Friday, Alyssa and I had a day that I hope will be a wonderful memory for her for many years. I got brave and took her to the Amer*can Girl Store in Chicago all by myself. Here we are, ready to board the commuter train. No, I wasn’t brave enough to drive in downtown Chicago!

Riding the rails, with Julie, her AG doll. She was a little concerned about the swaying of the train, but I assured her it was normal. She relaxed very quickly. We did make a lot of stops, though, riding the train from one terminus to the other.

The poor girl was so excited about the trip she didn’t fall asleep until [1:00] the night before. She passed out on the train. I don’t have any pictures of that because she was snuggled up against me. The lady next to us kept looking over and smiling. It did feel good to have a child sleep against me again. We made it just fine and found our bus stop with a little guidance. Yes, I even decided to brave the bus system. I printed out our bus routes and timetables and did just fine. I was afraid that everyone in the city would be cold and unhelpful, but it turned out to be the opposite. The bus driver told us which was our stop and we walked right up to the front door. Alyssa squeezed my hand and her face lit up as we walked in. We spent a long time oohing and aahing over everything.
The highlight of our day was lunch in the AG cafe. Look at the cool seat they have so your doll can “eat” with you.

We had mini cinnamon rolls, cheese filled pretzel bites, strawberry & cheese skewers, carrots & celery with dip. Alyssa had mac & cheese with cantaloupe and honeydew skewers. I had a chicken panini with goat cheese. Delicious. Look at what we had for dessert. A mini angel food cake in the shape of a flower, a butterfly-shaped shortbread cookie, and a flowerpot with chocolate mousse.
Here we are together, enjoying our day. She had hot chocolate and I had hot tea because everybody turned the air conditioning way up. We were cold the entire day. And forgive the hair styles. They don’t call Chicago the windy city for nothing!
Here is the view out our window at lunch. Yep, we were in the big city!

Alyssa had saved her money for a long time so she could make some purchases. She was surprised at how little she could get for $50. But I was proud of her. She figured her budget and the items she wanted to buy and recalculated everything so she could get the most for her money. She ended up with a complete outfit, a pair of glasses, a pair of shoes, and a special brush. Here is a shirt she wished she could buy, but didn’t have enough money. We took a picture instead.

Then we hopped back on the bus (the cashiers told us exactly where our stop was) and back to the train station. Even the lady at the newsstand was friendly as we bought a soda to share. Before we were really ready for the day to end, we were on the train on our way home. We sat on the top level this time and envied the man asleep across the way with a blanket over him. He stirred at one point and noticed us huddled together for warmth. He graciously shared his blanket with us as he also had a jacket. Yes, it really was that cold on the train.

We arrived home to a thunderstorm and pouring rain but thankfully, we had beautiful weather the rest of the day. This is in front of the AG store. You can see all the traffic reflected in the window.
I guess this is why we do things like this with our children – to create memories that will stay with them forever. I hope this one stays with her for a long, long time. I know I’ve made a wonderful memory for myself.