American Girl!

Today we celebrated Eliza and her friend Alina's birthdays by going to the American Girl Place in LA.  Eliza has been drooling over the catalog for months, and the day finally came!  After changing her mind back and forth, what seemed like a million times, she decided a few days ago that she was going to get Kit Kittredge - a historical doll from the era of the Great Depression.  

Eliza and Audrey out front of the store.  

Alina and her mom, Tracy, beat us there, so we were meeting them inside.  From the moment we stepped through the doors, there was so much to see, and the smiles on the girls' faces were priceless!

The Los Angeles store is 2 stories and the girls had fun exploring every inch of it!  The only area we skipped was the Bitty Baby area.

Each of the Historical dolls has their own little nook on the 2nd floor with all of their clothing, accessories, books, and even their movies playing on a screen.  Eliza was in heaven in Kit's little nook!  We grabbed her doll, book and accessories to start, then added on her "Reporter dress" and "Reporter set." Of course, she already has her eyes on more of Kit's stuff for next time.  

After we grabbed the soccer outfit from another area of the store, we checked out and were all ready for lunch.  I didn't think it was possible for Eliza to be any happier, but when the clerk took her doll out of the box and handed it over the counter to her, her eyes and her smile got even bigger!

Hanging out with Kit while we waited for lunch.

Audrey is only 4, so I told her she's not quite ready for her own doll.  She was content to borrow my Molly doll for the day though.  I got her 25 years ago this Christmas - back when The Pleasant Company still owned American Girl instead of Mattel.  She is still in great shape, and I am so glad I can share her with my girls now.

Outside the cafe - almost time...

So adorable!!! The dolls get their own little chairs that attach to the table, so the girls could enjoy them during lunch.  The server brought out a little box with conversation starters to pass around and the girls enjoyed those while we waited for the food.

Alina and Kanani, Eliza and Kit.

Lunch started with a "Warm Welcome" of cinnamon rolls for everyone, then the first course was a family style platter with some veggies, rolls, and fruit and cheese kabobs. 

Then the main course - it was a LOT of food!  Audrey ordered the chicken fingers with mac n' cheese (she really just wanted the latter).  It came with another cute little fruit kabob too.

Eliza's "Bitty Bites" was a mini hot dog, mini cheeseburger, sweet potato fries and a fruit kabob too!

Audrey was excited to "share" her lunch with Molly.  She did it throughout all the courses and didn't get any on my doll.  

Dessert was adorable too - chocolate pudding flower pots (with a little daisy for each person to take home), star shaped sugar cookies, and flower shaped white cake that was delicious!  Needless to say, we had lots of food to take home with us.

We stopped at the Doll Hair Salon after lunch to get Molly and Kanani's hair done - Kit didn't need hers done since it was so nice and new.

My girls and I before we left the store.

Alina and Eliza are matching with all of their front teeth missing right now!  

We decided to take a ride on the Trolley at the mall before we left.

Audrey still loving on Molly and making sure she could see everything during the ride.

Eliza and Kit.

On the way back around, Eliza and Alina got to sit in the very back of the trolley so they could see everything behind us.

I ran down and got pictures of them before they got off of course.  They loved it!

Then we stopped in the bathroom before heading out to the car, so the girls took advantage of the nice lounge area and changed their dolls.

All ready to go.

What an amazingly fun and girly day!!!  Can't wait to go check out the new store in Columbus in a couple weeks!