American Girl Birthday Tradition

Reagan and I enjoyed our third annual trip to American Girl for lunch and shopping in honor of her birthday.

Reagan saved money from Christmas and her birthday to buy Grace (wearing the beret), and she also bought doll skis, and a doll outfit.

American Girl is always a super fun experience.  They definitely have what I call the "Disney factor". As soon as we walked in the door, Reagan and the doll she brought with her (Isabelle) were greeted, and the employees went out of their way to make Reagan feel welcome and extra special.  In the cafe, Reagan and her dolls received lots of extra attention, and everything was just right.  We always have a lot of fun, and I'm happy that she still enjoys this so much.  American Girl is certainly not inexpensive, but the experience is memorable and enjoyable.

Reagan's 9th Birthday Party

Reagan celebrated her ninth birthday with a sleepover party.  Five girls arrived around 6:00 PM - Miranda, Madison, Addie, Allison, and Karlie.

The theme was American Girl, and each girl brought one or more dolls for the sleepover.

They ate Papa Gino's pizza for dinner and Reagan chose brownie sundaes (instead of cake) for dessert.

The party favor for each girl was a doll sized sleeping bag that I ordered from Etsy.  I had them in a basket with a few activities I had picked out for the girls to enjoy.

The funniest activity was definitely Bean Boozled.  Each colored jelly bean comes in two flavors, one good and one gross, but you don't know whether you are getting good or gross until you bite into it. Some of the gross flavors include barf, skunk spray, stinky socks, canned dog food, and moldy cheese.  I didn't play!!!  I was laughing so hard just watching these girls playing.

They also had fun with the Slumber Party Box of Questions.

Later in the evening, they decorated cookies.

This must have been when I got tired because I didn't take anymore pictures!  The girls did A LOT of dancing and they stayed up talking most of the night.  Reagan was very happy to have all of them there to celebrate with her, and declared it a great birthday celebration.

American Girl

Reagan and I went to American Girl Boston today.  This was the final component of Reagan's Birthday Celebration!!!  She loves to celebrate her birthday!

Reagan brought Kanani with her, and the first thing we did was head up to the salon to have Kanani's ears pierced.

I offered to get Kanani's hair done too, but Reagan didn't want it done this time.

We spent A LOT of time just looking at everything in the store.  I cannot help but think of Disney World when I visit American Girl - it is just one of those places that entices you and makes you want to buy everything!

We did not buy everything though.  Reagan used her birthday money to buy the doll Caroline.

I bought Reagan a souvenir American Girl Boston shirt for her and a matching shirt for her doll.

Reagan also got a package of earrings for Kanani.  She said that all she wants for Christmas is American Girl stuff! That's what the store does to you!!!!

Lunch in the bistro is always fun.

Just like last year, I was very impressed with the quality of the food!  It is nice to eat at a place like that and have good food.  Reagan had pretzel bites, pizza, and a cookies and cream milkshake.

I had pita bread with spinach dip and pasta with vegetables.

After lunch, we looked around AGAIN, and then left to go home.  Reagan fell asleep within minutes of driving, and slept almost the whole way home.

I loved this special day with my big girl!  Happy Happy Birthday my sweet Reagan!

American Girl

I had a fantastic time with Reagan today.  Last night I told Reagan we were going to do something special today, but I didn't give her any details.  She begged and pleaded, but I kept it a secret.  Even today, when I told her to bring her doll (she brought McKenna) she didn't guess that we were going to American Girl.  This store is in the Natick Mall, and when we were in the parking lot, she spotted the store and screamed, "I know where we are going!!!".  She was SO excited!

We arrived around 1:00 and walked around the store for a bit.  Reagan saw a lot of things she liked, but she settled on matching sweatshirts for her and her doll and a book.


We had a 2:00 reservation for lunch at the American Girl Bistro.  This was our first time there; Reagan didn't even know there was a place to eat in the store.  We went up the escalator to the bistro and found more items for sale upstairs.  The whole time we were downstairs, Reagan was looking for the dog, Honey, but we didn't see it until we got upstairs.  She has been asking for this dog for over a year, so I knew we were buying it,  but I told her we would get it after lunch.

The bistro is very pretty and very pink.  Everyone was very friendly, and Reagan was given royal treatment.

When our names were called, Reagan grabbed a seat for her doll and we went to our table.

You can see the book that Reagan bought in this picture; it's a geography puzzle book.  I was so excited that she chose it, and I promise I had absolutely nothing to do with her choice!!!!!!

The waitress gave us conversation starters, and Reagan was very into the game.  We asked each other the questions until the waitress came to take our order.

I purchased a birthday package, so Reagan got a crown for her and a crown for her doll, a birthday tee shirt for her doll, a balloon for her doll, a book,

and we also got two appetizers, our beverages, entrees, a cake, and ice cream.  It was a great package!

For appetizers, Reagan had chicken noodle soup and I had warm pretzel bites.  Reagan also ate spaghetti and meatballs, and I had a salad.

After we ate, the staff arrived with Reagan's cake and sang Happy Birthday to her.

I think the expression on Reagan's face in the above photo is funny because she doesn't like cake and I can see her thinking that she has no intentions of eating it!  She enjoyed the ice cream though, and we brought the cake home for everyone else to enjoy (I had a piece at the bistro; I felt obligated!!!).

While we were eating lunch, Reagan pointed out a yellow car on Route 9 that she thought looked funny; it was a VW Beetle, so I told her about Punch Buggy.  A little later, she spotted a white one and ran over to punch me on the arm.  She is laughing in this picture because she thought the whole thing was just so funny.  I LOVE this picture; it's just HONEST CHILDHOOD FUN and I love to see that and be able to capture it!!

Reagan could not wait to leave the bistro.  Don't get me wrong, she was having a GREAT TIME, but she really wanted to go buy Honey and she was very concerned they would sell out!!  So, we bought Honey.  Then, as we were leaving, she spotted Honey's bed.  She didn't even ask, but I saw it on her face and I couldn't leave the store without the bed.

Here she is, as we were leaving, with McKenna and Honey.

It was a great time, and Reagan told me she had a lot of fun.  When I asked her what her favorite part of the day was, she said, "buying Honey"!  I hope she remembers this day for a long time; I know I will!  I loved spending time alone with her, we need to do that more often!