A Trip to the American Girl Doll Store

Our youngest turns 8 next month, something I'm still shaking my head about.  She's such a fun little girl, but for some reason has never really been "into" dolls, seldom playing with the few she has over the years.  Imagine our surprise when a few months ago she started pulling out her dolls, along with the doll bed, swing, etc. to play house, salon, school - toting them back and forth in the car wherever we would go.  It's been so fun to watch.

Somehow we ended up on the catalog list for American Girl several years ago.  I have to admit the stuff is amazingly cute, they think of every little detail.  But...cough, cough...the prices!   Wow, you could spend a small fortune.  Elise would look at the catalogs when they arrived, but then that was that.  I'm pretty sure I enjoyed looking through each one more than she did.  However, the last few catalogs she looked through, she REALLY looked through, and each page had something circled.  Then she declared she knew what she wanted to spend her swap-money on.

You know, swap-money?!  For the past few months she has been going through her toys, books and clothes and with my help, has been selling them on one of the Facebook "buy/sell/trade" groups.  The deal was that anything she sold, she could keep the money - and her little pile of cash grew pretty quick!

We had a long discussion on the price of AG dolls, comparing them to the off-brand line of dolls at other stores, how she could get more accessories if she chose the cheaper doll, etc.  Ultimately she made the decision to purchase Julie Albright from American Girl.  It was big afternoon!

As soon as we walked in the store she found Julie's section and picked up her girl.   

Her little face makes me smile.

There is so much to see - a little girls fantasy store.

She wasn't letting go of her doll once she had her!

The gymnastics set is incredible.

Love this sign.

More of Julie's accessories.

At check-out they will take your doll out of the box so you can walk out with them.  Yes, please!

Of course the obligatory last picture as we left - even though it was 10 degrees outside!

I am so very proud of her, this was a big purchase.  Of course she walked out with a list of many, many other items she wants and is already thinking of ways to make more money for them.  Plus, she knows her birthday is coming up - smart girl.   :-)