Kirsten is an 18" tall, brave, steadfast girl who settled on the American frontier.
And it felt like forever, but Kirsten FINALLY got to go to American Girl Place Los Angeles!!!
"Hurry up!" Kirsten said. "And clean your window!"
Once she was safely buckled in with Visiting Samantha, we were on our way, bright and early, around 9 AM! We got a tiny bit lost on the drive, due to us reading the directions wrong. (I blame Kirsten for her back-seat driving.) We wound up driving through half of downtown LA. But traffic moved about as quick as the freeway, and the scenery was MUCH more interesting, so I'm glad we got lost!
It was probably a bit before 11 AM when we finally found ourselves outside AGPLA. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the outside of the building, but my core audience has already seen millions of pictures of the place and knows more or less what everything looks like.
If you aren't familiar with the place...well, I don't know where to find any good outside pictures, but you can visit the American Girl Place website and look around!
Anyway, we looked around downstairs first. Kirsten really wasn't interested at all, but there were lots of kids looking at the modern items. I'm bigger than Kirsten, so even though the girl tried to get out of my arms and take the escalator up to the first floor herself, she didn't manage it. (My friend was most surprised that they changed the covers of the books! She and Visiting Samantha are old-school.) Kirsten didn't like most of the modern stuff, and though I thought some of it was neat, she's a Historical, and so she can't have any modern things. (Except for, well, you know, all the people things I own.) Sorry, Kirsten!
FINALLY, we went upstairs to see the Historical section!
First we looked at Felicity's things, but Kirsten got bored.
She did slightly better looking at Samantha and Nellie's collection. "Wow!" she said. "Samantha has a lot of things! And Nellie's so pretty as a big girl!"
Visiting Samantha stayed silent, but I saw her eyes shine as she looked at the middy outfit.
Outside the little sections of historical items, are displays of the newest items.
"Buy it for me!" Kirsten cried, staring in awe at the pretty coat and bonnet, and of course the game, all included with her Recess set.
"It's summer, dear," I said. "Maybe next time."
"Hmph," Kirsten said.
"All right," I countered. "If you start going to school, I'll buy it for you."
That kept Kirsten quiet for a little while. And we went on to the best section of all...
"Hey!" Kirsten said. "That's me! 'A brave, steadfast girl who settles on the American frontier.' And look at all the wonderful things I have that you haven't bought for me, Cheap Lady! On, minions! Make the cheap lady buy me things!"
The display dolls are well-trained, and didn't move at all.
"Come on, minons?" Kirsten asked. "Please?"
Not even Missy the cat jumped to her aid. Just as well, since there was glass in-between the display and Kirsten.
Kirsten went over to the display dolls on a shelf. "Will you help me make Cheap Lady buy me something?"
These dolls, too, stayed sweet and demure. My Kirsten, however, picked up one of the beanbags. "Buy me something or I'll bean you!" she yelled.
I was so scared, the camera shook. I quickly realized it might not be a good idea to buy Kirsten her Recess Set. Or anything that involves projectiles. In fact, I made a mental note to dull the tip of her slate pencil when I got home.
Each of the Historical girls has a little display showing life way back when. Kirsten stared at her slate and the Powderkeg School setup. "Just like I remember it!"she said. "It sure was awful going to a tiny little school with three glass walls. It got so hot sometimes..."
Poor Kirsten's memory is a little faulty, I'm afraid. It's probably my fault, since I let her watch television whenever she wants.
We visited Kit's section next.
"Kit needs help learning to spell 'cat'!" Kirsten said with a laugh. But she lost some of her mirth when she saw how big and beautiful Kit's section of the store was.
"Agh!" Kirsten yelled. "Too many Kits!" She glared at the nearest one. "You have too many freckles! And your hair is short like a boy's!"
The dolls didn't respond.
"And your hats make your heads look big!" Kirsten added.
No response.
"Treehouse Outfit Kit, your socks are crooked! And you both have to use your doll stands to stay upright? Wow, you're lazy! Or maybe you're just celebrating the end of Prohibi--hey!"
I picked Kirsten up and scolded her. "Do you want to go home?" I asked.
"No," Kirsten said, frowning. "Why are all the dolls so quiet? I know Kit can't be well-behaved."
"Well," I said, "maybe a doll doesn't really come alive until someone loves her."
Just then, a mother and daughter came by to look at the Kit display. (Really.) The mother pointed out the Reds fan Kit to her daughter and said, "Look, she's a baseball player!"
"No, she's not," the little girl replied.
I could hear Kirsten cheer. "Told you Kit couldn't play," she whispered spitefully.
The little girl continued to explain that Kit couldn't play baseball, because "She's a girl!" And she wouldn't listen as her mother tried to explain that girls can play baseball too. :(
Kirsten was livid, and tried to jump out of my arms to attack and set that little girl straight. "Just because Kit's a wimp doesn't mean all girls are!" she yelled. It was hard, but I kept Kirsten restrained. I moved on and looked through the rest of the store, but Kirsten was still muttering angrily all the while. "Of course girls can play baseball! Didn't she see 'A League of Their Own?' Where's her sense of history?" And she just went on.
We finally returned to Samantha's section, so my friend could find something to buy for her doll, Visiting Samantha.
"Well, I guess that little girl can go buy her doll a rhythmic gymnastics outfit or something," Kirsten continued derisively. "Since she doesn't think girls can play real sports."
Then we heard a faint cry. "Miss Big Kirsten! That's not very nice! Rhythmic gymnasitcs requires grace and athleticism!"
Kirsten and I looked at each other in bewilderment. The voice was bigger than we were used to, but familiar.
"Mini Nellie?" we asked.
"Miss Big Kirsten! Miss Cheap Lady!" came the answer.
We rushed over to the boxes where the noise was coming from, and rummaged through them!
"Miss Big Kirsten!" one of the Nellie dolls cried.
"Mini Nellie?" Kirsten asked in bewilderment. "Is that you? You're...big!"
"What happened?" I asked.
"Never mind that!" Kirsten yelled. "We have to get her out of here!" She tried to take the box lid off, but I stopped her.
"I don't want to be arrested for stealing," I said. We'll just have to buy her. Nellie can explain later."
Kirsten hesitated, until I said, "Besides, I still have to buy you something!"
Kirsten decided on her Midsummer Outfit, since there's rumors that it might be retiring sometime, and it's just so cute! We tried it on in the store and it fit fine--just a little tight around the arms.
"Hey!" Kirsten suddenly cried. "Where are you going, Cheap Lady?"
She saw I was headed back into the Kit section....
"Cheap Lady?" Kirsten called, looking rather worried. "What are you doing?"
"My mom said she wanted a Kit," I said.
"Your mom? That nice lady who made me my school dress?" Kirsten asked.
"Yeah. So she'll live far away, and you won't have to live with another Kit," I explained.
Kirsten looked very relieved.
We checked almost all the boxes, to find the perfect Kit...
"Yeah, I think that's the one," Kirsten said. I couldn't tell if she meant it, or if she was just tired and wanted to get away from the dozens of Kits.
I don't think she was unhappy, though. She even posed for a picture with the new Kit!
Then, after a quick look through the modern things, the Bitty Babies, and the souvenirs, came the only sad part of the trip...visiting the cash register. Sigh.
"Goodbye, American Girl Place!" Kirsten cried. As we walked out the door, she asked, "When can we come back?"
Finally, it's not every day when Kirsten gets to pose with a pirate. :D Even though we went to drop our AG haul off at the car before wandering around the mall a little, I kept Kirsten with me. It's not too many places that you can carry a doll and not be thought of as a TOTAL freak, just a regular one. :)
Next time...how did Nellie get big? What in the world was she doing in AGPLA? Well, you'll find out!
On to 8.7.06