American Girl Store

On the last week of September, the kids are out of school for 3 days during the teachers' convention. We took the opportunity to go visit Lee's parents in Chattanooga and his sister Davida in Atlanta. Before going, I found that there is an American Girl store in the Atlanta area. Molly was thrilled! She has 2 18" dolls similar to American Girl dolls, and she picked one to go visit with us. So we went--Davida and I, Molly (armed with her birthday money) 12-year-old cousin Sylvan, and Molly (the frizzy-haired American Girl knock-off doll).
What a place that is! A little girl heaven on earth. That is, a little girl WITH LOTS OF MONEY TO SPEND heaven on earth. I cannot imagine taking a girl there without planning to buy.There is an American Girl doll/character named Molly--hence the name for Molly's brown-haired doll Molly. (Stick with me now--this could get confusing.) This is a picture of Molly holding Molly in front of the Molly display in the store. Molly decided to buy the Molly outfit that Molly wore in the movie "Molly" that the Molly doll is wearing behind Molly in the picture. It is the patriotic outfit that Molly wore in her tap dance number at the end of the movie. Got it?

Of course, as every girl does, we had to visit the bathroom while we were there. There were little silver brackets on the wall in every stall, and I had to see what everyone else was doing with them before I figured out what they were. Doll holders, of course! Every little girl in the place had a doll under her arm, so it makes perfect sense. Instead of purse holders, they have doll holders. (Yes, this is a smile, sort of. It's the face Molly initially makes every time I point a camera at her. Molly the girl, not the doll.)
We had planned to get a snack at the Bistro, but there was a wait of 1 1/2 hours. We decided against it. Note to self: make reservations!
They even have an area where they will fix and style your doll's hair. Most style were $20, so we opted not to do that. Besides, Molly's doll is not really an American Girl doll, so they probably wouldn't have done it anyway. But, boy! Does she need a hair fixing!
Molly really wanted this volleyball outfit, but she had to choose between so many things that she wanted. It was agonizing to see her have to choose based on her limited money. She had $90, but in that store, that's pretty limited. I had planned to get her the volleyball set for Christmas, but she informs me that now that volleyball season is over, she doesn't really want it any more.
Here she is making her purchases. She picked the doll high chair that goes with us to most restaurants now, the patriotic outfit that is so neatly packed in the box, a pair of glasses for Molly since her old ones broke, and a hair-styling kit complete with rollers.
This will be a regular stop any time we are in the Atlanta area now. But I will have to be sure to remind Molly that she needs to earn some money to spend first!

I had to get this picture of Molly wearing a bike helmet backwards. It was so cute! She is complaining because our can of mosquito repellent isn't spraying.