Garage Sales

Kids cost a lot. Diapers, clothes, food, and toys toys toys. Last year, I hit one garage sale in a neighborhood across the street from mine. I found a Richard Scarry book with lots of short stories, a Thomas the Tank Train set and a Hanna Andersson quilted jacket like this one but yellow, altogether I spent $5.00.  The jacket is my daughters absolute favorite, and it can totally work for a boy, so it'll last for years.
Well now, that Tesla is old enough to play outside more and more I really want to get things that will be good for out door play so I have been hitting garage sales on a more regular basis. T also has a lot of friends who are boys and a little brother so I'm trying to find things that will appeal to them too. (Not just girly stuff.) Last weekend I found a Mega Blocks Firetruck, Little People Dinosaur set and some army guys and planes and such.

All for $8.00!

Not bad right? Tesla loves the truck but mostly the dinosaurs. I haven't showed her the army stuff yet. That will be strictly outside, because there's a lot of them and they are just cheapy toys and will most likely get broken quickly. The firetruck was pretty gross when I got it. It was covered in spiders, dirt and I think animal hair. Not sure though. It was probably played with just outside and these things happen. I soaked it in some water, soap and vinegar, scrubbed the whole thing down and used some goo gone for the labels that were kind of coming off. It looks great! I think everyone will have fun with it.
The other night we also found a Little Tikes Playhouse for the back yard for $35 on Craigslist. I still need to clean it and then put it back together before we show T but it will be a great addition to play time. I'm still looking for more activity items, like a T-ball set, but I there's no rush. In the mean time I'll keep hitting garage sales and see what I find. I'm hoping the lady who had the one last year that I bought the Hanna Andersson jacket at will have another one this year! She has two little girls that are about a year and half older than Tesla, so the possibilities are endless for good things I can find there!

What are you looking for at garage sales?
Let me know you're reading along and leave a comment.... You know it would make my day!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!!!

We made it out side! It only took about 20 minutes to get T all bundled up. Tesla does not have snow pants so I wasn't quite sure what to put on her bottem, but I ended up putting a pair of tights, leggings and fleece pants. We were only outside for about a minute, because I of course was wearing rain boots, sweats and short sleeve t-shirt. But it was worth it to get at least one picture outside in the snow.