American Girl Birthday Surprise!

I have always done big, themed birthday parties for the kids.  I LOVE doing them!  But this year I was sort of tired of doing big parties, and I also wanted Austin to get a chance to do something different.  We decided to give her the option of having a big party, or going on a trip.  She chose a to trip to the American Girl store, so we decided to take her to Atlanta. I had planned a trip for the weekend after her birthday for just she and I to go, but we decided to move it up to Labor Day so that Ben could go too.

We didn't tell Austin where we were going, but she figured it out. She kept asking when we were going to the American Girl store, and we kept telling her that we weren't sure there was one around our hotel. :)  She was SO excited to see the storefront from the parking lot..

First, we shopped the Bitty Baby section for a while, and then moved on to the "big girl" stuff. Austin was so excited and overwhelmed!

We waited for a few minutes for our lunch reservation. This place may be ALL girly, but they know how to do it right. Girls and dolls get the royal treatment!

We had a great lunch! An appetizer of blueberry mini muffins, fruit, and strawberry yogurt dip, and then Austin and I both ordered hamburgers. Mine was SO good! I was very impressed with the food! And then, of course, the birthday girl got to choose any dessert that she wanted, and they sang Happy Birthday to her!

That sundae was chocolate ice cream with hot fudge, and it was ah-mazing. After lunch, we had a hair appointment for Caroline. Please notice in the above photos how HORRIBLE her hair was.

We had so much fun! We got lots of goodies for her Bitty Baby (Kate), and also for Caroline. We walked around the mall for a few minutes, but left shortly after.

We had such a great trip! The kids were tired and bored on our drive home, but Austin was in love with Caroline. :)  Love having a girly-girl!  :)