BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Diego Gonzalez said that his family is doing their part by staying home, but now that his daughter can’t go to the park or the stores, he decided it was time for a family project.
Their family has been missing their trips to their two favorite stores, Target and Starbucks, so Gonzalez decided to bring their favorite places indoors.
Mila Gonzalez would usually stroll the aisles of Target with her mom but now that’s changed.
“Usually that was our place to go was Target, and she liked to walk around and look at toys and stuff. And she already knows at Starbucks she gets her cake pop,” said Cindy Iribe, mother of Mila.
In just two weeks the family painted, built and printed their own mini versions of their favorite establishments.
“It may seem a little bit extra but for me at the end of the day watching them play and enjoy it, and us knowing that we put it together as a family means everything to me,” said Gonzalez.
They customized a playset to create their replica Target store but the name tags are real. A local Target in Bakersfield gave the family a name tag just for Mila, but that’s not all that’s real.
“Some of the play items are real food. We wanted to make it as realistic for her. So, when she goes in there and plays there’s chips, there’s snacks, there’s apple juice,” said Gonzalez.
The Starbucks store was a custom-built job from mom and dad who bought wood and painted it themselves.
“The Starbucks is from scratch. That is literally pieces of wood from Home Depot,” said Gonzalez.
Their Starbucks has a full menu, real aprons and cups.
“There were two different Starbucks that went above and beyond as well. They hooked us up with some aprons so those aprons are from Starbucks,” said Gonzalez.
But it wasn’t just Mila who enjoyed their new stores, mom and dad said it was a good distraction for them too.
“It's definitely been something that’s helped us out mentally with everything. It's something positive and something fun and exciting and she loves it,” said Iribe.
And according to their family, shopping at home hasn’t been too bad.
“We don’t have to see it as a negative aspect that we have to be indoors all day,” said Gonzalez.
