A Visit to American Girl Store Orlando!

 Hello, lovely readers!  Last Thursday, we drove down to the Orlando American Girl Store and meet up with our cousins: Victoria, McKenna and Kit Brooks.

"IT'S THOSE PEOPLE!" Kit yelled when Mother dropped us off in front of the store.

"Kit-a-doodles!" Chrissa said happily.

"Chris!" Kit replied, squeezing my youngest sister in a hug.

"Good to see you again, Victoria." I smiled.

"Same to you, Elizabeth."

"This is so exciting!" Georgia and McKenna squealed in unison.  They looked at each other, and laughed.

Then Mother and Aunt Martha walked over.

After all the "hellos" and hugs were finished, Mother said, "Let's go inside, girls!"

 (Note: To see any of the pictures larger, just click on the image.)

The first thing we saw when we walked in the door was all the historical displays.  It was interesting to see the changes on account of BeForever.

 Here's two of the holiday dresses.  On the left is the Ruby Red Ballgown, priced at $50 (which is rather expensive, in my opinion), and the Happy Holiday Dress is on the right.  It was out of stock at the time, as you can see.

 Most of my dresses are from American Girl, but it's still funny to see another girl wearing the same dress as me!

 Ah, Samantha's Winter Coat - this is one of my favorites.  It's not especially practical in Florida, though.

 "Kaya has the coolest tent!" Chrissa said.

"I bet if Elsa build a tent, her's would be cool too." McKenna joked. "Get it?  Cool?"

We laughed.

 Julie looks a little shady in this picture.

 Next, we moved on the the My American Girl section.  Below are pictures of the new-ish winter outfits.

 "I wonder if any of those gifts actually have anything in them?" Georgia asked.

"Oh, they do." Kit replied confidently. "Boxes!"

"Brilliant, Kit." Chrissa laughed.

Kit flipped her short hair and said in a weird voice. "Thank you, darrrrrrling."

 What cute little pets!

 Georgia tried on the Silver Shimmer Dress, but decided not to get it.

 The other side of the store held a small section for the Girl of the Year, Isabelle.

After we made our purchases (which may have included some Christmas gifts), we stopped at the food court for lunch.  McKenna wanted to visit the Disney store, so we pecked in there too.

Then we drove to our cousin's house and spent the rest of the afternoon with them.  

We drove home after dinner.

Where's your favorite place to shop?

We're Home!

 Hi all!  As the title says, we are back from North Carolina!  We had such a great trip.  Since it would take around four more posts to show you all the pictures we took, I just decided to make a collage for the picture-heavy (i.e. interesting) days of our family vacation.

 Our vacation stated on the first, so we headed up Blue Ridge Parkway to Linville caverns (on the left) and, after lunch, Linville falls (on right).  I think the caverns were cool, but also a little freaky.  All the rock was actually still growing, so you weren't allowed to touch the sides. Bats used to live inside, but they all died off.  Eight deserters from the army lived in it during the Civil War, but they were found because the smoke from their camp-fires seeped through the rock out of Grandfather Mountain.  The falls were pretty, but after all that hiking I was ready to go back to our cabin hotel!

August second I was a little sick, so we just hung around the cabin and did a little window-shopping.

 Mount Mitchell was majestic!  Once we drove to the visitor's center, it was only a short climb to the top.  I felt like I could see the whole valley from there!  In the middle of the viewing platform there was a stone compass that pointed out where we were.  Did you know that Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi river?

After a yummy lunch, we headed out on the balsam nature trail.  It was so beautiful!  The sun had come out, and a cool breeze blew through the trees.

 Biltmore was amazing and the overwhelmingly large home of three people: George and Edith Vanderbilt plus their daughter.  Today, it's owned by two of their descendants, who have made it open to the public.  That place is HUGE!!

We were able to get tickets because if you bought two adult tickets, the kids got in for free.

"If we lived here, I could have my own bedroom!" I said, starring up at the giant roof.

"Since there's only the five of us, you could have three!" Mom replied with a smile.

If you're wondering why there are no pictures from the inside of the house, it's because they don't allow it.  There was a sign that said, among other things, "No indoor photography".  I asked Dad if I could take a picture of that sign.  He just laughed.  ;^)

On http://www.biltmore.com, you can see a few pictures of the inside, which are amazing.  If you're ever in the area, I would totally recommend going there.

On our drive back to Florida, my parents surprised Elizabeth and I by re-routing our trip through Atlanta, so we could go to the American Girl Store!  (Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, thank you so much!!!)  It was so fun seeing all the resent releases, hanging out in the store, and buying a new outfit (I got the Coconut Cutie Outfit!).  

What fun things did you do this summer?

Our Vacation Souvenirs

Whenever you go to somewhere memorable, whether it be for an just for an afternoon or a whole month, it's fun to get a souvenir to remember it by.  Elizabeth and I did just that this summer.

 When we went to the American Girl store in Denver, I got the 2-in-1 Surf Swimsuit.

 And Elizabeth picked out Marie-Grace's Skirt Set.  We're both very happy with our choices.

 In Yellowstone, we bought this hand-made platter and a "Yellowstone National Park" mug, which we use all the time.  And in Rocky Mountain Nat. Park we purchased the white mug.  One mug for each of us!

 Does this picture look familiar? It's from my Puppy Love: a Photoshoot post.  I'm wearing the City Sunglasses, "Beach Girl" shirt, and jeans from the American Girl store in Seattle, where we also bought...

... This AG Seattle shirt.  I have a few other AG store souvenir shirts, but this one's my favorite, because it's so comphy that I could sleep in it!  (You know, I might do that someday.)

We got all these, plus TONS of postcards!

What are your favorite kind of souvenirs?  We'd love to hear!

What We Did July 27- August 6

Hi all!  It's so nice to be home!  Isn't that picture of me amazing?  Elizabeth captured it on our vacation. So what have we been doing?! you ask.  Well, here's your answer.  July 27 and 28 we were mostly just driving.   We went into Glacier National Park on the 29th.   It is so pretty.

The 30th we drove more, and July 31 we spent a day in Spokane, WA.

The first day of the new month, August 1st, we mostly drove, then arrived in Packwood,WA...

...And stayed in a cute, rustic lodge.

When we went into Mount Rainier National Park on August 2, it was kind of foggy.  But look at the beautiful view on this postcard I picked up!

On the 3 Elizabeth and I excitedly went to the American Girl Store in Seattle, and we got to eat dessert in the Cafe!

August  4th we went sightseeing in Seattle.

 The next day, we walked to the Pike Market.  And rode on Ferry.
Elizabeth and I packed on the 5th, and flew back home to Florida on the 6th.
And that's what Elizabeth and I did July 27- August 6th.

Our Day At American Girl Store Denver!

Hi people!  Elizabeth and I went to the American Girl store in Denver today!  We had so much fun!

Here we are in front of the store.

Inside, all over, there lots of models displaying all the cute outfits.

"Wow." I said. "This horse is really pretty.  What's her name?"

"This is Bell.  The white horse over there is Snow White."  The model smiled. "We like to name them after Disney people."  She (I realized that I didn't know her name) looked at me curiously. "What's you name?"

"I'm Chrissa.  I'm here with my sister, Elizabeth." I said, pointing to where Elizabeth was standing. "Do you like horses?"

"I'm Katherine, and I love horses!  Sarah over there likes them too." Katherine said, pointing to the girl who was standing next to the other horse, Snow White.

"My friend Julie likes horses too." I sighed. "I wish she were here with me."

Katherine smiled understandingly.  "To get this job, I had to leave my roommate for the summer.  I miss her, just like you do."

"Chrissa!" Elizabeth called. "If you want try on all of these outfits you better get started!"

Here a few of the outfits Elizabeth and I tried on.  

We had such a fun day at American Girl store Denver!