A Stop at Del Sol

After a kinda rough-ish day yesterday, I decided to get the girls out of the house today. With a little help from Brett in getting out the door on time, the girls and I walked over to our local library for story time. It was the usual trip - stories, a craft and then we got a few books and a kid-friendly DVD. Lucie picked out "Wul Wol" -- That's "Word World" for those of you who don't speak Lucie.

The trip to the library was routine, but the trip home was not. Usually, we just take the straight shot home down the main road - sometimes with a brief stop in the "magical garden" (aka Ace Hardware's Garden Center). However, today I tried something different. Today, I let Ella call the shots and choose our route home. One of the benefits of living in a touristy town is that it makes walking around that much more interesting. Lots of things to look at. To my surprise, Ella did not opt for the "magical garden" route. Instead she had us turn down a different road so that we could go to "the ring store." I honestly had no idea what she was talking about at first. Our town has some stores with jewelry, but I couldn't remember her ever getting excited about those. Then, it dawned on me what store she meant.

There is a store in town called Del Sol - it's a chain of stores that are usually located in sunny, touristy areas. They specialize in products that change color in the sun. In our town, they occasionally entice people into the store by giving out plastic rings that demonstrate what their products do. They are just simple plastic jewelry that change from clear to a color, but Ella sure does love them. It's like magic!

Today they weren't doing any free ring giveaways on the sidewalk, but I thought that going inside might be a good way to entertain Ella for a bit. They have special lights in the store so you can "try out" the merchandise. We had lots of fun testing out the various products -- frisbees, nailpolish, hair clips, etc. Then, the owner noticed us, found his trusty jar of plastic rings and let Ella pick out one for herself and one for Lucie. I decided to splurge and buy a bottle of Color Change Nail Polish in Ruby Slipper that changes from sliver glitter to red glitter. So, after Ella finishes her nap today, we've got a date to paint her nails!

Interestingly, the store owner also told me to store the nail polish upside down if I want to be able to use all of the bottle. Apparently, it keeps it from drying out. I'd never heard that one before...even from my manicurist sister Jamie. If you're interested in any of these fun color-changing products, you can buy them online or at one of their many locations worldwide. To find a location, go here.