Grace's Big Birthday Trip

For Grace's fifth birthday we decided to do a trip to Chicago for her to get an American Doll. This was her one and only birthday gift. All of her grandparents, great grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc. gave her money to spend on her trip. We talked a lot about this idea before deciding to go ahead with it. Even though she had received a catalog in the mail and really liked it I wanted to make sure she wouldn't be disappointed when her birthday rolled around. It was so funny to here her tell people about our plan, "I don't get any presents to open (thats the sad part), but its okay because we are going on the train and I get to pick out my own doll and buy her stuff with money!" Here is the picture play by play of our special day.

Watching for the Train- Cold & Excited

Faith bundled up & ready to go.
Our tickets- I wanted to let Grace sign her own ticket, but the grouchy ticket taker insisted it be signed by an adult.

Grandma fulfilled a Humiston birthday tradition by taking Grace to purchase doughnuts from the cafe. She was very generous and shared with everyone.

Finally there- good thing is was SO hot on the train we nearly melted!
We took a cab from the train station to Water Tower. Grace could hardly wait to see Ruthie (the doll she had chosen from looking online). She kept saying, "Let's find Ruthie!" Here is her first glimpse.
Grace chose Ruthie, Kit's best friend, because of her curly hair and purple dress.

Grace getting Ruthie out of the box.

Love at first sight!
Our family had also generously given Faith some money to spend on the trip. Since Ruthie is from the Kit line you could buy both dolls, their accessories, and their books for a discounted price. By the time you figured the savings Faith basically had enough money to purchase Kit (and Gramy thought this was totally necessary). SO.....Faith got Kit. Here she is waiting for her doll.

They were having a special event and you could make a lei necklace for your doll.

Here Grace is showing Ruthie the different pets to see if she would like to purchase a pet...
We had some complications with making reservations at the restaurant. So, we ended up being on the waiting list for the 12:30 time slot. I was VERY close to giving up as the kids were basically starting to melt at this point. (They had been up since 5:30) But, I remembered Kara's pictures of her girls right before lunch and figured if we could make it to eat we'd get a second wind. I finally said we were only waiting 10 more minutes and then they finally called our name. I'm so glad as this was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I would definitely recommend making it part of your experience.

Its funny looking around a restaurant and seeing all little girls. It was really geared towards kids. As soon as we sat down they brought us a "warm welcome" mini cinnamon rolls. Then they brought an appetizer tray with veggies & pretzel bites. Grace ordered a tic tac toe personal pizza and Faith ordered a mini hamburger/hot dog with a tiny dish of macaroni and cheese. All of the ladies had salad. The food was very good and speedy.
The best part was all the little touches. The dolls had special seats and their own tea set. Our napkins were wrapped with hair ties for us to keep.

I think we heard them sing Happy Birthday 10 times while we ate! There were a lot of little girl birthday parties. Even though we didn't get the special cake our server did bring Grace a candle to blow out with her dessert. Our dessert included a tiny cake, cookie, and flower pot with chocolate mousse.
During lunch Grace and I talked about how she would spend the rest of her money when she went shopping for Ruthie after lunch. While she shopped Faith (who was feeling awful & coming down with a horrible virus) slept.
Grace ended up choosing a pair of purple pjs, a purple dress/hat, and a pink skirt/shirt & pink shoes from the "shoe store." She did a great job of narrowing down her choices and making sure to get things that matched. I was so proud of her that she didn't ask for more, but was content with her choices. Even though we were finished at the American Girl Store we still had some extra time before catching the train home.
Josie & Joy (her roommate) Joy collected American Girl dolls when she was little and even gave Grace & Faith some extra clothes to enjoy.
We spotted the Ghirardelli Chocolate shop and stopped in to get a treat.
I ordered a peanut butter sundae to share with the girls. Neither of them would eat a bite! Grace fell asleep in my lap & Faith was crying because she didn't feel good and didn't want to share me with her sister. This was one of the more challenging moments of our trip. But, how many mamas get to snuggle with their five year old on their birthday, right?
I was glad when we finally got on the train to head home. Grace had fun drawing pictures of her day. She did some really great ones that I'm going to include in the book I'm making her.
Welcome home Ruthie! Grace requested to take her along to church. When we got there she said, "Welcome to our church Ruthie, this is where we worship God." (love it!)
Her first outfit change- to her comfy purple pjs.
She wore each of her outfits the first day. Here is Grace with their "matching" purple hats.
Grace,

I am so glad we made this special memory together. Seeing the joy you have gotten from choosing Ruthie made my mama heart SO happy. You really are enjoying changing her clothes and bringing her along everywhere we go! You are such a sweet girl and I love you so much. I can't believe I'm a mama to a (gasp) 5 year old. You are getting so grown up. Happy birthday my favorite five year old, I love you the purplest!

Mama