I Bought American Girl Felicity

but she is backordered until at least September! I don't know if demand exceeded expectations by Mattel, or if they all take this long, although originally, I was told I would get the doll sometime in June. Anyway, I know that the quality will not be as good as the old dolls, but the original Felicity is as expensive as all get out. I want this original style Felicity because of her dress, which is much closer to authentic colonial prints than the purple striped dress that replaced it, or the blue and yellow monstrosity Mattel produced after that. These new "original" American Girl dolls also come with their accessories, which I wish I had for my Samantha.

I would also like original Kirsten and possibly original Josefina, but Felicity is the one that I wanted the most. Since I won't be charged for Felicity until September, at least one more of the other two might make its way into an online shopping cart.

Since I don't like putting posts up without pictures, here is a picture from 2005 of my daughters and I at American Girl Place in Chicago. Mr. BTEG did an eight month consulting gig in Chicago from 2004-2005, and the girls and I went out to stay with him several times. I was homeschooling then, so it was nothing to drive out there for a week or so. The Dancer's Bitty Baby is sitting at the table behind her. She could have spent hours in the Bitty Baby section of AG Place. The Eldest brought her Bitty Baby and her Like Me doll.

AG Place Chicago -- 2005

I've been keeping up with everyone else's blogs, but I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted here. I definitely don't intend for *that* to be a steady thing, but I've been incredibly busy. On June 7th, my eldest daughter graduated from high school. This past weekend was my eldest daughter's graduation party, and my youngest daughter's dance recital. The weather was fantastic for all three events, and family and friends had a great time. But now that all that planning and preparation is over, I'm so ready to get back to normal life!

Since it will take me maybe a few days to set up some doll dioramas for pictures, I'm putting up a picture of my daughters and I at American Girl place in Chicago, from November of 2005. Although AG dolls are a great deal more expensive than some of their competitors, there are advantages to owning them, even if you get yours from a thrift shop, Craigslist or eBay. One of those advantages is American Girl Place. Mr. BTEG worked in Chicago for seven months from 2005 into 2006. Often, he flew or drove home for the weekend to see his girls, but since I was homeschooling at the time, I also could pack up the three of us and drive out to Chicago to spend a week with him. Since we were out there several times, we were able to visit AG Place more than once, and so were able to do several of the activities there, like eating at the restaurant, that would have been cost prohibitive to do all in one trip.

This picture is from the day we had lunch at the restaurant. I didn't bring my own AG doll, Samantha, but the girls had their own dolls with them. At the time, the Musician had her Bitty Baby, and her Just Like Me doll. The Dancer had her Bitty Baby with her, who is hidden behind her at the table. You can see one of Bitty Baby's chubby fists if you look.

My girls are not doll collectors at the moment, although they have kept their AG dolls, and the dolls were never colored on, nor did the 18" dolls have their hair cut. I'm hoping that I'll have granddaughters someday who will once again enjoy these dolls.