American Girl Trip & SNOW!!!

On Friday, Feb.12, two determined Moms (Donna & I) and three very excited little girls (Jill, Anna Beth & Katie) set out for the American Girl store in Atlanta. Now if you think back for a minute you will remember that on Friday, it was snowing like crazy here in Birmingham and the snow storm was headed toward Atlanta! But as I said we Mom's were determined not to disappoint our three excited daughters. We loaded up and headed to Atlanta about 1:30pm. Here are a few pictures out the window of the Suburban as Jill and I made our way to meet The Giles crew.

Once we picked up Donna, Anna Beth, and Katie the weather just continued to deteriorate. We had to drive very slowly and follow the tracks of the car in front of us so as to be sure we did not slide off the interstate, as did several cars ahead of us. My friend in Alpharetta called at about 4pm to inform us that they had 3-4 inches of snow on the ground already and that it was still coming down. She advised us to turn around and go back home, but we were DETERMINED - crazy some might say...so we slid on!

Now mind you, all this time we did not have reservations to eat at the American Girl Bistro. We had tried for 2 weeks to get reservations but they were completely booked. Knowing the weather might keep some travelers away we called and they told us they had one opening at 9:30am - woohoo, we took it! We made it to the hotel after about a 5 hour trip that should have taken about 3 - but we made it! We checked in, had dinner, and let the girls swim in the indoor heated pool. Then back to the room to get cleaned up and in bed to get our beauty sleep before our big day! Saturday morning arrived and Donna and I turned on the news to see how bad the roads were. The first thing we hear was, "The Georgia Department of Transportation is advising everyone to stay off the roads - they are a solid sheet of ice." Sorry Georgia DOT but we were DETERMINED to make it to brunch with our three little American Girls and ice or no ice we were going to be there!!! And we did just that. Fortunately our hotel was only about half a mile from the mall so we easily slid there. The walk across the mall parking lot was actually the hardest part but we made it inside with no falls! And guess what, we had the Bistro almost to ourselves! There were only two other families who were as determined as we were. Our American Girls with their dolls in front of the fountain at our hotel before leaving for brunch.
Finally at the Bistro!
Jill feeding Bailey a muffin for brunch.
Katie and Kit
Anna Beth and Riley Kate
Jill had to talk to her Dad and tell him all about the Bistro and the ham and cheese omelet she ordered.
The salon - waiting on their dolls to get all pampered. All three dolls got their ears pierced and hair styled.


On the playground in the Alpharetta mall.
Our friends Tiffany and Macy finally made it out of their driveway and neighborhood around lunch time and we were so excited to get to eat lunch with them and visit! Jill and I miss the Bennetts so much and are glad they are only a few hours away - well unless it is snowing and then they are about 5 hours away! Here are the girls enjoying some lunch in the food court.
Macy (Jill's "adopted cousin") and Jill
All our American Girls! Watch out Chicago and New York - we will be there soon to check out your American Girl stores!

Sneaky Little Luke

Sorry, no picutres for this post but I promise you will LAUGH!

Last week, Luke's new favorite hiding place became his bedroom closet. Not only would he close himself in the closet but he would first lock his bedroom and bathroom (he and Eli share a Jack & Jill bath) door. After noticing that Luke was "missing" I got the key and unlocked his room door and found him in his closet. He promptly jumped up and told me to "go" because the "bad guys" were coming! So being a good Mommy and wanting to foster his imagination, I locked his door back and closed the door behind me. I knew he wouldn't stay in there very long without needing company, after all my children can't go more than 20 minutes without NEEDING me!!! True to my prediction, after about 20 to 30 minutes, Luke would exit the closet and find his way back downstairs and under my feet. Well, this went on for a couple more days and then on the night of the third day, Jamie went into Luke's closet for something and when he came out he said, "Look at what I found in Luke's closet." He held up one of Luke's bapi's (pacifiers) that we had taken away from him about a week ago. That little stinker had found one and was hiding his contra ban in his closet. He would go in each day and get his bapi "fix" and would then leave it there until he returned!!! What a sneaky little one, and he is only 2! Boy are we in trouble when he is 15!!!!