American Girl

Nicki, what do you think about global warming?

(conversation cards - this question may or may not have been in the box)

It's no secret that my mom loved dolls. I love dolls, not with the passion my mom did, but I do like them. I can't help but be a little girl when it comes to dressing, styling their hair and playing with them. Penny and I have had many a tea party. I have been known to "disappear" with Penny and only to be found with a hair brush and ponytail holders. I'd like to say that Penny really pushes me to do it, but I would be lying. I love it.

Penny loves dolls too - which works out well because she's inherited most of my mothers dolls. When she was in utero, mom bought her Bitty Baby from American Girl, then when Penny was four months old, Mom and I took her to American Girl to pick out a doll (okay so I picked it out) and we ate in the Cafe. I have a small scrapbook that covers the weekend together. I looked at it recently, I am so happy I did it, understanding that Penny won't remember that day without it. When my mom was still alive she made me promise I'd take Penny when she was three - I don't know why three was so important, but who am I to question a dying woman? It worked out that we would go this past weekend right before Miss Pickles third birthday.

We went up north and stayed in a hotel by my dad, he, Ryan, and the boys accompanied us to the American Girl Store (taking one for the team) and eat at the cafe. It may seem excessive to go and spend the time and the money. Fortunately we had most of everything paid for before we even left the house - this weekend had been in the works since late summer. Penny also has multiple American Girl dolls, but in all fairness she inherited two and one she was too young to pick out. So I wanted to give her an opportunity to pick out her very own doll. We brought Nicki, the doll that mom bought for her and made an appointment to get her hair styled at the salon. After scheduling our appointment, we had lunch, which was delicious. It was hilarious because pretty much everyone was celebrating a birthday. So we heard about 20 renditions of "Happy Birthday" which Penny thought was for her each time. One day she'll understand that it isn't all about her, but for now, it is. Penny was a little cranky, she developed a runny nose the day before and slept little at the hotel - it could have been a recipe for disaster, but she was a trooper and all that suffered was our photography because she had little patience for "smiling" or "posing with her doll". I'll take it because there were definite fits and I am very happy to say none came from our table. After lunch we went to our "hair appointment" and picked out our hair style for our doll. Adorable.

Feeding Nicki tea.

Nicki at the salon

This is seriously the best picture of us for the day - goofy grins all around - at least I smiled nice!

Happy Girl - with pretty dolly - best picture of the day.

After our appointment it was time to shop - holy cats was the store packed, you would have sworn they were giving dolls away (I can assure you, they were not). We were hoping to buy the "ballet" outfit - we don't call it ballerina - it's ballet - Penny will most certainly correct you on that. But they were out of stock, so she settled on a snazzy sparkly number which I am pretty sure Penny would like in her size. She also picked out "Sugar" a small yorkie dog that is about as cute as can be. From there we went down to the historical dolls and Penny settled on Elizabeth - Felicity's friend. Felicity didn't stand a chance, Elizabeth has a big pink dress - if it's pink, Penny is all over it. So Elizabeth it was. We also got a cute summer tee for Penny and one of her dolls and then a small Julie doll because she was our second favorite choice.

All in all, Penny did a great job and enjoyed herself immensely despite the chaos around her. She doesn't get stressed out by choices like Jon or Drew does - she pretty much knows what she likes and that is that. I figure that is one of her best and worst qualities.

This may seem like a silly picture, but I love it. My dad has been dubbed Silly Papa for obvious reasons - the kids just laugh and laugh at my dad and his antics. It's hard to take him seriously sometimes. He had a pretty easy time shopping this year - he just let Penny pick out the goods at AG!

After American Girl we all crashed at Silly Papa's for pizza and cake. It was a yummy end to our busy day. The boys took turns staying at Dad's. Jon stayed Friday night and Drew stayed Saturday night - we tried to leave all three on Sunday, but dad didn't share our excitement - maybe one day...

We got home, unpacked and Penny played. She received a tea set complete with a picnic basket. She promptly ran to her room to introduce her new dolls to her old dolls and have a tea party. I am very blessed that I have children that can and want to play on their own. She loves to close her door and shut out the world and play. It is precious to be outside her door and hear the magic of her imagination.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend - I look forward to going back to American Girl with Penny, just her and I. Tomorrow is her actual birthday- we've got a few surprises for her - I made her a "3" t-shirt and an adorable pink tutu that is fluffy as all get out - when she tried it on today she said, "I big!" meaning the tutu is quite big, but I am confident that she'll love flitting around the house in it. Until then - thanks!