Thanks, Grandpa Jack!!

There's a shopping place nearby that we frequent called Bonifacio High Street. We find ourselves there at least once a week because they have good restaurants, modern art, and stores that we like. We went to a toy store there the first week we were here, and Kiki laid eyes on the most magical, wonderful, and delightful thing she'd ever seen in her life: a stuffed alligator whose insides were made out of an ultra-soft blanket that you could unroll. 

Oh man, was she ever in love.

Every time we went to High Street she would say, "I need to check on my alligator.  I need to see if he is there and pet him and love him."  That's what we did, for weeks and weeks.  It just broke my heart how much she loved that alligator, but he was pretty expensive so I wasn't going to buy him just because I have the cutest kid ever.  I had promised him for Christmas, but then I started to earnestly worry that he wouldn't be there at Christmas. 

Grandpa Jack saved the day.  Last week, I remembered that my dad had given me the girls' Christmas and birthday money before we left, and that was exactly what the alligator cost.

So he bought it for her, and she has loved it and taken it everywhere and slept with it. Kate, too, took advantage of the offer and picked out some awesome Playmobils.  I guess Christmas came VERY early this year.  It's because of the international date line.