Wanna Know Who's SIX?!?

This girl:



I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but apparently someone stole my sweet baby girl and replaced her with this snaggle-tooth, sassy, Justice-loving, Beiber-fevered six year old!

WHAT? I'm not ready for this. I'm not. I can assure you.

In keeping with the resolution of the year, we stuck to *NOT* having a birthday party this year (despite some subtle pleas and nudges to the contrary).

Yes. Every year I plan these wonderful fetes and my sweet little precious children end up being not-so-thrilled by the time the party actually rolls around. Call me crazy, but I'm not planning a party for myself, so the parties were put on hold. I told the kids they could each pick a fun place to go and take a friend this year for their birthdays.

Does anyone see where this is going? Anyone?

Whit chose Chuck E. Cheese.

Olivia chose The American Girl Doll Boutique and Bistro in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wow. Really?

Who does that?

Apparently Olivia.

So last weekend, we took a trip to Atlanta. I can't lie. It was awesome. Seriously, any little girl's dream come true. And, apparently, a mommy's, too. :)

On Saturday morning, the girls arrived at our house. Kit was waiting for them with their matching birthday outfits.

(Click on any picture to make it bigger!)




For all my scrappy friends, I used Bring on the Cake: Doodles by Kate Hadfield to create the iron-on transfer for their shirts. I bought the little outfits at Michael's and they were perfect! They saved me from having to buy clothes at the AG store (looooove that!!).




They all changed their dolls into their new outfits and we were ready to roll!



We arrived at the Bistro early. Our reservation was for 1:30pm, but we rolled in around 12:30. Lucky for us, we were seated right away and did not have to wait. Keep in mind this is the one and only time I have ever {EVER} been early for ANYTHING in my ENTIRE LIFE. Mommy was a little excited. Just sayin'.

The girls were exciiiiiiiiiiiited, too.



And they couldn't get enough of the little tea sets with REAL water!! {gasp!}





After we ate, the staff sang Happy Birthday to Olivia with a sweet little ice cream, candle and note. She was happy.




Once our lunch was over, we headed into the store to shop and make hair appointments for the dolls.

Yes. They have to have appointments. The DOLLS have to have appointments.

What kind of place do you think this is, people? Apparently walk-ins are NOT welcome. Appointments only.

Who knew?

So, while we waited, we shopped, looked, oogled, shopped and oogled some more. We headed out into the mall to do some site-seeing and ride the huge merry-go-round. The girls had a ball.




Once we were finished with the hair appointments and all the purchases were complete, we headed to the hotel for the night.

The Marriott Atlanta (Alpharetta) totally caters to the American Girl guests and even has an American Girl Doll Weekend Package. We did not choose to do that package, and we still had an awesome time in the pink dining room for breakfast!

Upon arriving at the hotel, the girls promptly decided it was time for presents.

Olivia got some great stuff and looked like this a lot:





When she finished up, she decided it was time for the girls to open their goody bags, too.


They each got a towel wrap.





And matching pajamas for their dolls and themselves (THANKS TO LEXI'S GRANDMOTHER FOR THOSE)!!



Although I have nothing really to say about this picture, it was by far one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip! How cute are these piggies?



I made sure to find a hotel with an indoor pool to keep us busy. I'm not quite sure why I was worried...we also painted nails, colored pictures, snacked, made bead bracelets, wrote notes to each other, snacked, played in the magic mirror closet, took nice long bubble baths and snacked while we were there. There was NO downtime. Did I mention I was TOTALLY happy I packed a cooler with drinks and a bag of snacks for these little divas?!? They were hungry ALL. THE. TIME. Srsly.

After dinner and swimming (around 10pm) the girls crashed on a palette in the floor! Thank you, Jesus! I was WORN. OUT.

The next morning, we got up, got dressed and headed down to the American Girl dining room. We enjoyed a nice breakfast surrounded by the most Pepto-flavored decor of any place I've ever seen. All the while, the girls lamented leaving and schemed up ways to come back. They were smitten, for sure.

I mean, HELLO? Any restaurant that let's a group of 5 and 6 year olds drink out of glasses like these, deserves a gold star in their book.




Once breakfast was finished, we packed up our things...



stopped for one last picture...



and headed for home.

Thanks to my awesome friend (and next door neighbor - oh, and Lexi's mom) for braving this trip with me, for helping me navigate my stupid GPS, for enduring a 3 hour trip with multiple art tools and AG dolls under your legs and for encouraging me to try a new Mexican place that I would've driven right by if you hadn't been with me! I was sooooooo glad to have you along for the adventure!



That's all for now!

Love and hugs,
Leigh