Arlington's 7th birthday

I must start this post by saying that I can't believe that Arlington is 7 years old. It is kind of hard to believe that 7 years has gone by since I had my first baby. She was an easy baby AFTER she became about 6 weeks old. Arlington liked to party at night. She never cried, but she never really slept either. But at 6 weeks on the dot, she slept all night long and we started to become friends.

She was a great toddler - she always listened the first time we told her anything, and rarely caused mischief. She recognized her ABCs by 15 months old and had a huge vocabulary from very early on. She is bright just like her daddy.

We are constantly proud of her and she has turned into a great little girl. She is smart, funny, silly, and a terrific big sister.

So we decided this year - after a lot of hard work, good behavior, and reading a vast number of chapter books - that she could have her beloved American Girl doll. She deserved it.

Saturday morning, Arlington, Mat, her grandmothers, her great aunt, her Aunt Jess, and I went into New York City to spend the day. We got to the American Girl store around 11:00am and we were able to go and get her American Girl right away.

She decided on Molly.



Molly is one of their historical dolls. Born in the 1940s. Arlington chose her months and months ago.



Arlington said the reason she chose her is because she has glasses. Works for me.

The doll was Mat and my gift to her for her birthday. That, and the day in NYC. The lady at the cash register got Molly out for her so that Arlington could carry her around.

This is all we did before lunch. We did, however, roam around and watch people spend piles of money they probably don't have.



It is amazing to me about this one idea that a woman had 50 years ago has turned into this huge business. American Girl was jammed. There were 100's of people in there and everyone had a large bag of goodies and each girl had a doll -or two- under their arm.





At 12:30 we had lunch at the American Girl cafe. It was actually a really good lunch, and not that expensive.



We got an two appetizers, a main meal, a drink, and a dessert for $24/person. Not bad!



It was jammed packed in the cafe as well. I had made this reservation around 4 months ago. You had to book pretty far in advance, and with us being such a large party - I knew I better be safe than sorry.

We all had really good food, and we had a great time. They had "conversation starters" on the table that she and her Aunt Jess really enjoyed:



Although Arlington did taste a pickle against my better judgment and the picture above is the end result of that.

We found out that Molly got her own seat, and tea cup (which she could keep unless you wanted to pay $16 for it. Which was a big fat no).




If you didn't have your own doll, they had a doll you could borrow for your meal.

They sang happy birthday to Arlington and she got to blow out a candle. I REALLY wanted them to sing happy birthday to Mat.........but he wouldn't go for it. Party pooper.





After lunch, it was time to shop. Arlington had a lot of gift cards and money to spend, so she got Molly all decked out. She had a great time.



After we were done shopping we walked around for an hour or so before our show started. We watched the skaters,


Threw money into the fountain:



Strolled down the street:



We went to the M+M store,



and then went to St. Patrick's cathedral.



(Arlington with her Grandma Kovall inside the cathedral)

Mat's mom had never been there, so we had a nice time showing her around. It also gave me a chance to tell them about the time when AJ (my brother) was little and my parents "accidentally" left him in the hotel gift shop and didn't realize it until we had walked the 20 blocks from our hotel to St. Patrick's cathedral. In the rain. With 20 other people. We are devout. Yet.......forgetful.

That is a story for another time.

(Molly changed her clothes before heading into our show.)

After the cathedral we went to our show. It was a total kids show called "Gazillion Bubble Show". While none of the adults thought it was awesome, Arlington had a great time.




And that is all that matters.

Then we went to dinner with my cousin's Kirsten and Alissa. We had a great time visiting with them and they spoiled Arlington and bought her birthday presents.




Alissa prompted Arlington to try a oil and vinegar dip for her bread. Arlington burst into tears from the taste.



While funny - I did feel bad for her. It must have tasted awful to her.

The fun didn't end there, folks. For dessert - Kirsten had told the restaurant folks that it was Arlington's birthday. They brought her a piece of cheese cake with a candle. It had the words "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate (which she promptly ate with her fingers).



While I wasn't watching - she was prompted (again by her cousins) to take a bite. I am sure Arlington thought it would be fine. She likes cheese AND cake - so why wouldn't this be fabulous?

So - she took a BIG bite. And that caused tears again. When I looked down the table at her, I realized she was foaming cheesecake at the mouth. She had spit the entire bite out, but because of it's thickness, it didn't go far and it was all around her mouth like foam. She couldn't get it out fast enough.

So much for adventures in eating. She was done after that.

After dinner we got in the car and drove back home. We were home by 11pm (Arlington was fast asleep about 2 minutes after we left NYC).

It was a great day, and she had a great time. I still cannot believe she chose this over a friend party, but we were glad to spend the day with our eldest daughter.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, caring, 7 year old. We love you more than words can say.

Enjoy my mom's picture's via slide show. I have not altered them at all, but thought you might enjoy seeing a few extra photos. Or not.

I will probably not be back until next Tuesday since Saturday we will be traveling. So I will post about our week vacation during that time. See you then!!