First American Girl Doll!!
We've been anticipating today for several weeks. Riley turns five on Wednesday!! We wanted to do a really fun birthday party, but without spending $$$$$$. Near impossible to do when you live in Dallas, when your child has tons of friends she loves, and when the price to just sign up for birthday parties in the area require $100 deposits. We looked at several options and finally decided to do something that would create a special day all day long as well as give her time with her favorite people - her family. Or at least, we're her favorite people most of the time :)
Riley enjoys reading the story "Tea For Ruby." It's about a girl who receives a letter inviting her to have tea with the Queen and asking her to bring her best manners. Two weeks ago, my mom sent her an invitation to have tea with the Queen. She addressed it to Madi and Riley. The girls got dressed up and my mom and I wore dresses and sandals.
Riley woke me up this morning with "Mom, wake up! It's my birthday and we have a tea party to go to! I'm not really five today, but I'm going to pretend to be five today anyway. But I know I'm still four, but I'll pretend to be five."
This morning I took the girls to church while Jeremy spent time finishing a major project at work. He's been working on it every Saturday for the last five weeks and needed to go in for a little while today. Riley came out of her class at church to tell me that everyone had sung 'Happy Birthday' to her and that so far, it was her favorite part of her day. She said that she felt happy when everyone sang to her. Riley changed into her bright pink cocktail dress. With sparkly pink shoes - of course!
She was very excited and called herself "birthday girl" all day long. She kept talking about how happy the birthday girl was and really wanted Julia to understand that it was her birthday. Julia sang "Happy Birthday" to her several times. Very cute!!
We stopped by my parents' house and picked up my mom. As we started to drive to the surprise tea party celebration, we'd ask Riley if she had any guesses as to where we were going. She guessed that we were going to Buca first and then said she had no idea.
She didn't recognize the drive to the Galleria and I got off an exit early to take a little more time since traffic was so light.
We walked around the mall for a little while and then went outside to walk to the American Girl Store. Jeremy met us there and picked up Julia so that she could get her nap and so we could do the girls' tea party. Riley and Madi started to walk ahead of us a little bit to see the store. I told Riley we were going to the store with red on the outside. Then my mom asked her if she knew where we were going.
Once Riley was able to see what was in the windows, she burst out with "American Girl!! I'm getting an American Girl Doll!!!! Really???? Ohhhh! American Girl!!!" And started to jump and then Madi and Riley ran to the entrance. They were both excited.
We made reservations for the four of us to eat at their bistro upstairs. We looked around for a minute or so downstairs before going up. The bistro is decorated very girly and cute - lots of pink and flowers. They let you choose a doll to eat with and it comes with a highchair that attaches to the table. The girls both chose dolls to eat with.
Riley looked around the room and said to me "Wow - there are a lot of people eating lunch with their Queens!"
It was quite overwhelming. And quite the experience. Each meal costs $15 per person. It comes with an appetizer and a main course. Wasn't sure what to expect out of the food and had low hopes as I figured it was more about the name of the store than it was about good food. I was wrong!!
My spinach artichoke dip with pita was delicious!! And my panko chicken on greens was delicious! Madi was even able to order salmon!!! As well as chicken noodle soup that she said was the best she's every had. And she loved every bite of it as well. Riley had a hot dog/hamburger combo with fresh fruit and yogurt appetizer. My mom had the same appetizer I did and then had chicken strips. We were all very satisfied with the food! Though Riley couldn't wait to go figure out which doll she wanted to buy.
During the meal, Riley and I walked around the small area by the doll salon to see the clothes and dolls that they had upstairs. When everyone was done eating, I stayed behind to pay for the meal while all of them went to look some more.
We went downstairs to look at their large selection of dolls. Riley didn't seem too interested in very many of them. Jeremy and I had talked about how we had no doubt that she would find the doll she wanted and say 'that one!' and be totally content with her choice. Sure enough - that's what she did. She got to the McKenna Doll and said "I want this one." We looked at a few others to be sure, but she knew that was the one she wanted.
She had also looked through the catalog the last few months and knew which dog she wanted. So she found that dog and my mom got it for her. We got her a book of paper dolls (she loves paper dolls!!!!) and my mom bought a pj outfit for her doll that also had slippers with it.
We went and paid for the items. Riley was thrilled with her purchase and said thank you many times. She said "I like my doll because she is mine and I wanted her." She never asked for more and never asked for a second one. She never regretted getting the one she chose and was fully convinced in her mind that she chose correctly. Love that!
She said that it was a great birthday... but it was only the beginning!
Riley enjoys reading the story "Tea For Ruby." It's about a girl who receives a letter inviting her to have tea with the Queen and asking her to bring her best manners. Two weeks ago, my mom sent her an invitation to have tea with the Queen. She addressed it to Madi and Riley. The girls got dressed up and my mom and I wore dresses and sandals.
Riley woke me up this morning with "Mom, wake up! It's my birthday and we have a tea party to go to! I'm not really five today, but I'm going to pretend to be five today anyway. But I know I'm still four, but I'll pretend to be five."
This morning I took the girls to church while Jeremy spent time finishing a major project at work. He's been working on it every Saturday for the last five weeks and needed to go in for a little while today. Riley came out of her class at church to tell me that everyone had sung 'Happy Birthday' to her and that so far, it was her favorite part of her day. She said that she felt happy when everyone sang to her. Riley changed into her bright pink cocktail dress. With sparkly pink shoes - of course!
She was very excited and called herself "birthday girl" all day long. She kept talking about how happy the birthday girl was and really wanted Julia to understand that it was her birthday. Julia sang "Happy Birthday" to her several times. Very cute!!
We stopped by my parents' house and picked up my mom. As we started to drive to the surprise tea party celebration, we'd ask Riley if she had any guesses as to where we were going. She guessed that we were going to Buca first and then said she had no idea.
She didn't recognize the drive to the Galleria and I got off an exit early to take a little more time since traffic was so light.
We walked around the mall for a little while and then went outside to walk to the American Girl Store. Jeremy met us there and picked up Julia so that she could get her nap and so we could do the girls' tea party. Riley and Madi started to walk ahead of us a little bit to see the store. I told Riley we were going to the store with red on the outside. Then my mom asked her if she knew where we were going.
Once Riley was able to see what was in the windows, she burst out with "American Girl!! I'm getting an American Girl Doll!!!! Really???? Ohhhh! American Girl!!!" And started to jump and then Madi and Riley ran to the entrance. They were both excited.
We made reservations for the four of us to eat at their bistro upstairs. We looked around for a minute or so downstairs before going up. The bistro is decorated very girly and cute - lots of pink and flowers. They let you choose a doll to eat with and it comes with a highchair that attaches to the table. The girls both chose dolls to eat with.
Riley looked around the room and said to me "Wow - there are a lot of people eating lunch with their Queens!"
It was quite overwhelming. And quite the experience. Each meal costs $15 per person. It comes with an appetizer and a main course. Wasn't sure what to expect out of the food and had low hopes as I figured it was more about the name of the store than it was about good food. I was wrong!!
My spinach artichoke dip with pita was delicious!! And my panko chicken on greens was delicious! Madi was even able to order salmon!!! As well as chicken noodle soup that she said was the best she's every had. And she loved every bite of it as well. Riley had a hot dog/hamburger combo with fresh fruit and yogurt appetizer. My mom had the same appetizer I did and then had chicken strips. We were all very satisfied with the food! Though Riley couldn't wait to go figure out which doll she wanted to buy.
During the meal, Riley and I walked around the small area by the doll salon to see the clothes and dolls that they had upstairs. When everyone was done eating, I stayed behind to pay for the meal while all of them went to look some more.
We went downstairs to look at their large selection of dolls. Riley didn't seem too interested in very many of them. Jeremy and I had talked about how we had no doubt that she would find the doll she wanted and say 'that one!' and be totally content with her choice. Sure enough - that's what she did. She got to the McKenna Doll and said "I want this one." We looked at a few others to be sure, but she knew that was the one she wanted.
She had also looked through the catalog the last few months and knew which dog she wanted. So she found that dog and my mom got it for her. We got her a book of paper dolls (she loves paper dolls!!!!) and my mom bought a pj outfit for her doll that also had slippers with it.
We went and paid for the items. Riley was thrilled with her purchase and said thank you many times. She said "I like my doll because she is mine and I wanted her." She never asked for more and never asked for a second one. She never regretted getting the one she chose and was fully convinced in her mind that she chose correctly. Love that!
She said that it was a great birthday... but it was only the beginning!
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