Day 2 - American Girl Doll Store

Back in April, Hayley received an American Girl Doll catalogue in the mail. I'm not lying when I say she pored over that catalogue for hours upon hours. She learned about each doll and made a wish list, adding up everything she wanted to buy. I think it came to about $400. It was then she decided to start saving every penny she could to buy Julie. For the next 6 months, she did extra chores, helped with the gardening at Grandma's and kept her cousins entertained for her Aunt Marci so she could earn money. And she did it! She came up with over $100 for the doll. In the meantime, she read the series about the dolls and fell in even more love with them. So . . . just ordering the doll wouldn't do. I promised her when we went to Cali, we'd make a special stop in L.A. at the American Girl Doll store so she could make her purchase.


Love the smile on her face. She was so proud of herself for saving her money and finally getting to purchase Julie. This store was amazing. They had a salon where you could pay to have them do an up-do for your doll. There was a cafe where you could spend $30 on a tea party luncheon. And it seemed like all of the girls walking around the mall had at least two dolls in their arms. Hayley was in heaven.

Let me back up now and tell you about Chloe. Since Chloe's older sister was fascinated with American Girl dolls, Chloe had decided that she wanted to get Rebecca when Hayley bought Julie. I knew she wanted Rebecca but there was no way I was going to spend $100 on a doll for a 4 year old. Her birthday was the week we were in California, so I bought the knock-off doll at Costco for only $25, thinking Chloe wouldn't know the difference if it was an actual American Girl doll or not. The morning we were going to the store, I told Chloe she could open up an early bday present (all of this in the hopes that she'd be thrilled with her new doll and not feel the need to get anything at the store.)

Look how cute this doll is:

She hugged it and we took a picture and then she announced: "This isn't Rebecca. Can I still get Rebecca when we go to the store?" Um, no, Chloe. This is your new doll. "Then can I get Rebecca when I turn 5?"

It was so sad because the whole time we were at the AG store, she pouted. Oh well, still glad I didn't spend the money on one for her. Her doll has ended up being naked most of the time and with crazy hair.

After the trip to the store, we headed over to Disneyland. We split a 5 day pass with Stacey's sister and met her at Knotts Berry Farm to eat the famous chicken dinner and pick up the passes! Yum!

When we finally got to Disneyland, we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. As we started to enter the ride and go down the little hill, Chloe shouted out "OH NO! I've had a dream about this!"

And then we decided to take a little break and be entertained in the Tiki Room. And they called Chloe up out of the audience to introduce the birds! She was darling and not a bit nervous. She acted like she owned the mic!

We ended the night watching the parade. We were sitting up near where the parade begins and as the princesses and characters would walk out, they would first spot my kids shouting and waving to them. It was so neat to see them make eye contact with them and wave back and blow kisses. The kids were in heaven!