The Piece de Resistance!!
Wednesday morning was the BIG day - we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to The Grove, which is a shopping mall in LA. First stop? The American Girl Store of course!!! Sadie was bursting with excitement as we walked from the parking structure to the stores! It was pretty cute. We found the AG store right away and the mean Mom made her stop so I could take a picture in front. HeeHee! First order of business when we got inside? Deep breaths, of course, but then a sprint over to the Lanie dolls. She is the Girl of the Year for 2010 and Sadie has been saving her money since January for Lanie. She bought Lanie right away and we headed to the salon.
At the salon, Mia got her hair done, a gift from Mom and Dad.
Nice, huh?
Also at the salon, Lanie got her ears pierced, another gift from Mom and Dad. Too bad Sadie's not excited. ;)
Then it was time to shop. We shopped... and shopped... and shopped some more. Thank goodness Grandma and Mom love to shop! Sadie had received a good amount of money from family and friends as her early birthday gifts so she would have spending money for the store. She was very careful and thoughtful about her purchases and even saved a bit for something that was on back order so she could order it online when we got home.
Mia, Chrissa, Lanie and Sadie
The store itself is really amazing. Two stories of dolls. Each of the historic dolls has her own little room complete with outfits, accessories, pictures and little scenes and music from her era. Then there are several other sections with books, general outfits and accessories, clothes for the big girls, and more.
This shows all of the Girl of the Year dolls. Each doll is available only for that calendar year and when January 1 arrives, she is gone. Sadie has taken a liking to these dolls and now has the girls from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Grandma and Sadie shopping
I love this pic!
Even the bathroom stalls have doll holders so you don't have to set them down!
The AG store also has a cafe. Mom and I decided that we wanted to get the full experience, so we had made reservations for the 12:30 lunch seating. Perfect timing, we were nice and hungry after all that shopping!
Upon entering, Sadie was asked how many dolls she had. This nice man got three little chairs for her dolls and sat them at the table with us.
The napkins rings were hair ties that she got to keep!
First up was cinnamon buns for a pre-appetizer!
Oh and each doll got a cup and saucer
The menu. It had a nice variety of foods, I was surprised!
Mom read us the story of the American Girl Cafe, which was on the back of the menu.
Mmm, pink lemonade!
Then the appetizers came
And lunch. Sadie had chicken strips and mac n cheese
Mom had a reportedly very good spinach salad
And I had a teriyaki chicken burger and salad. Yum!
Aw, what a joy to be able to do this for my sweet daughter
The 6 of us. :) Oh, and dessert!
Still excited.
After lunch we decided to wander around The Grove a bit. It is really pretty and has some super fun shops.
Tony's cousin, Brooke, happens to live within walking distance of The Grove, so we met up with her, had some coffee, chatted, and rode the double decker trolley that runs through The Grove. I am a bit bummed that I didn't get more pics with her...
We went in the AG store one last time to say goodbye and headed back to Marina del Rey so we could unwind from our long, hot, super fun day! Sadie right away got herself and Lanie into their new jammies.
And we had a fancy dinner of Subway in our room!
What a special day. I am so thankful to Mom that she wanted to be a part of this so that together we could help create memories for Sadie that will last a lifetime. I hope that someday Sadie has a daughter who we can do the same thing with! :)
Thursday morning, we ate breakfast and checked out of our hotel and headed to Santa Monica. My mom lived there when she was in 4th grade, so we spent some time driving around so that she could find her old elementary school and the house her family lived in. She found them! I didn't get any pics, but she did and she thought it was fun to see how much things have changed since then. Then we drove down to the Santa Monica Pier.
California beaches still amaze me. Oregon has some pretty great ones, but the CA ones are just so HUGE and the sand seems to go on forever!
Sadie and I decided to go on the roller coaster that is on the pier. Not super big, but it was definitely a thrill!
So the angle is a bit wrong, but it was fun to experiment. :)
Mom's family took Route 66 (I think they started their move in Illinois) and ended up here in Santa Monica, so she had to have her pic by the sign!
I already said it on the last post, but again, thank you Mom for being a part of this trip. Sadie will remember it for the rest of her life. Oh, and I will too. :)
