American Girl...

Can't help but hear Tom Petty singing that in my head...

Anyway, Saturday was the long-awaited day...Kayci's trip to the American Girl store in Dallas. I'm not sure where to begin this story...maybe from the beginning is best. Aunt Susan and Uncle Phil have, like most of us, been in love with Kayci from the moment they saw her beautiful little face. They're big, big Kayci fans. Aunt Susan wanted to have a special tradition that they could all share, so for Kayci's first birthday Aunt Susan and Uncle Phil sent her a Bitty Baby. For those of you who aren't familiar, one, that's a darn nice gift for a one year old. Two, you can choose from several different Bitty Baby options to "customize" the doll, so they chose a Bitty Baby with brown hair and brown eyes--and yes, she TOTALLY looked like Baby Kayci. Well, when Kayci opened that birthday gift, suffice to say that Daddy and I were a little leery of letting her play with this special toy given her age and tendency to drag toys around. But, Kayci took one look and fell in love so that was that. We named her BeBe--as in B.B., or Bitty's Baby. BeBe slept with Kayci every night (until she got Aero, right before we moved to Brenham) and went everywhere we went (um, Seattle--which is another story in itself, as BeBe got left in the airport and we didn't realize until the plane took off...I don't know who cried more, Kayci or Mommy, also Oregon, San Francisco, Kansas...anywhere we've gone, BeBe's gone). Every birthday and Christmas since, Kayci waits eagerly for the telltale red wrapping paper and white satin ribbon because she knows it'll be something cool for BeBe. They've also broken the bank a couple of times and bought matching outfits for Kayci, which is just something to see. So, that's where our story starts. If you've been watching this summer, you know that Kayci suckered Grandpa into buying her a "big" American Girl doll, Kit. She loves Kit and has also fallen in love with the books about Kit's life during the Depression. We get American Girl catalogs regularly thanks to Aunt Susan and Uncle Phil, so she's been poring over them trying to decide what she wants the VERY most for Kit and BeBe. Because the stuff is pretty pricey, Daddy and I told her a long time ago that we won't buy it for her, she'll have to use her own money or wait for birthdays and Christmas. So...

She saved her birthday money (well, about 3/4 of it) and then earned $$ by sleeping in her own bed (nope, we're not above bribing our child to get a good night's sleep). All in all, she had $100 of her OWN money to spend. It's crass to talk about money, I know, but the point is, if you know Kayci and how long it takes her to spend $1 at the Dollar Store or worse, the Dollar Spot at Target, you can see why this trip was so eagerly anticipated...and maybe just a bit dreaded. Daddy and I had visions of a meltdown when she realized that, though $100 is a LOT of money, it won't go very far in the land of American Girl stuff. As it turns out, there were no meltdowns. A few frowns as she deliberated if she'd rather have, say, Kit's scooter or a cheerleader outfit. But it's Kayci, and she pretty well bought what she went there thinking she would buy. Her haul: 2 dresses for BeBe, an outfit for Kit, Kit's scooter, a hairbrush (a must-have, according to Hannah, so that was the item Kayci wanted the very most and is the most excited about!), a pair of glasses and a hairstyle for Kit at the American Girl salon. (Um, about the hairstyle--Daddy and I are a bit more cynical than most, I know, but seriously, we paid $10 for the nice lady to show Kayci that yes, scissors DO work in Kit's hair and then tie a ribbon in said hair. A ribbon which came out almost as soon as we got to Aunt Susan's house because Kayci wanted to brush Kit's hair with the new brush...argh. So really, we paid $10 for Kayci to have the experience of picking a hairstyle for Kit and reaffirming that yes, her favorite colors at the moment are pink and green.)

I digress--too much going on here now, as Noble's awake, the phone's been ringing (hmm, coincidence?) and I'm trying to put about 3 gazillion pictures in a slideshow so you can see Kayci's visit from start to finish. Anyway, we had a blast at the American Girl store--it's AWESOME. And we hear that Dallas is the second smallest store, so I can't even imagine what a flagship store would be like!! We arrived about 2 to have time to look around before our 3:00 lunch reservation. All of us, I think, walked around with our mouths open at first...it's just something. Kayci was so excited, but also a bit taken aback by the sheer magnitude of her options, I think. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I will say that those 3 hours were well worth the anticipation and yes, the cost. If you know us, you know that Kayci got out of there with well over $100 in merchandise...Aunt Susan and Uncle Phil bought her Kit's school bag, which is just awesome, and Daddy kicked in Kit's school outfit (we gave her Kit Learns a Lesson as a happy Saturday morning--those pictures of her at the table are showing the book, which Kit and BeBe signed, and $100 in $1 bills to further drive home the point that yes, $100 is a lot of $$. And her camera, because she wanted to wear it around her neck like Kit does and take pictures of the store, etc.). Oh, and we also bought Hannah's birthday present, but I can't say it here in case you're reading, Hannah Banana. We can't WAIT to give it to you!!!!

Alright, life calls from the other room. We're hanging out until after lunch today, then we'll head over to College Station so Daddy can use his MS150 gift certificate before it expires, and we also need a few things from Target. Hope you're all having a great and relaxing Labor Day, and that you're not in Gustav's path. We've all been stressing a bit about that for the past few days, worrying about Dad having to travel while he's in pain already. So, we're grateful they can stay put and he can rest and recover.