American Girl Store ~ Seattle

 

Last year we took Kaitlin to the American Girl store for the first time.  She loved it.  I did too.

Kaitlin isn't a big "toy" kid.  But she loves her dolls.  And while this is an expensive brand, I love the concept.  The dolls all come from different times in history and are of different cultures/backgrounds.  They have books that tell their stories and of course outfits.  A lot of the toys out for little girls are sassy and not things that I'm really excited about buying for Kaitlin, but I love these dolls and the concept behind them.  They teach great lessons to the girls, are modest, but really fun too.

So for Kaitlin's birthday (though we made this trip the day before my birthday) we went to Seattle.  It was  LONG day as  we went to the American Girl store and then to my friend Kristi's house to see her new baby and visit dear friends, then drove back hom (6+ hours round trip) so that we'd be home for my birthday the following day.

Here we are, bright and early and ready for the 3 hour drive to Seattle!



You can see in the first photo (and some coming up) Kaitlin's shiner.  My kids don't get goose eggs on their heads like some kids do, and don't really bruise easily, so this was really something.  One night while I was out, Dan was doing the nighttime routine.  Kaitlin got out of the bath and was jumping up and down.  She slipped and hit her face on the toilet, and it really bruised badly.  My friend summed it up nicely, "At first it looked like she had colored on her face with purple marker.  Now it looks like you beat her."  So true!  :)

Her very fair skin definitely did not help.




We made it!!

 

Each doll has its own display case with all the outfits and accessories.  Target actually has a brand that fits these dolls as well, so we've bought outfits from there and some of the accessories too.  American Girl releases a new doll each year.  This year it was Caroline, and Kaitlin was smitten.  Word on the street is that Caroline's hair is a bear to deal with and so I tried to steer Kaitlin toward a doll with straight hair.  But she really liked Caroline, so Caroline it was!  This was Nana's birthday gift to Kaitlin.



Kaitlin loves her "Bitty Baby" whom she named "Annabelle" after her favorite Tasha Tudor book "A is for Annabelle."  It's her favorite toy, and she was a good little Mommy as we walked through the store.

She loves to hug and pat Annabelle's back and whisper lots of sweet words of comfort.  It's really cute.



Nana purchased Caroline so that she could join us for lunch in the Bistro.  I'm sure she was famished after sitting for so long in that box on the shelf.





Kaitlin and her "daughters."  She'll tell people, "I have 3 daughters."  She is so funny.



I love the Bistro.  It's all pink and girly and just so much fun.  Because we were celebrating Kaitlin's birthday she had a sundae and they sang to her.  Not one to shy away from a little fanfare, she was thrilled to pieces over the fuss of it all.









We walked around for quite a while.  I always take advantage of avoiding shipping and buy a few things to tuck away for future holidays.



Shannon gave Kaitlin a gift card for her birthday, and Kaitlin selected this sweet new outfit for Annabelle.  We changed her out of the dress she was wearing (also a gift from Auntie Shannon) and dressed her in her new one and texted this picture to Shannon so she could see.

I had really been looking forward to this little trip and it did not disappoint.  It was a really fun morning.  We left the American Girl store and headed to my friend Kristi's house!