Happy Birthday Sweet Sarah!!

Sarah turned 8 on March 31st. Her only desire for her birthday was to go to the American Girl Store in NYC and get an American Girl doll that looked like her. So we went this weekend and had some fun on the way. Here are a few pictures of Sarah's birthday weekend. Here is Sarah on Friday night with the stack of presents from my parents. My dad came and had dinner with us at Chevy's, Sarah's restaurant choice. Then we came home and my mom was there waiting. Sarah spent time opening her gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Bria.

The long awaited scooter. Sarah has let us know that she was the only one without a scooter in the family. Even Drew got one for Christmas. So here is the prized scooter. It has been well used already. Can you tell how excited she was? Below is another prize gift. The cow "webkins" it is quite the thing with these girls. They love them. At least they don't beep at you all day long.

We got in the car on Saturday to make our trek to NYC for Sarah's birthday wish. We made a stop at Boyd's Bear Country and let the kids take the tour. It was a lot of fun, last minute stop on our drive to the hotel.

Even Alan and I got in on the fun. Aren't we a cute couple. :-)

At last we arrive at our favorite hotel chain, the Embassy Suites. It is always so nice inside and the pool is great for the kids. But the best part is a family of six can fit in one room very comfortably. YEAH!! The kids get a TV of their own too. Not to mention a great breakfast with lots of bacon, Sarah's favorite food. What more can an 8 year old want. And the weekend has only just begun.

The long awaited prize. Here is Sarah with her doll that she picked. We were parked in a commercial zone so the pictures are hurried. But her doll has blond hair, brown eyes, light skin and freckles. She liked the freckles, so that is the only thing different between her and her doll. She then promptly picked out a pink dress for her doll. Pink and dresses being a favorite of Sarah. She did not want to spend a lot of time in the store, surprisingly. Alan was shocked and extremely happy to not be wandering the floors of a doll store. So we were off to the Statue of Liberty, the other thing that Sarah wanted to do. It was a cold and rainy day in NYC. We were not prepared for cold air, it was a beautiful 80 degrees in Northern VA when we left on Saturday.

So here we are with Lady Liberty in the far background. Too cold for the boat ride out to see her. But we got a nice view from Battery Park. We managed to drive by Ground Zero as well. It was a quick trip to NYC, but they were so happy. We climbed into the car for our home trip, stopping at the much loved Crackle Barrel for our lunch/dinner, we call linner. Our short and sweet trip for Sarah's birthday. Goodbye NYC, we will return on a warmer day!!