The Bunch Head to the Galleria

As previously mentioned, one thing all my homeschooling friends and I love to do is to go places, that are usually very busy, during off times while most people are either at work or school. Today is no exception. With most of our work done (A has a report and poster on Italy she is working on that is a several day project), the bunch headed to the Galleria to attend a birthday party at the American Girl doll store. For those of you who have never been, the American Girl doll store is an experience in it self. The store can be so packed with people on weekends that just checking out with their extremely cute, albeit significantly over priced merchandise, can take upwards of 2 hours, even the bravest of shoppers might want to avoid it at Christmas time. The store is two floors. The first floor is anything a girl could want for the babies or the 18 inch dolls, which will run you either $50 or $100. They, of course, sell books about each girls life and adventures set in the specific time period during which the girl lived. What kind of store would they be if you couldn't also purchase everything from the girls bed to her pet. They even have bath tubs and bubbles (fancy fake plastic ones).  You could play make believe for hours there. You could also spend about $3000 getting your doll's "extras".  On the second floor,  there is the doll saloon where you can have your dolls hair done or ears pierced (no joke). The highlight is the doll cafe.  Here you can have a fancy tea party or dinner with your doll, complete with a doll high chair that places your doll at the proper table height. While it is very expensive, the quality of the items and the fun set up make this a great place to let a little girl be a little girl.