It’s a rainforest in here

A few weekends ago we ventured out to do a little shopping for Mackenzie and headed to a toy store called Rofu Kinderland (Nieder-Rosbacher-Str. 17 – 19, 61191 Rosbach v. d. H., Tel.: (0 60 03) 93 46 01). The German word “Lieblos” (loveless or unloving) sprung to mind when we walked in the door. Actually, I could tell from the parking lot we probably wouldn’t be going back, but it was almost worse than I expected inside. Yes, they had a an ok selection of toys for kids of various ages in this fairy small store, but it was just a warehouse-setup inside. The Dollar Store goes to more effort to entice customers than these people did. And the prices were high enough that they should be adding at least a little color or a few posters to the wall. Maybe a directional sign? Perhaps I’m just overly spoiled by American shopping experiences, but I actually kinda like being sold to.

We came across a couple of items that we would have loved to get Mack but we were either a bit too early for her to use them or they were just wicked expensive. Like a cool little bouncy chair thing we saw for €159. Yes it played music and was incredibly sensory overload, but come on. And we checked out a big wooden wagon they had there which would make a few tasks around the farm massively easier – but their price tag was €189 versus €49 on ebay. No thanks. So we settled for the made in China Fisher-Price Rainforest Melodies & Lights Deluxe Gym. Unfortunately most of the cool toys for babies are plastic whatevers and they’re all made in China. So are the clothes. It’s often harder to find something NOT made in China in a toy store. But I digress…

Mack on the rainforest gym mat. The thing is really quite cool. Retail price at Rofu was €69.99, marked down to €59.99 (which we didn’t notice until we got to the checkout but it was a nice surprise.) Up by the leaves are little areas that light up when the music plays. You can also have insect and rainforest noises if you prefer. But what we like right now is the setting to have the music triggered by the hanging toys being pulled on. You can also move all the toys around quickly and easily…or add different toys to the mix.

Mack’s got the crinkle leaf under Mr Elephant there. She was having a good time with both of them and had the music running pretty often. There are about 5 songs that cycle through so I don’t feel myself going insane listening to them…plus it’s really exciting that she is able to make them start herself since she’s grabbing at lots of things now.

I think Mack gives it two thumbs up. She seemed to have a lot of fun with it today. I can’t wait until she can reach some of the higher loops or she figures out some of the other toys. It’s all very cute.