It’s nostalgia week on i heart faces.
This is a photo of Jack on his 11th birthday (which I STILL haven’t done a post on, DARN it!). I love Jack for many reasons, one of which is the fact that for every present-giving holiday he has something off-the-wall on his list. One year it was a carnivorous plant. Last Christmas it was a ventriloquist dummy. This year for his birthday he wanted a slinky dog. A slinky dog? I mean how many 11 year-old boys ask for a slinky dog for their birthday? But not being one to shrink from my motherhood responsibilities, I embraced the challenge and set out to find a slinky dog.
Let it be known…
Those suckers are hard to find.
I started out where I always start out no matter what I’m looking for…Target, of course. No slinky dog there. I took a deep breath, all the while cringing and faced my next destination…Walmart. Luckily I made it out in one piece, although unfortunately, sans slinky dog. I started getting a little leery that slinky dogs still existed. But I was a determined mom so I threw caution to the wind, double checked to make sure I still had zero kids with me and headed into The Last Resort…Toys ‘R Us (shoot me now). I was in and out in a flash when I determined NO slinky dog would ever reside in such a place as this. I headed home resigned to the fact that I would not be successful in this year’s quest for Jack’s Off-the-Wall Gift.
We just happened to be in Utah for Jack’s birthday, on our way to Chicago and I needed to pick up a few last minute gifts for him. I had all but written off the slinky dog. I went to my all time favorite toy store in Utah, The Red Balloon. I love it because it has all the irresistable, high quality, time tested toys I played with as a kid. You know, the ones without the motors or electronic mumbo jumbo. Just good old fashioned wood and paint and high quality plastic. The kind of store my grandma would be proud of. As I walked past the Schleich figures and rounded the end of the Playmobile display, there on the shelf…you guessed it, were two slinky dogs! YESssss! Mission accomplished. Jack’s Off-the-Wall birthday gift 2009 completed!
If you are ever in the market to buy a slinky dog, a carnivorous plant, or a ventriloquist dummy, give me a holler. I’m your go-to gal. I’ve got the 411.
Go check out all the nostalgic photos this week. I’ll bet mine will be the only one featuring a slinky dog. 🙂
(or maybe not…)
Wenderful 
