Rebecca's Birthday at American Girl

Rebecca and Rebecca

Happy Birthday to my Rebecca who turned 7 on the 24th of July. This year we decided to skip the birthday party and take her somewhere she has been begging to go - the American Girl doll store.

We are lucky enough to live about half an hour from an American Girl store, so the day after Rebecca's birthday we headed to the Natick mall to check it out.

After spending an hour examining every doll in the store, Rebecca decided to go with the suitably named 'Rebecca' doll. Rebecca (the doll) has wavy brown hair and hazel eyes, just like my beautiful little Rebecca (the 7 year old), so we decided it was fate.

Once that was settled, it was time to pick out an outfit for Rebecca (the doll). Again Rebecca (the 7 year old) had to examine every outfit in the store before selecting a horseback riding ensemble for her new doll.

Lunch for 3

All this shopping made us hungry so we headed into the American Girl Bistro, where we had a reservation. They served us a nice three course meal and even put a little booster seat on the table for Rebecca (the doll).

All in all, a nice day. Here's a little equation I worked out. Warning: this is not for the faint of heart:

Priceless

1 American Girl doll + 1 American Girl doll outfit + 1 pair of American Girl doll shoes + 2 lunches at the American Girl Bistro = more $$ than a pool party for an entire kindergarten class.

Canobie Lake Park

It's been a few decades since I went to Canobie Lake Park, but last Friday Mom and I braved the ninety degree weather and took the kiddies to Salem, NH for a day of amusement park fun. The drive was much shorter than I remembered - only about an hour counting a stop in Boxborough to pick up Grandma.

I'd heard it was a great spot for younger kids - less expensive and less crowded than some larger unnamed parks, coughSixFlagscough. While that was true, it was still a bit pricey ($72 for the 4 of us - 1 adult, 1 senior citizen, 1 child under 48 inches, and 1 child age 3 and under (free)). It was definitely less crowded, and there were lots of rides for those of our group who were under four feet.

After a quick spin on the oldest carousel in the country, we hit kiddie land, which is basically lots of rides with various shaped cars that all go around in a circle. But the kids loved it and went on all of them. Then Grandma made everyone go on the Boston Tea Party where we all got soaked.

Okay, actually, it was Gregory who wanted to try the Boston Tea Party, a short raft ride with a drop off at the end that produces a spectacular splash. I figured he would be too small but Grandma encouraged me to check, he wasn't. Although the line appeared long, she also pointed out that it was moving really fast so we gave it a go. Turned out it was both Grandma's and my favorite ride of the day.

Gregory's favorite ride was The Mine of Lost Souls (a boy after my own heart!). He spent most of the ride clinging to me and saying he was scared, but it's the only ride he has talked about since, and he talks a lot. Rebecca loved the kids sized dragon roller coaster, which she insisted on riding alone.

We ended the day at Castaway Island, the humongous water drenched jungle gym with the slowest water slides ever. It was crowded, but Rebecca loved it. Gregory was a little less pleased, he didn't enjoy randomly having buckets of water poured on him, but he found his place on the little kid's water slide, which he rode about twenty-five times.

It turned out to be a great day. The end result was two tired kids, a tired parent, a tired grandparent, and lots of fun.