American Girls

For many years Bailey and Aubrey have pored over the American Girl catalog, making extensive lists of their favorite dolls and outfits. While that has been fun, they always wanted to go to one of the American Girls stores so they could see the dolls and accessories up close.

Over the years, they have received a few dolls as gifts. They each chose a doll to travel on the plane with them to LA. The last day of our California trip we drove to the American Doll store in Hollywood, CA. We spent 2 1/2 hours of bliss (for Mom, Bailey, and Aubrey) or torture (for Dad and Joseph). The girls checked out all the dolls and collections and then participated in some of the special offerings at the store.

First, both dolls had their hair re-styled in the doll hair salon. Really and truly.

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Then, Aubrey and her doll participated in a photo shoot. The final picture was printed on the cover of an American Girl magazine. She has this framed and hanging in her room now.

Bailey spent some of her money on a new Easter outfit for her dolls. She chose three great options and then had a hard time deciding which one.
While we waited for Aubrey to have the photo taken with her doll, Joseph took pictures with our camera. He might have a future as a photographer, because he did an admirable job framing the pictures and gave us instructions about how to pose..

Happy to have finally fulfilled a life-long wish, the girls and dolls prepared for the drive back to the hotel.

Joseph was incredibly patient for this very girl-oriented trip. He hugged his Pooh stuffed animal so that he wouldn't feel left out.

Afterward, we followed the directions on our trusty GPS to drive to a Cafe Rio! This is our family's favorite restaurant, and we go through major withdrawals. It was well worth the half hour drive. The employees of the Cafe Rio thought our family was a little silly - we were giddy and way too enthusiastic about our food. Impressively, almost everyone finished their huge burritos!

Yes, it does.

Yes, we did!