Our little American Girl...

Lily is an American Girl!

Grandmommy got her that very first Bitty Baby several years ago and that's all it took!  Since then the collection and love of all things American Girl have only grown!  We don't go anywhere without one (or more) of our girls and she plays with them every single day!

My niece went to the American Girl store in Atlanta for her birthday in January.  Ever since then Lily has been telling us (and everyone else she knows) how much she wanted to go!  Chris and I decided right away we would take her, but we didn't know when.  You could say we had been planning to take her for months, but it wasn't until May that the perfect time opened up in the schedule and the budget for us to go... and how perfect that it was just a couple weeks before her birthday!

Lily had saved up about $150 to spend.  We both thought we'd be in the store forever while she shopped and tried to decide what to buy with the money she had saved.  Boy were we wrong!  Within 20 minutes or so she was ready to check out!  She walked around and looked at everything, picked out what she wanted, and she wanted to buy it and get busy playing!  She chose a "My American Girl" doll that you "design" and named her Addison!  She got glasses and braces and a booster seat and then we headed off to our hotel for even more surprises!

At our hotel, we had the Deluxe American Girl Everything Pink Package!  It was so neat!  After Chris and I checked ourselves in, Lily had to walk the pink carpet and check her and her doll in!

It was a little girl dream!  She even got her own "credit card" to use in their little store!  She had to sign her and the doll in just like a grown up checks in - it was really so neat!

The treats continued when we got to our room and EVERYTHING was pink!  The pillows, comforters, towels... everything!  Right down to pink trash cans and big pink bean bag chair! lol.  There was also a pink travel bed for her new girl to sleep in complete with satin sheets and an American Girl pillow!  The best part?  We got to keep the bed and sheet set!!  So cool!

Here is the newest member of our family!  Meet Addison!  Don't you just love her glasses?

We got all the other girls unloaded and set up on the bed for introductions.  Addison sat in the middle and introduced herself and then Lily had each of her other girls go in a circle to welcome Addison to the class and learn about each other!  We played for a good long while before it was time to head back over to the American Girl Bistro for a special birthday dinner!

We got the Birthday Dinner Package which included crowns for Lily and Addison, gift bags with American Girl shirt and balloon and birthday treats to keep!  Dinner was very fancy-shmancy!  We each got an appetizer and an entree...

(even Addison...)

...and dessert of course!

It came complete with a Birthday song...

...all in pink, of course!

We couldn't have planned a better "party" if we had tried!  They truly think of everything - it was a magical experience!

After dinner the fun was far from over!  Actually it was just beginning... we had a whole line up of fun evening activities back at the hotel!

For starters, there was a room service delivery of cookies and milk for Lily and her new girl!

Then...

...a American Girl movie with free popcorn and coke for ALL the families staying the hotel with the American Girl package!  There were little girls and dolls everywhere! lol.  We watched Molly's movie - it was really cute!

Next we headed to the pool for some swimming!  We were relieved that Lily remembered everything we taught her last summer and was happy to hop in and swim without a float!  She did flips and had fun swimming for a good long while!

After swimming and such a big day, we were all worn out.  We bundled up and headed back to our room for a little more play time before bed!

I think Lily was actually asleep before her head even hit the pillow!  She was wiped out!

After a good night's sleep we were up and ready to go to our breakfast - what a spread!  And, of course, with our everything pink package, we got a special table that was... you guessed it... all pink!  :-)

IT was a WONDERFUL birthday trip!  In Lily's opinion it was right up there with Disney World!   Now that's a fun trip! lol

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

We can't believe you are already 8 and we are so proud of the young lady you are becoming!  :-)

May Recap...

May passed us by in a hurry!

Most of the month of May was spent counting down until the end of school!  Counting down to summer is always fun, but if you don't live in a house with kids AND teachers, you have no idea how much summer can be anticipated!  Even with our count down going on and the clock racing each day towards summer, we ended up still having lots of fun!

Ava Grace discovered that she doesn't just like bath time, she loves it!

She also discovered she can splash on purpose by kicking her legs and that's the best part of bath time!

Lily and I spent some time in the kitchen (as always), but this time SHE did the cooking!   

We worked on reading directions, measuring, and mixing!  She did a great job and cooked an entire batch of mini muffins (almost) all by herself while Ava Grace and I kept her company and watched her improving cooking skills!!  (I love how serious she is about measuring each muffin out carefully - look at that concentration!)

 We played some of our favorite games!  A few rounds of Yatzi and more than a few rounds of Pretty Pretty Princess!  Doesn't Chris make a beautiful princess?  ;-)

Pretty Pretty Princes is Lily's favorite game right now!  As you can see from this picture, she won because she had her game piece, her matching necklace, ear rings, ring, bracelet, ring, and the crown... can't be the prettiest princess without the crown!

Ava Grace let Crystal hold her without sleeping or crying! lol  This was a first for them both!

"What's for dinner Mama?"

Ava Grace sits in her feeding seat in the evenings with me while I cook dinner.  Her appetizer?  Index finger on this night!  She loves those fingers

"Seriously Mom, the camera again?!?"

Tummy time was frequent with our new found abilities to roll in every direction!  Ava Grace also figured out she can travel short distances by rolling, although she doesn't exercise this ability very often... only when you lease expect it! lol

 Both girls spent their fare share of time being silly...

 ...its just how we roll!

And we said good bye...

...to Miss Johnson and Lily's first year at Richpond Elementary.  Lily made a home made brownie mix to take to Miss Johnson, it was very sweet.

We made sure to get in plenty of play.  These two are playing together more and more these days.  Lily likes to pick Ava Grace up and carry her around and show her things.  She reads to Ava Grace and gets in the floor with her often.  Ava Grace LOVES the new attention from her sister.  In fact, she loves EVERYTHING that Lily does!

With all that going on,  we had to get in some beauty rest every now and then... but mostly we just did lots of having fun!

So, what was your May like?

A visit with Pap and Mimi

I have been so terribly busy and behind on blogging, among other things!  It seems like after I finish (or attempt to finish) all the have-to-get-dones, there isn't a lot of time left for the want-to-get-dones!  Just the other day I was saying to Mom, there is so much I want to do!  Every time I find time to do something one my "fun" list, something else falls off and doesn't get done!  :-)

Anyway, I have had this blog post sitting and waiting for me to just hop on and hit post!  It's from a few weeks ago, but I still wanted to share it!

We visited Chris' parents a few weeks ago while Pap (Chris' Dad) was still in rehab after recently being discharged from the hospital after a bad fall.  Thankfully he is now back home and better than ever, but while at rehab we paid a few visits to catch up, have a bite, or just hang out!

Lily sure does love her Mimi and Pap!  :-)

I think it was fun and an "adventure" to visit them at Pap's temporary home!  :-)

Lily loves being Silly and while visiting we had lots of laughs!

She took Kit's (one of her American Girl's) magnetic bracelets and turned it into an earring for Pap!

...and for Ava Grace...

...and for her Daddy!  :-)

She's so funny!

We are all so blessed to have these girls in our lives!

And the girls (and Chris and I) are so blessed to have Mimi and Pap!