American Girl

For Princess’s 9th birthday this year, we decided to surprise her with a trip to a store she’s been wanting to go to for - like - EVER! I’ve been avoiding it because it’s expensive. She accepted that the answer would be “no” whenever she asked. She really never asked because she knew it was expensive. So, on her birthday, we drove to Denver. She got a ride on Hubby’s shoulders through the parking lot so she could cover her eyes . . .

When it was time, Dude told her to open her eyes. She was speechless when she saw that we were HERE!

If you’ve never been to an American Girl doll store, you have to go just to see it. There are a bazillion dolls and “things” for them. You can go for the original dolls, which were created to “commemorate” America. There’s a Native American doll complete with tepee, Victorian dolls, cowgirl dolls, etc. Or you can go off the board for the newer dolls and get one that looks just like you. I thought we’d be in that store forever while Princess made her decision! To my surprise, it took about 5 minutes to pick out the doll that matched her closest . . . pale skin, should-length chestnut hair with layered bangs, blue eyes - mine and Hubby’s gift to her. Then it was off to find an outfit for “Rebecca” - Princess was convinced she wanted the Fancy Riding Outfit . . .

. . . and was totally bummed when they were out of stock! She really wanted the outfit, but also really wanted Rebecca to go home with an outfit other than the one she came with. So she looked around a while. To my surprise (and slight disappointment) she was not at all interested in the skier outfit . . .

. . . which I thought was totally cute!!! She ended up going for the Fancy Dress (no surprise!). Of course she needed fancy earrings to go with her dress, so we bought a pack of those; however, the lady at the counter failed to mention that Rebecca needed pierced ears to wear them! So, a week later we went back up to the store to get Rebecca’s ears pierced . . . um yes, there is a doll salon where you can get your doll’s ears pierced or get her hair styled. No - not joking!

Anyhoo - back to her special day! After picking out the earrings, she found some glasses for Rebecca.

Princess was so excited to get Rebecca home and get her in her new clothes

Princess did end up getting an American Girl gift card for her birthday, so she went online and bought the fancy riding outfit. Hubby and I had decided to secretly order the also out of stock Chestnut Horse for her for a Christmas gift . . .

She was totally excited when she saw it and had to get Rebecca on her right away

All in all it was a fun experience - and enlightening. It’s amazing all the stuff you can get for your American Girl! If you have braces you can get headgear:

Or you can get a cast and crutches, which also comes with a finger splint and ice pack . . .

The choices are endless! Baby grand pianos that actually play music. Flutes. Violins. Snorkeling gear. Snow shoes. Sports outfits. You name it, they have it.

We’ll try to avoid actually entering the store again any time soon - but I must admit, it was fun! And it was even more fun to see how excited Princess was about her surprise