Growing up in the early 2000s, I used hundreds of my dollars and many of my free time hours on a very "important" past time: Webkinz. This website was basically my first "social media" and my first internet account. Needless to say, Webkinz World was an important part of my 10-year-old self's daily life and it still holds a special place in my heart, as it probably does for you too. So, today, in honor of the money and time I wasted on webkinz.com, I'm going to take you on a throwback journey back to the old Webkinz World.

First, you had to go and actually buy your favorite pet. They were all made with this weird furry material, you can probably remember what it felt like too. To refresh your memory, it cost about $15 to get a regular Webkinz and $8-$10 for a 'Lil Kinz. As a reality check, you could have bought three Starbucks drinks for the price of one Webkinz. And if you could have payed for one college textbook, instead of owning those 15 'Lil Kinz. Yikes.

Next, you had to go to the adoption center and type in the longest code. It probably took you like 10 minutes to do it too, because your typing skills weren't really up to par back then.

Of course, you had to pick a good name too. This was probably one of the trickiest stages of adopting the Webkinz, besides the code typing part, of course.

After you adopted your Webkinz, you could do all sorts of thrilling activities...

Of course, you had to play the lottery every day when you logged in:

And also get a two minute long blue collar job from the Employment Office, then wait for eight hours to do it again.

Then, you got to spend all of your money on some rad decor...

...for the endless maze of rooms in your house.

You could make any type of room on Webkinz World. Such as this chapel, used for worshipping a floating teapot.

Or this bathtub room.

The possibilities were endless.

Of course, we can't forget about the Curio Shop, where the dog edition of Ron Swanson resided and sent you on trips to hunt for unusual gems. Usually, these trips ended abruptly, after you found a bunch of slag. Does anyone even know what slag is?

The characters in Webkinz world were all pretty memorable, like this one...

"Hello, it's me, Chef Gazpacho. Today's secret recipe is — hey! If I tell you, it won't be a secret anymore! But you can keep a secret, ehh?" You read that in an Italian accent too, didn't you?

Or this one...

This guy, Dr. Quack, gave your pets medical examinations. Just look at that face and tell me that I'm not the only one who is a little uneasy about that.

And also this guy...

What exactly was Wacky? Is this what happens when you genetically modify a pear and a banana to become a hybrid?

Lastly, we can't forget about the "social" part of this media, like the elementary-age edition of chat rooms:

Or this snazzy phone used to make arrangements with friends.

Remember how exciting it was to hear that "yoo hoo" sound whenever a friend got online?

What was your favorite part of Webkinz back in the day? Leave your comments below!