For the start of Hanukah, we took the girls to Build-a-Bear as a present.
The store is a place where children can create their own stuffed animal from scratch.

First the girls select the base animal they want.
They have 30+ choices or unstuffed animals.
Zoe chose a bear with pinkish fur and Mira chose a orange tabby cat.
The first accessory to chose is if they want a voice box inside.
The voice box makes the sound of the animal.

Next, the animals are filled with stuffing.
The machine above is filled with cotton stuffing and uses compressed air to
blow the stuffing into the animal.  The girls get to press the foot pedal that
 controls the flow of cotton into the animal. 

The girls then chose a cloth heart to put inside.
Of course, nothing is alive without a heart.

In addition to the heart, they place a barcode label in the animal.
Supposedly if you lose a Build-a-bear and it gets turned in, they will
send the bear back to you based on the barcode information.
Personally, I think it's part of the government's plan to track everyone
via their stuffed animals.

After coming to 'life' the animals are then washed in the air shower.
The girls step on a switch and air blows out helping to clean the animals.

Of course, these animals need panties.
Zoe chose pink panties for 'Richie', her bear.

There are dozens and dozens of outfits to chose from, including endless
accessories like shoes, sunglasses, tools, and even cell phones.

A small sample of the assorted accessories available to the kids.

Here the girls were asked to enter information for the birth certificate of their new animals.
Again, I think this is part of the government plot to track us via the Build-a-Bears.

Once again the girls took the animals to the air shower to get them 'clean' after dressing
 before the final check out.  Note Zoe brushing the animals hair and the fact that
 Mira has her cat on a leash.  I think that all cats should be on a leash.

Here are the girls with their completed build-a-bears . 
Yes, and that really is a bear in a skiing outfit behind them.

And lastly the birth certificates of our new build-a-bears.
The store isn't cheap, in fact it's expensive, but the girls had a great time.
Who can put a price on those smiles?