The Adventures of Miss V: Willow Glen Fun

Today I got to spend the day with my son and one of my best girlfriends daughter, Ashley. Ashley is four years old and not one to just sit. Since Evan is still quite young, most of our time is spent at home or taking a stroll around one of our locals malls. But I knew that these activities probably wouldn't "sit" well with her (yes...pun intended!) so I planned a day of walking around Willow Glen.

Willow Glen is a small section of San Jose (the city we live in) that has an adorable down town area with cute mom and pop shops, restaurants, Starbucks (yes!), bookstores, antique shops and frozen yogurt (YUM!).

Before we left, I told Ashley that if she behaved, we'd make our way to Powell's Sweet Shoppe. I should have known that a four year old isn't to be trusted! But I did know that I needed to cut her a little slack.

We arrived in Willow Glen and made our way through the cozy shops when all the while I heard this, "Are we there yet?" "This is so far." "Why is it taking so long?" I guess Ashley wanted to make Powell's our first stop! Then at last, we were there.

Just before entering the store, I pulled Ashley aside and gave her a few ground rules to follow:

1. Don't touch anything, just look

2. Point at what you want and I'll get it for you

3. Stay with me

And in we went.

If you aren't familiar with Powell's, it is a cute little candy shop with all kinds of candy, novelty items and gelato. Most items are very retro and antique looking which makes it even more fun to snoop around. They also have a flat screen TV in the back of the store which plays "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" continually. Imagine being an employee there...you'd most definitely know every line!

Anyhoo, I showed Ashley the area in which she could choose her candy selections and one of the first items she pointed to was black licorice. Ick! I told her that she may want to pick something else because she probably wouldn't like it, but she insisted. So in went the licorice. We went along and filled the bag a little more with a few other candies and we made our way to the checkout. Oh and in case anyone is wondering, yes, I filled a bag of my own!

After exiting the store, we walked down to a nicely shaded area filled with tables and chairs so we could indulge in our candy goodness! Here is where my fun came into play! I got to use my new Nikon 40D digital SLR camera along with my new lens! Ashley was such a sport and posed for some adorable photos....oh and Evan did a good job too!