Shopping Spree

My mom decided to treat me to a new outfit today!  I was soooooo excited -- I love shopping!  Here we are when we just got to the mall.  It was really bright and sunny outside.  Did you notice something about me?  Yep!  No more glasses!  Mom doesn't wear them anymore, either!  We got contact lenses.  :)

Right inside the mall entrance, there's a vending machine.  I don't know what that is, but Mom sure was excited about it.  She took me over to it and showed me all the pictures of soda pop.  I guess a vending machine is like an art gallery.

She let me touch one of the pictures, and it was kinda cool.  I always thought you weren't allowed to touch the pictures in an art gallery!  I was afraid maybe the guard was going to come kick us out of the mall for touching the soda pop pictures.  Nothing happened, though.  He must've been busy catching the real bad guys.

Anyway, on we went to my favorite shop in the whole mall:  Build-a-Bear!  That's where they have all kinds of fun outfits and things, all in exactly my size!  I couldn't wait to start trying stuff on!

How do I look in this wig?

Mom didn't know what she was looking for, really, except that she wanted me to have an open jacket so I could show off my IHope Foundation tattoo.  That's cool, I like my tattoo and I want to raise awareness for IH everywhere I go!

We wandered through the aisles, and Mom found a bunch of military outfits!  She let me try on this neat helmet.  What do you think of it?  I felt like I was a real, live soldier!

We kept looking around, and we saw Navy uniforms and Army uniforms..... even a cool looking camouflage sleeping bag!  But Mom didn't get excited until she saw the US Marine Corps outfit.  She asked me if I liked it.  I told her, "It's really cool!  But it doesn't open in the front.... how are people going to see my tattoo?"

Mom really likes the Marines.  Her big brother is a Marine.  So is her cousin.  And her best friend is a Marine, too.  So she really wanted to buy that uniform.  See her trying to convince me to try it on?

I really, really didn't want to cover up my tattoo, though, and Mom agreed.  So she and Lola talked about it and decided that my friend, IHope Bear would look great in the Marine uniform!  Mom decided to bring it home to him.  That would be a really fun surprise!  And he would have a new outfit without even have to go shopping..... IHope doesn't like clothes shopping, ha ha.  So Mom checked all the buttons and patches and things to make sure the outfit was made well so she could give it to IHope.

We were just about to leave that section and start looking for an outfit for me when something caught Mom's eye.  It was something camouflage.  It was something small.  And it was for a boy bear!  Mom!  Please don't make me try on those boxers (she called them "silkies", but I know boy's underwear when I see it).....!  She got me to do it, though, just so she could see if they would fit IHope.  Oh, the embarrassment!

After all that, it was finally time to shop for me!  I got to try on a few different jackets.  I love trying on clothes!  This one is a silver parka.  Kinda neat looking, but not really my style.

Here it is again, all closed up.  It looks better this way, but it covers up my tattoo.  Nope.  Put it back on the shelf, please!

Mom looked up at the different displays and saw a totally stylin' hoodie on the top shelf.  She asked the clerk lady to please take it down 'cause she wanted to try it on me.

Of course, it fit me perfectly!  And bonus:  it said, "HUGS" down the side!  That is soooooo me.... I love to give hugs!  Mom was awfully excited and happy!

Oh, here I am with my black pants, too.  I think I tried on every pair of pants and shorts in the shop before Mom found just the right ones for me.  I'm glad she keeps going 'til she finds the things she thinks I will like best.  My mom loves me!

Here I am wearing IHope's USMC jacket.  I had to hold my cover (that means my hat!) in my right hand, so I had to salute with my left.  Not exactly proper, but I sure look cute, don't I?

Here I am in my own outfit.... with my new ear ribbons!

And here I am with my hood up.  I wanted to practice in case it rained again.  :)

And here I am by the Build-a-Bear sign!

And last but not least..... here are IHope and I in our brand new outfits of awesomeness.  What do you think?

~KBear

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park... Rawr!

Who's that in the wilderness there....?  Oh, it's just me, Kathi Bear!  But I think I should tell you that my uncle Rick says my new name is KB.  Hmmmm.... maybe I'll let that be his special nickname for me.  :)

Anyway, Mom took me to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in November!  It was our very first trip together, and we had lots of fun!  Here we are when we just got to the park:

So excited!  Let's go!

Before we even got to the entrance, we saw a really cool photo booth!  My mom loves photo booths!  I wasn't really sure what it was, but I'm ready to do anything Mom wants to do!

Oh my gosh, the photo booth was so much fun!!  My mom is the silliest!  I love her!  Here's a close up of our photo strip.  I don't know who that first picture is of...... I didn't even see anyone else in the booth with us.  Hmmmm.....

After that fun stop, we headed into the park.  We saw really neat animals!  My mom is a zoology major, so she really likes to learn about animals.  We stopped to read all the information plaques ...

... and watch the animal interactions:

Hedgehog!

Mom said that riding the rhino is a family tradition, so we absolutely had to do that.  It sounded kinda scary....  I mean, who rides rhinos and lives to tell about it???

We do, that's who!  :)

We walked around the park, looking at the exhibits.  We even went down a trail called the Safari Walk.  I thought maybe that meant there might be giraffes and zebras walking around with us, but I'm glad I was wrong.  I'm pretty small, so they might not see me and I didn't want to get stepped on or anything.  I asked Mom where those animals are and she said they are all in the Africa Tram Safari exhibit!  We didn't get to do that this time, but if you go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park you need to do that ride!

While we were walking around, we got some friendly smiles from the kids.  What can I say.... kids love me!  Maybe because I like to play in their playgrounds.  Like in this log!

Mom even got in there with me!

And we took a picture with a very quiet Gorilla mama with her baby:

It was really, really hot that day and Mom wasn't feeling very well, so we went to a store to get cooler.  In the store window, I saw a panda!

Hi, Panda!  Hi!

I asked my mom why the panda was there, and she said he was waiting to get adopted by a loving boy or girl.  So I told him not to worry -- he'll get to have his forever home soon, too, and get to go on adventures like me and my mom!

Outside another store, we saw a monkey!

He was so excited to see me that he practically jumped into my arms!  He was waiting for his forever home, too.  I told him that he was sure to get a really nice mommy like mine, and he was so happy that he smiled really, really big and hugged me super tight!

I'm so glad I got to go to the Safari Park!  I saw neat things and made new friends, and had lots of fun with my mom!

I can't wait until our next adventure!

Love,
KB (Kathi Bear)

I'm Kathi Bear!

Hi, my name is Kathi Bear and I'm excited to meet you!  My mom says I'm the very first bear that was ever made for The IHope Foundation, which is something she started so she can help people who have the same disease as she does: Intracranial Hypertension.  That's a mouthful, I guess, so everybody just calls it "IH" for short.  My mom says that since I'm the first bear, I get to be her ambassador and that means I'll get to see all kinds of places and meet all kinds of people and help everybody learn about IH so we can find a cure.  Having such an important job makes me feel really special!

This is my mom.  Isn't she pretty?  :)

I was conceived in October 2012, when my mom was just starting serious talks with her mom (my Lola -- that means Grandma) about starting her foundation.  My Lola wanted to give my mom a special surprise because she was so proud of her.  So she called her friend, Monica from TG Bears.  Monica makes lots of bears, some of them for special people and groups.  And she makes every bear herself!  Lola showed Monica the logo that Mom designed (my mom is really creative!) and they decided to make me a white bear so the logo stands out on my chest.  When I was born (my birthday is November 2nd.... I love honey!), Monica gave me a ribbon scarf in the IH colors of blue and green and put Mom's motto on my paw so everyone will know that my mom believes "HOPE is neverending" (she really does, too).  She even surprised Lola by putting a sunflower button on my scarf because my mom loves sunflowers!  Monica is so cool!

So I got delivered by the stork...... ummmm... I mean the postman...... and Lola took me straight over to the mall for my first shopping trip!  She wanted me to look like my mom, ha ha.  So she got me some awesome black-rimmed eyeglasses and a neat red convertible just like Mom has!  And the lady at the checkout found out about my special job and gave me some blue and green ear ribbons just because!  How nice was that??

It was raining, so we had to hurry for the picture!

I look just like her, huh?  :)  Yay!

Mom was totally excited when Lola gave me to her -- she loved me right from the start!  I'm a really special bear with a really special mom!  

Come back to read about my adventures (I've had one already, and it was fun!), and if you buy one of my brothers or sisters you can share their adventures at TheIHopeFoundation@gmail.com -- I would love to know what everyone's up to!   And maybe your story will end up in my adventure blog!

Just a heads up:  on Monica's website we're all called Kathi Bear to make it easier for ordering.  But you can change the name when yours is born if you want.  And you can get clothes for us at Build-a-Bear (we have one in our mall, maybe you do, too!) so you can make yours a boy or a girl because the ribbon scarf comes off if you don't want your bear to wear it.  Monica says two of my Kathi Bear siblings have already been sent to their forever homes!  It's great to know I have family out there in the big, wide world!  Maybe I'll get to meet them one day!

Well, I have to go now.  Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you come back soon!

Love,
Kathi Bear