We have a 9 YEAR OLD!! Last year in the single digits!! I simply can't believe it!! For the second year in a row, Nora asked to go back to the American Girl Boutique as opposed to having a party. So last weekend, we headed out to the land of "everything pink." :)
Ella was excited to see "Grace." She wants Santa to bring her this year. My word.....Santa better start saving his spare change!!
Of course, Nora picks out "Julie," the little hippie doll :)
Such a trooper....
So excited to check out, and get Julie out of the box!!
The Bistro was all booked up, so we went to explore the mall, and found a Lego exhibit:
Turns out, they were having an "American Pride" exhibit which was SOOOOO PERFECT because it included many buildings and monuments that we've been studying in Social Studies - like the Supreme Court building......made of Legos:
Or the Washington Monument.....made of Legos:
Or Paul Revere's Old North Church where the two lanterns were lit when "the British were coming!" ......made of Legos:
Or the White House.....made of Legos:
Or the Statue of Liberty.....made of Legos:
And finally, the GIGANTIC capital building.....made of Legos:
Off to look for some lunch. (This is how Claira held her American Girl the entire weekend. The love is evident).
While we were searching for lunch due to starvation, we spotted the carousel. Priorities.
We finally found some lunch (at Chili's....the Tripple Dipper is where it's at), and headed out to our next adventure. Daddy and I had one more surprise in mind:
We headed over to the Marriott around the block and found that they had a "pink carpet" waiting for us to check in :)
The girls still didn't quite understand what was going on until we entered our PINK hotel room!! Equipped with beds for the American Girl dolls!! So cute!!
The girls were ecstatic!!! And Daddy was ecstatic because we made it in time to watch football!!
They even provided us with pink robes to wear to the pool!! :)
While Daddy watched some football, the girls and I headed out for a dip in the indoor and outdoor pools :)
Little sunbather:
A perfect day for the official "last weekend of summer."
Finally, we came back up to watch football with Daddy and play with our new dolls and accessories :)
Dinner time!!
Someone was excited to eat!!
After dinner, we headed over to the lounge where they had pink sleeping bags, popcorn, and an American Girl Movie showing. Too cute!!!
We slipped out of the movie a little early to do some night swimming!!
Finally, after a long, exciting day of PINK, we all started to get tired:
But don't worry, the next morning we were greeted with a PINK buffet breakfast, equipped with pink EVERYTHING, and another American Girl movie playing. Daddy plays the part so very well. :)
Even though our PINK fun ended after breakfast, our celebrations last all week!! On Wednesday, the family came over to celebrate our big 9-year-old!!
Opening presents:
So, maybe Nora picked Julie because she looks just like her Aunt Lea?!?!
Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!! With every passing year (and every passing day), I become more in awe of you. You are growing into a stunning young lady with a beautiful heart, endless determination, and a happy spirit!!
This may be your last year in the single-digits, but you'll always be my baby!!
Cheers to YOU, my Nora-Bean!!!
