double digits

Katie turned TEN this week! What a journey it has been… and will continue to be! She has always made us very proud. I hope and wish that all HER hopes and wishes come true!


We celebrated over the weekend with a girls’ trip to Dallas. Nana and Aunt Judy met us there for a few days of fun, food, and shopping. We shopped and ate and shopped and ate. We swam, saw live music, rode the trolley, and ate some more. It was a cram-packed weekend!

The focal point of the weekend was a trip to the American Girl Boutique & Bistro. It was the first time that any of the four of us had been. If you're a fan/collector of their stuff, it's an amazing experience. Katie received her first doll, Bitty Baby, and accessories when she was two years old, from Aunt Janet and Cousins Kim & Emily. (It's all their fault!) Her collection grew with every birthday and holiday. When she was in Kindergarten, Santa Claus brought her Samantha. Her collection has continued to grow, mostly through gifts, but she's made a few purchases with money from own savings. For many years (at least 3 or 4), we've been planning this big 10th birthday trip, however, originally, the destination was supposed to be Los Angeles. AG has 3 large stores (LA, Chicago, NY) and 2 smaller stores (Dallas, Atlanta). We had chosen to go to one of the bigger stores because they had more activities to offer, including The American Girls Revue (a song and dance production featuring all of the historical girls). When I went online a few months ago to start make reservations and purchasing tickets, I found out that the curtain was coming down for the last time on September 1st. WHAT!?! We were all disappointed (except Shayne - he's thinking about saving money). Katie's birthday was Monday, and would you believe, I got an e-mail late that afternoon telling us that after 22 years, AG had decided it was time to archive Samantha. WHAT!?! We're working diligently on a wish list... they didn't say when this would happen, just that is was going to happen... we want Katie's collection to be somewhat complete before it's no longer available. (although, there's always Ebay)