Finding the other end of our Red Thread: American Girl Place

I have been anticipating this day trip for so long,

and I have been so excited to take Maura to...

American Girl Place !!

I planned this trip with Maura's bestest friend, Tori and her mom.

We took a chartered bus tour from our area to NYC

The girls had fun on the ride up, talking about everything they would do with their dolls once we got there.

As we got closer to the big city they got super excited.

And finally we arrived...

American Girl Place NYC is a three story building with lots to do on each level....

At the recommendation of our tour bus driver

the very first thing we did was go to make appointments in the doll hair salon.

By the time we got there, there was already a very long line just to make the appointment,

and they were booking for two hours out.

So, while Tori's mom stood in line I took the girls to look around...

We saw the Girl of the Year display:

and got photos with the current "Girl of the Year", Lea Clark

and checked out all of the so.very.many accessories

and visited the bake shop

and tried out some of the interactive displays

and then finally...

Tori's mom had made it to the front of the line and we were able to make hair appointments for just after our lunch reservation !

With still a little time before lunch we took the girls to

the Truly Me Signature Studio

Here they each designed an outfit for their doll...

Then their designs were magically made into real outfits for their dolls. The "magic" took about an hour so we planned to pick them up after lunch.

The big highlight of the day was lunch in the Café!

The tables were set up all fancy and they had special doll seats so they could sit at the table too.

Each girl was given a little gift...a small doll-sized cup and plate.

The food was so yummy...

appetizers, main entrée and dessert!

And it was all included with our bus tour ticket.

After lunch we picked up the girls' self-designed doll outfits and then made it to the doll hair salon just in time for our appointments.

Choosing the hairstyle they wanted for their dolls...

The before picture:

They actually gave the dolls a fresh trim of their hair...

And then a new braid and bow!

The dolls also got their ears pierced...

but they took the dolls back into a special room to do the piercing.

I guess the process isn't a pretty sight since they don't want you to see it.

The after picture:

...all dolled up with sparkly new earrings!

Once we had seen and done just about everything there was at

American Girl Place...

{and just maybe to prevent ourselves from spending any more money!!}

we decided to take the girls for a stroll around NYC.

It was a beautiful day!

First we walked over to Rockefeller Center

Then we thought it would be nice to walk a "few" more blocks to Central Park.

Turns out those "few" blocks were more than we expected,

the girls were getting tired of walking,

and complaining of sore feet,

but then finally, we made it.

We really wanted to take the girls to ride the carousel,
but that meant a bit more of a walk into the center of Central Park.
I didn't realized how big Central Park is!

Somewhat dreading the walk back,
we thought it would be a nice break to take one of the bicycle cabs back.

It was a unique experience I would say...
but the girls thought it was exciting,
so I guess it was worth the $3.99 per minute ride.
(I wish I made that kind of money...$240/hr !!)

With only about 30 minutes left until our bus was scheduled to pick us up,

we headed back inside to use the restrooms one last time.

And the girls wanted to dress their dolls in the new outfits for the ride home.