An American Girl Weekend Extravaganza, Part 2 - Birthday!

Julianna's birthday fell on a Monday this year, so Dad made it a long weekend and we took her to American Girl Place near DC.  (Maybe this birthday pilgrimage will become an annual tradition.  I'm thinking Boston or Chicago or Los Angeles (read: BEACH) next year.  Here are some pictures of our adventure.

The seven year old

Here we are!

Julianna and Samantha ready to shop.

Trying cheese fondue for the first time.  She liked it.

 Stuffed after lunch.

McKenna (2012 Doll of the Year) is the next doll she wants.  I want  She wants her loft bed.

Annual family picture at American Girl Place.

All her treasures. She had saved $91 (which she told everyone about) to buy some of the stuff in the picture.

A good day.

An American Girl Weekend Extravaganza - Part 1, Party Day

Well, friends, I am now the mother of a seven year old.  I know, I can't believe it either.  How this snuck up on me is a mystery.

I've mentioned before that Julianna is a *little bit crazy over American Girl dolls. (*A little bit crazy = completely nutso).  Last year, we went to the American Girl Place in NYC for her 6th birthday.  You can read about those escapades here. This year, we already planned on Dad taking the day off and taking her to the new American Girl Place that opened up outside of Washington, DC.  To kick off her birthday weekend, we hosted a small AG party for a few friends.  Our plan was to make some AG doll sized clay foods and crafts (Which is one of Julianna's favorite activities...creating AG or Barbie sized anything!), eat and play games.  Mission accomplished.  We didn't get to as many of the crafts as I had planned, but the girls got to take them home to complete.  Here are a few pictures of our par-tay.

The party poof idea I got from Pinterest.  (Pinterest, oh, Pinterest, how I doth love thee!)

Our AG table centerpiece built by Dad. :-) 

Yum!   

An excited birthday girl...and her helpers.  Lol

  

The girls and their girls.