Chicago

You can skip the lengthy post below and just read the top ten list.

The Top Ten Things I will Remember from Chicago

10) Ella having to sit by herself between two large men on the plane ride to Chicago.

9) The limo ride. "This is the life."

8) The two mile walk for pizza. It felt like five!

7) The American Girl Store and all the accessories a girl needs!

6) The girls playing so hard with those dolls. Reesi kept asking, "What's my dolls name?"

5) The American Girl Cafe: Reesi draping the napkin over Felicity's eyes, pulling it away and yelling surprise!"

4)The girls wanting to play with their dolls all the time!

3) Reading American Girl books in bed before we went to sleep.

2) America's Next Top Model photo shoot in the hotel.

1) Pretending Reesi is four so we could board the plane early and Ella wouldn't have to sit by herself between two large men again!

Thanks for the invite Amy and Ella. It was a blast!

This past weekend we were invited to go to Chicago with Amy and Ella to celebrate Ella's birthday. We arrived in Chicago around 11:00 and the girls were super excited because Amy had arranged for a limo to take us to the airport. The definition of a limo according to Reesi: what famous people ride in. As soon as we climbed in the girls laid out and relaxed saying, "This is the life," and they were so right. I love traveling and decided I need a trip like this every couple months!

After dropping our bags off at the hotel we headed out to get some of the famous Chicago pizza. It was only about a mile and a half walk and didn't sound to bad to Amy and I. Well, it ended up being closer to two miles, it was freezing, and Reesi's legs are really short! By the time we finally arrived at the pizza place Reesi had whined for the last mile, fell off a curb, and rode in my arms the last couple blocks. But the pizza was delicious so it was worth it.

Once our bellies were full we made our way to the amazing American Girl Store. Ella had already planned on getting Julie from the 1970s. Reesi hadn't really thought about who she wanted, but she settled on Felicity from the 1770s. She also got Felicity's foal, Patriot. We ended the evening early with a sundae from Ghirardelli's and then, to the girls' delight, took a cab back to the hotel(well worth the ten bucks). That night the girls played non-stop with their dolls and tucked them safely into our beds for the night.

Saturday we woke up ready for brunch at the American Girl Cafe. The cafe was decked out with pink and black everywhere. Felicity and Julie, of course, joined us at our table. On our way to the top level for brunch we stopped and purchased brushes to fix the dolls' bed heads. The rest of the morning the brushes were constantly in motion. I am surprised that the dolls still have hair because most of brunch was spent fixing their hair. While at brunch Meemaw called to tell Reesi that she could pick out two more things for her Christmas present! That made the day even more special and Reesi ended up with a first aid kit, Felicity's accessory kit, her riding outfit, and a carrying bag. Now the girls were ready to go back to the hotel and play again. Amy and I forced them to stop by a few stores. The girls would find a corner to play and Amy and I would take turns shopping. However, all I ended up with was some gloves and a hat since I had just blown all my shopping money at American Girl!

We took a break at the hotel and then planned dinner and an ice skating extravaganza in Millennium Park. We ate dinner overlooking the ice skating rink. At dinner Reesi spilled water all over her clothes so we made a detour to Old Navy to buy some dry clothes, but just as I was about to pay for a pair of jeans and shirt that she did not need she informs me that they are dry now. So we turned right around and went to line up for ice skating. After waiting in line for a while we hear about another outdoor skating rink a couple blocks away that was cheaper and less crowded so we went there. Reesi held my hand almost the whole time. She did let go for about five minutes, but when I looked away for one second her feet flew out from under her and she landed right on her tail bone. After that it was back to the hand. She cracked me up because for the whole hour she would scream every time she wavered. Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh. . . . over and over the whole time. Ella took right off with no fear. When she fell she would hop right back up and keep going. An hour later the girls were ready to go play American Girl again at the hotel so they hailed a cab (or tried to) and we ended the night striking some poses in front of all the fancy hotel decorations.

It was such a fun weekend. Reesi is really loving her doll, but I don't think she would love as much if she did not have this experience. I am already ready to go again. A girl needs accessories, doesn't she?