Two Fridays ago, Noah was at a playdate, and Nick was at afternoon school. All the girls piled into the car to take Sarah to violin lessons, only to remember when we arrived, that her teacher had cancelled class for that week. Well, what should we do with this free half hour? Shopping, naturally! But where? The fabric store? No, that got shot down. Definitely not the grocery store. Too boring and humdrum. What about the Brockenhaus? (Swiss Goodwill) YES!
The boys hate that store. Too much old stuff, weird smells, and general ickiness. But the girls love the treasure hunt feel of it, the thrill of discovering something awesome among the strange, and of course, the tiny price tags help, too. I was looking for something specific; nice china plates, with no pattern, that I could decorate myself for Valentine’s day. The girls were just going to see what they could see. 🙂
I found seven perfect plates, that coordinated with the 6 plates I already had at home. I bought that china at the Brockenhaus when we first moved here, and it was perfect for many years. But now our family has grown, and since we usually invite the missionaries over for every china-using occasion, we end up just using our regular plates. So I decided it would serve me better as decorated Valentine’s plates. Hurray, mission accomplished. And all for 7 Swiss francs. Score!
Well, we couldn’t just look in the dishes section, no we had to check out the whole store, including the scary section up the rickety, crickety wooden stairs. We always go up very carefully, expecting a foot to fall right through at any moment. They are that fragile. It was worth it, though, since lining the stairs were these dolls. 
The girls had just started receiving allowance for doing their jobs, and the money was burning a hole in their pockets. They each picked out their favorites, and then anxiously asked me to read the price and determine if they had enough money. Oh happy day! They were all of 3 Swiss francs. 
Sarah wanted me to be sure and asked the cashier if that was correct. She couldn’t believe something so wondrous and beautiful could cost so little. But it could!
Even though the dolls are porcelain, and therefore hard and breakable, Alexandra insisted on sleeping all cuddled up with hers for the next few nights. So sweet. And Sophie was excited to discover that her doll’s name, imprinted on the back of the neck under the hair, is Elizabeth! That’s her middle name, so she decided it was fate that she chose that doll.
We also picked up this gorgeous little number. 
It’s a little long still, but she loves it! Hasn’t worn it to church yet, but I am sure she will soon. Thank you, Brockenhaus, for an awesome afternoon with my girls.