The Ladybug and I packed up and headed out alone on Friday night for our all-girls, American Girl weekend adventure. And oh, the sweet moments of joy…and frustration!

Joy?

The Ladybug: Know why dogs are good, Momma? Because dogs, like police dogs like Ace, help people when you’re in trouble. They’re heroes. We have two heroes in our house…no three. We have God, and Daddy, and Penny.”

Oh, sing my soul!

Frustration?

Exit closed…Detour….No U-turn…Right turn only...unmarked pavement ahead…

The Ladybug: Umm, Momma, you passed it again. It’s right there…Ugh, I feel dizzy.

Grrr….

Garage height 7’0″.

Hahaha! Ha! Ha! {sigh}

We crammed as much as we could handle into the weekend.

We stopped at Target on the way out to return a few things and pick up our last few school supplies.

We stopped for dinner together at Chili’s, and had a long talk about not staring and pointing at people just because they’re being really loud.

We slept late and had breakfast together at a table just for two.

We explored the hotel (which had American Girl dolls on display everywhere!) and the Ladybug amused herself with the automatic soap dispenser and faucet and paper towels!

The Ladybug: Look, they made the bathroom [stall] doors out of shutters! Those must have been big windows!

{And at this point it occurred to me that our kids don’t get out much!}

And then Mimi and Curls showed up.

And then Cheese and the Diva showed up.

And then we were in girls’ weekend heaven!

We hit the American Girl store, and got doll ears pierce and doll hair done at the doll salon.

We got matching Doll and Girl tee shirts made.

We got lunch.

We did more shopping.

We lost Mimi in a furniture store.

We hit the bookstore and the Disney store.

We still hadn’t found Mimi.

We stopped in Pottery Barn Kids, West Elm, Hana Anderson, and other stores I only knew as catalogs.

And Mimi was still AWOL.

{And it started to occur to me that I don’t get out much either. I can’t believe I lived here for 20 years. Granted, Northern Virgina reinvents itself every 5 years or so, but still…}

We finally found Mimi again, made a few purchases, and headed back to our hotel for a few hours to take. a. break.

Then we headed back to the American Girl Bistro for our dinner reservation.

Then we headed back to our hotel for swimming, until the pool closed.

Then we headed back to our room and those girls watched Olympic diving and track and field for another two hours.

And that was just one day!

We had a great weekend, and I’ll be sharing more throughout the week. But we’re also starting soccer this week, starting school next week, and deep in the throes of getting ourselves together for everything Fall–meaning lamb sales, wool processing, holiday planning, and daydreaming about finally getting every room in the house repainted! {smile}

How was your weekend?