Big Apple Birthday

I never knew what a big can of worms I was opening up by buying that first American Girl doll. That first purchase was just the tip of the iceberg, because for Sophia's 10th birthday she asked to go to New York to visit the American Girl Doll store. She even went online and checked on making reservations at the cafe where you dine with your dolls. She also discovered they have a hair salon where they'll style your doll's hair.

So instead of talking her out of it, I made reservations at the cafe, and checked on flights for us to fly to New York. Alec heard about this trip and had no desire to go. I can't imagine why a 13-year-old boy wouldn't have the time of his life at a store that's three stories full of doll merchandise, but he ended up staying home.

The rest of us flew to New York, then took a bus and subway to get to where the store was. But I do have to add that on the bus ride, which was an adventure on its own, I sat next to a heavy-set man who slobbered on an apple, then fell asleep and was snoring. Meanwhile, Chris sat next to an attractive flight attendant and was chatting it up the whole ride. Needless to say, he enjoyed the bus ride more than I did.


Here the girls are right after spotting the store on the right corner. So excited and cold!
The store is right by the Rockefeller Center skating rink. Chris wanted to skate, but it was way too cold for me. Plus I've been ice skating exactly once in my life and wasn't very good at it.
The beauty salon was a little girl's dream. Cute pink chairs for the dolls to sit in and stylists ready to create fancy hairdos.

The cafe was very fancy. The girls were in heaven. They even had all the dolls in seats ready to eat with someone who didn't have their own doll. You could borrow any of them to sit with you.

We didn't need any though, since Selena brought her Look Like Me doll, Sophia now had two dolls. Santa brought her Lanie and for her birthday she chose the new Doll of the Year, Kanani.
The food was really good, thankfully, because it wasn't cheap.

After we left their dream store, we walked on 5th Avenue, which was my fantasy. There were so many stores that I would've loved to go in and set my credit card free, but thankfully for Chris' sanity, this trip wasn't for me. It was for Sophia. So instead of going into all the clothes shops and jewelry shops, we went to FAO Schwarz Toy Shop. Once again, the girls were in heaven.
I got excited when I saw the Trump Tower and asked the girls to pose for a picture, to which they replied, "I don't even know what this is." I guess they don't watch The Apprentice like I do.

Once inside the toy store, they were surrounded by every toy imaginable, and asked for every toy they set eyes on. My favorite part was the toy soldier who was so friendly. He chatted with the girls and spun around with them in a giant kaleidoscope.
Of course we couldn't leave the store without the girls dancing on the Big Piano. They've never even seen the movie Big, which I need to show them now so they can see the piano they played on.

Loving the Lego section of the store.

It was a great birthday for Sophia -- Selena loved it too. At the end of the night Sophia even got to hail a cab. She loved the whole New York experience. They were in awe as they stood in the middle of Time Square and saw all the lights. We showed them where the New Year's Eve big ball drops from that they see on tv every year and they were so impressed.

We flew back home that same day, since they had school the following morning. It was a whirlwind fun birthday trip that made Sophia's 10th birthday unforgettable.

Alec's birthday is next month and he's asking what we're doing for him, since Sophia had such a great one. I told him I'd take him and his friends to the Justin Bieber movie -- he was not impressed.