two girls on the town
Today the sun finally peeked out from behind those dark cumulonimbus clouds! (That word is SO ominous…which is maybe exactly why I like it.)
Raring to go, Zia and I hopped in the Mini and went for a ride. We stopped at Jo Ann fabrics to pick up some cotton remnants for new pillows, then on to T.J. Maxx.
T.J. Maxx has the coolest things for kids, for really good prices. We found this
set of Melissa & Doug nesting blocks.
They are covered with letters of the alphabet, and colorful animals and objects to correspond to the letters. You can stack them to make a tower, or nest them neatly together. When they’re nested, they have a Z right in the middle…
We also found a World Map puzzle by Melissa and Doug.They seem to be a pretty good company that makes quality educational toys; I’ve bought a few of their things for Zia over the past couple of years. The map puzzle is 2’x3′ when assembled, and really thick and sturdy. Zia seemed to like putting it together, even though it’s made for kids who are a little older.
Some people say they don’t like this puzzle because the pieces don’t really interlock and tend to slide around. I actually like the design because it draws more attention to the shape of each continent, rather than each just being shaped like a squiggly puzzle piece. It just takes a little more one-on-one attention to help her put it together. But that’s kind of the point, I think…to do it together. Anyway, the outer-edge puzzle pieces do interlock, which definitely keeps the whole thing together once it’s finished.
Our last stop was Whole Foods, where we picked up some green kale and yellow corn chips. Before we left, we stopped at the coffee bar for the finishing touch to our mamma/daughter shopping day: a cold, fizzy glass of Elderberry Hibiscus kombucha tea. With two straws.
We drank it in little sips together, making silly faces because of the fizziness, bumping heads, and laughing so hard we almost fell off our chairs (and booster seat). People must’ve thought we were crazy. So fun.
