mall. It was backed up to the freeway. Boise's mall is in an awful location anyway and traffic can be a nightmare. We thought we would avoid some of the crowd and turn right and go the other way around the mall. Well, that was just as bad. I don't know how long it actually took us to get into the parking lot....and then it took forever to actually park. It was an utter traffic jam in the parking lot. When we finally parked, I told Mike we should just go home and he said, "Heck no, we're here now!" I was nervous about the crowds of people. We took the adventure in stride. Thankfully we all had cell phones so we could find Grandma and Grandpa and could meet them at Build A Bear.

The line in Build A Bear was also HUGE! We were out the door. The amazing thing was the line kept growing. I just couldn't imagine people wanted to wait that long! Thankfully our kids were amazing. Grandpa Lynn and Mike were also amazing. Mike took care of Cambrie who got a little fussy. Grandma and I stood in line with the other kids. Rylan was so tired; we had him on his leash, but he just wanted to lay down. He tried to lay down on the floor several times. Although he was tired, he never screamed or cried. It was a true blessing! While we were in line, Grandma and the kids went and picked out the desired outfits. Grandma was nice and let Gavin choose an outfit too. He was so excited to find the Iron Man costume he had seen online. He also chose an Iron Man t-shirt and jeans for Rylan's bear. He figured Rylan would want the t-shirt and not the costume because the mask on the costume would cover the bear's face.....aren't brothers so thoughtful?! :) Rylan was happy. He LOVES Iron Man just about as much as Gavin does. Alyssa chose a cute dress with pink hearts on it and some pink "glass" slippers. She also found a silver purse as an accessory she had to have! The long line did work in our favor for once. Alyssa decided she had to go to the bathroom - and for once, there was plenty of time to take her!

The kids enjoyed making their bears. Alyssa chose a cute pink bear with white hearts. Rylan chose a super soft brown bear. This was Rylan's first time building a bear. He did really good. He stepped on the pedal. He gave his bear a heart. He squeezed his bear. We thought we could bypass the whole "give the bear a bath" phase of the process since the lines were so huge and we had been there forever; however, Alyssa knew that phase and she went straight for it. Rylan didn't know he was missing it so Grandma helped him dress his bear while Alyssa "bathed" her bear. Grandma then stood in the huge line for the registers while I helped register the new bears and create their birth certificates. In the end, we ended up with some very happy kids and with two new additions to our family: Teddi Bear and Iron Bear.

I think from the time we had left the house to the time we had returned it had been a 3 hour process - at least! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! We love your Build A Bear tradition....but we seriously did not plan well when we had two kids with December birthdays! :)