SURPRISE!!

As most of you know I never did the typical 1st Birthday, invited EVERYONE, party. Many, many, many of my friends and family do this. I think like 95%, but that just wasn't me. Yes, we have always had parties for immediate family and a few close friends, and as the girls have gotten older their parties have been a combined family party for immediate family and Kaylee has had friend parties, where I have included some of my close friends. When Kaylee was going to be turning 1 and I broke the news that I wouldn't be doing the grand-hurrah, while citing my various reasons, I always said I would do something big when she was 5. Well we came upon the big 5 this year. So what did we decide to do?

A couple springs ago I took the train up and back to Chicago to visit my sister-n-law, Kristin. When I came back Brad and the girls picked me up. Ainsley wasn't 1 yet, so she doesn't remember, but Kaylee was close to 3, and she has a solid memory, so since then she has often commented about taking the train. Since she was going to be getting an American Girl Doll for her birthday this year it made perfect sense to take the train up to Chicago and visit the American Girl store for her big day.

So the day before her birthday, Sunday my mom, Brad, the girls and I went to pick up my mother and father-n-law and headed to the train situation. The girls didn't know where we were going and Kaylee kept desperately asking for some sort of clue. Finally we arrived at the train station and went in and light bulb clicked. They were so excited!!

The girls in the train station. Ainsley being her usual cooperative self when trying to get a photo.

Kaylee outside the train station, waiting for the train to come. She's into posing for photos these days.

Ainsley and Grandpa on the lookout for the train. The boys drove the van up and picked us up at Union Station, after getting Aunt Kristin of course.

Kaylee using her new camera to photograph me photographing her.

Kaylee playing her Leapster while sitting with Mee-Maw and Grandma Ginny.

Ainsley liked to stand and look out the window for most of the trip. She enjoyed waving at the people and the birds :).

Once we got up to Chicago we headed over to Navy Pier. It turned out to be a beautiful day!

Ainsley and I on the merry-go-round at Navy Pier.

Kaylee on the merry-go-round.

Family photo at Navy Pier.

After the merry-go-round we went into one of the buildings. This building had a lot of fountains in it which the girls enjoyed. This had four separate fountains that shot over, making a criss-cross in the air, your head. The girls thought that was pretty neat!

The boys walked around while the girls went into the Children's Museum. It was a pretty neat place. We could have stayed at the museum the whole day as their was a lot to see and do.

This looked like a pirate ship and went from the first floor up to the third. The sign says it is for 5+, however Ainsley went on this thing at least 20 times. I think she would have done this ALL day if she could.

They had a presentation of Indian culture dances/music the day we were there. We watched a few of the children perform the traditional dances from their culture. Ainsley kept asking when it would be her turn, as she loves to dance. After a few performances we went to the dinosaur room. One of the things you can do in there is dig for bones. They have a big pit with brown, rubber mulch. Kaylee dug for bones, while Ainsley found one that was uncovered, and large, enough to be used as her stage. She decided to do her dancing there, as you could still hear the music.

After the museum we walked around some more and then went to the hotel. We got a great price at a hotel on Wacker Drive and it was so close to everything we were doing. We got settled in the hotel and then walked to dinner. The girls were very pumped about the day and the hotel so it took a bit for them to settle down. Once they did they were out!

The next morning everyone was up and went to breakfast. Then we headed to the American Girl store. The girls still didn't know where we were going on this day. We got to Water Tower Place about 15 minutes before the store opened. Ainsley was excited to ride up and down the escalators while we waited for the store to open. Kaylee realized where we were and was super excited! What else would one want to do on their birthday(this was her actual birthday)?

Here are the girls in front of the store waiting for it to open. They were the first kids in the store.

This is a photo from inside. The store is really big and very cute. There's an upstairs with the dining room, hair studio, t-shirt making store, a place where the dolls can get their ears pierced, etc. Kaylee got Kit for her birthday and Ainsley got a Bitty Baby. Kaylee got to pick out 3 three things, one from us, one from my mom and one from Grandpa and Grandma Busing. She chose Kit's dog Grace from us, a tap dance outfit from Brad's parents and Kit's Birthday dress from my mom. Ainsley picked out the Bitty Baby toy set from my mom.

Ainsley in front of the big star with the American Girl statement on it.

Waiting for everyone to get rounded up to go.

It was a great time and both girls were super excited!!! I thought all in all it was a pretty good 5th birthday surprise. After all 5 is a big one and she is sure to remember this for years to come. She is currently asking to go to Disney when she is 7 and Vegas when she is 10. Not sure about the whole Vegas thing at 10, maybe 21, but when she is 7, Ainsley will be 5 so maybe Disney?