Wow! A few summers ago the Lil' BOY ask me if I wanted to take a break from my job IN THE OFFICE WITH NO WINDOWS (where I used to work) and go on a little vacation. It's been a long time since I've gotten out of the house & out of town for anything thing different, so before I even said yes I had vacation clothes folded on the dresser. Only thing was, we're not going for three more weeks. (giggle). I guess I got a little excited.

We decided to go for 3-4 days, and we wanted to drive, so we had to pick a spot that wasn't toooooo far.  The Little Boy suggested we go see this place called "Mall of America" in Minnesota, USA.  He had gone with a buddy once and he wanted me to see it.  I'd heard it was the coolest, most biggest indoor shopping center and amusement park in the whole galaxy.  In fact, the amusement park was 'inside' the mall.  Anyway, the trip would take us for a nice ride through the countryside of 5 American states: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It sounded both fun and relaxing so that's what we decided to do.

Macaroni T. Bear stayed in the back seat - there was more room for a bear to stretch out back there.  We left Michigan, and drove all the way to Bloomington, Minnesota.  We were having a really nice time and arrived in Minnesota around 3:00 p.m. the next day. I didn't know what to expect, and then I saw it. Holy cow, this place was jamungus!  I parked the car and we went inside.  It seemed like it had a trillion stores and the whole middle of the place was the amusement park - water-ride, roller coaster, everything, right inside the building.

One of the biggest and by far coolest stores was the LEGO store. Honest, they sold Lego blocks of every kind and the whole store, walls, displays, counters, almost everything was built out of Legos.

And guess what else?  One of the stores in the mall was a teddy bear factory!!!  It really was!  Just think about it, a place where teddy bears are born.  It was called Basic Brown Bear Factory (which sadly has closed since our visit).  I could tell right away, we were going to be taking home a new family member before we left that mall.

This is how the factory worked.  You pick out an empty, furry thing from one of the big boxes on the floor (I picked from a box called "Lovie") and they take you to:  .

Step 1. The stuffing machine.  They give you instructions and POW!  POW!  POW! the stuffing machine helps your bear body fill up and take shape.  They make you hug your new friend to see if it feels right for you.  If not - another POW! for more stuffing or a gentle pull if it's too stiff.

Step 2. Then the helper sews the stuffing hole shut.

Step 3.  The helper brushes every single piece of fur until it's fluffy.

Step 4.  Your new baby bear goes on the blowing table.  They blow it down this table so hard that all the loose fluff flies off (all over you) and you're there to catch the shooting bear at the other end of the table.  You go over to another spot and pick out an outfit for him/her to wear and the helper dresses him/her just the way you want.  Mine was a girl bear whose factory name was Lovie, but I also wanted to give her a name that would remind us where she was born.  We were in Bloomington, Minnesota, so I named her Lovie Bloom.  I'm pretty sure that Mac had a crush on her the minute we got back to the car.

The Lil' BOY, Lovie Bloom, Mac and I headed for home right after Lovie B. was born.  This gave her a chance to get to know us before she met all the other bears in the HUG (a collection of teddy bears) and it gave Mac a chance to ride in the back seat alone with Lovie B. for two glorious days before he had to share her.

The trip was great.  My son and I got to spend some time together and I got a break from home & work, and Lovie Bloom joined the family.