Tag: Gabby

Thanks, Gabby!

In all the years I worked in radio I was star struck quite a few times. This weekend, I got to witness first hand my daughter being star struck and it was worth every second.

Laila Lockhart Kraner, the star of Gabby’s Dollhouse, did a meet and greet at a local furniture store this weekend and I took Ella and her cousin. She’d been counting down “how many sleeps” since I told her about it. Sunday was the big day!

She could hardly contain herself when she woke up. She was ready to go almost immediately. Sam had bought her a Gabby shirt to wear for the day, and she couldn’t wait to put it on. ”Gabby is going to love it,” she told me.

I left a bit early, figuring that it was probably going to be a bit crazy. When we pulled in, there were people waiting in their cars. It was about 10:15am and the event was supposed to start at 11. As soon as I put the car in park, Ella wanted to get out and wait at the door. Thank goodness it was like 50 degrees and sunny!

Turns out, we were the first in line. Other parents followed suit and lined up behind us. Ella kept staring inside the place, hoping to get a glimpse of Gabby. I was grateful that they opened the doors early. We were given a number (we were #2, despite being first in line) and that would be how we got to go to meet her.

They had the place decorated with lots of cardboard cut outs and such.

There were snacks and plenty of things to do. We went right into the balloon art line, where my niece got a unicorn and Ella got a dog.

They had a DJ there playing music and he was the one who would call our number. There were SO many people. Ella wasn’t quite sure what to do. It wasn’t long and they announced that Gabby was coming out to meet everyone and they played her theme song. I pointed her out to Ella as she came out and she was just in awe! They walked her over to a couch where she would be posing for pictures. Ella stood there and just watched her – star struck!

Soon after, they called out a range of numbers and it was time to line up to meet her! I snapped pictures with my phone, but my niece wanted me to take one with her phone, too. When they got up on the couch, Gabby said hello to her and I think she thought she was dreaming!

I fumbled with my niece’s phone and figured out the camera and asked if we could do one more picture, and she said “Sure!”

I guess that one is a little better. 

I thanked Gabby for giving the girls the chance to meet her and we went off to get faces painted. Gabby has lots of cats on the show, so Ella had to get a cat.

Both girls asked where the play place was. I laughed and said there wasn’t one. So they decided to play “Hide from Keith” and they were all over the place! LOL I told them I knew there was a play place at the McDonald’s down the road and we went and grabbed lunch. At the play place, we ran into many other Gabby fans who were wearing cat ears and had faces painted. They played and had a blast. 

When we left my niece said, “Uncle Keith, since we were both so well behaved, maybe you could take us to that Target and we could look at toys.” Needless to say, we went to Target, but I had to rope them both in when they began asking for $150 dollar Barbie houses and other stuff that was super expensive. They both picked a Barbie doll and we headed home.

My mother-in-law was at the house watching Andrew and was going to take my niece home with her when we got back. Ella was having such a fun time, she cried when she heard she was leaving. So I told her she could stay and I would take her home later that evening.

On the ride back home, Ella and Andrew both fell asleep in the car. None of us had dinner yet, so I drove through somewhere and we went home and ate. We stayed up a bit later than normal, so the food could settle a bit and after reading books, brushing teeth and saying prayers, we were off to sleep. 

It was a fun and exhausting day, and I hope that Ella will remember it for a very long time. I know I will.

A Couple Dad Stories

Weekend in the Dollhouse?

When people ask me if I watch certain shows on television, I have to remind them that I have toddlers at home. The shows I watch are the ones the kids watch: Bluey, Miss Rachel, Work It Out Wombats, Fireman Sam, and my daughter’s favorite, Gabby’s Dollhouse.

On the show, the main character is played by a gal named Laila Lockhart Kraner. She wears some magic ears on her head that allows her to shrink down and interact with the various cats in her dollhouse. 

My wife sent me a thing last week that said that Laila is coming to some furniture store near us. You could sign up to win VIP meet and greets, which I did. I also reserved a spot to go to the event this Sunday. I know there will be games, snacks, face painting and “Gabby” herself. When I told Ella about it, she was SO excited! She keeps asking how many more “sleeps” till we meet her. 

My co-worker asked me tonight if I had plans for the weekend. I wish I could describe the look on his face when I told him I was going to meet Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse! LOL! All I know is that I hope my daughter has a great time!

“He is into everything!”

My youngest son, Andrew, is someone that you need to watch every second of the day. He is just so fast. The other day, I was loading the dishwasher. He walked up to me and wanted to help. When I looked at him, I asked him what was in his hair. It looked like maybe he poured water on it. Nope. In the 5 minutes I turned my back, he got into my wife’s shampoo and kept putting it in his hair. He had enough shampoo in his hair to wash his, Ella’s, the dog, and you! 

Tonight, while Sam was loading the dishwasher, he went into the laundry room and opened up the washer. It had completed its cycle and our sheets were waiting in there to be put in the dryer. What did Andrew do? He saw our container of Oxiclean.

He sees us add this to certain loads of laundry BEFORE we wash them. So, he felt that it was totally ok to add some (i.e. A LOT) to the sheets that were in there. Sam had to rewash the sheets and hope that too much Oxiclean was not going to be a problem.

Recently, my father-in-law was over and he needed a saw to cut something. I went and got mine out of the garage. Because it was raining, I set it up on the shelf by the washer and dryer. I figured it would be out of the way and I would put it back when I got a second. Well, guess who found it and tried it on his finger? Yep. Andrew!

But wait! There’s more! 

Sam took the dog outside to go to the bathroom. In the 3-4 minutes that she was outside, Andrew was at it again. When she walked in, she saw him on a kitchen chair pushed up to the counter. On the counter, he had taken the piece that holds a coffee filter out and put a filter in it. He then scooped a tremendous amount of coffee into the filter. He had actually turned the pot on to brew. Thankfully, there was no water in it, so he didn’t brew any. Of course, we will be sweeping up coffee grounds from the counter, the floor, and a few other places for the next week!

(That’s NOT Andrew, but you get the idea!)

Highlight of the Week

Despite the snow we got this week, the temperatures have been on the mild side. It was nice for all of us to get out and walk the neighborhood. We still bundled up as it was breezy, but it was great to get out and show Daisy the neighborhood.