Birthday Lunch at American Girl Cafe

Ava was the center of attention and enjoyed the whole experience.

The Birthday Girl!

Elsa was a great sport considering she was the only girl in the group that didn't get to pick out a present of matching pajamas. She enjoyed reading the conversation cards to the other girls and reading the history of each doll while walking through the museum. I am grateful that she and Ava have one another. They are great friends.

The girls with each of their dolls. Here are the girls in their matching pajamas.

Ava had been planning a big "Fancy Nancy" birthday party (like we did for Elsa's 6th birthday) for over a year. We didn't have a party for her last year because we had just moved to California and would be moving into our house a week later. As her birthday quickly approached and seeing our calendar fill-up with school activities and church obligations, I lacked the energy to put on a birthday party. I gave Ava the option that instead of a party she could take a couple of friends to lunch at the American Girl Cafe in Los Angeles. It didn't take any convincing for her to decide this is what she wanted. She was so excited preparing for the event. In the morning, I gave her and Elsa pedicures, styled and curled their hair (and their dolls hair), and they dressed up matching outfits. We then pick-up up her two best friends, Callie and Charlee. It was a great afternoon. The AG store is quite amazing and the ambiance of the cafe didn't disappoint (although the food needed a lot of help). Ava and her friends enjoyed toasting the doll tea cups, eating with their pinkies out, and asking fun and crazy questions taken from conversation cards. It was a truly delightful time. After lunch, Ava used her birthday money from both grandparents to buy herself and Ruthie, her doll, matching pajamas. It helped that Callie's birthday was three days before Ava's and Charlee's is a week after. Both girls got AG dolls for their birthdays and picked out matching pajamas for their dolls too. They had so much fun going in the dressing room and trying on different sizes. We arrived home and they quickly put on their pajamas. What a birthday week Ava had! She was grateful, so that makes it worth it. I thought it was fun too.