38 The Courier SUN • MAY 28, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com victoria’s secrets VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS vschneps@gmail.com tweet me @vschneps Dynamic DENTAL WORK 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 Free Whitening included the inViSiBle WAy to Some excluSionS Apply StrAighten teeth Dr. Willam third generation dentist $1000 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign The country was remembering the heroes of our country this weekend and my little family was celebrating my granddaughter Addy’s fourth birthday. Celebrations began on Friday with a visit to American Girl, a three-level “heavenly” store for little girls. Then she celebrated on her real birth date with a breakfast with her cousins and then a barbecue carnival dinner with her mom and me. Following that, there was a fullblast family barbecue on Monday, Memorial Day. Coming June 7, she is having a petting zoo party for her little friends. In our family, we celebrate birthdays with gusto! My life has had so many challenges that I’ve learned to relish the good times and birthdays fall into that category. So, on Friday we began the celebratory birthday by visiting the overthe top toy store extraordinaire, American Girl. Until I had granddaughters I never knew of this phenomenon. It’s a dream store for girls, selling just dolls and accessories for doll babies and little girl dolls dressed like what real life ones would wear and use. O n m y first visit, my jaw dropped. Rows of multi-ethnic dolls with every color hair. They had curls, up-dos, long and short cuts. In fact, there is even a beauty salon where we took our doll named Grace to get her hair designed with pigtails just as my granddaughter Addy wanted. A saleswoman explained Grace’s history of growing up in Paris. She even showed us that Grace dressed in a pink skirt with a white shirt that had an identical outfit that we could buy for Addy. So now Addy and Grace could be dressed identically. I know this sounds crazy, but her ear-to-ear smile melted my heart. After our outrageous purchases, we took the escalator up to the third floor. It’s home to cases and shelves of babies and every accessory you could think of from baby strollers to body carriers to multiple outfits good for the baby and identical ones for her “mother.” Nestled near the world of baby dolls is a cafe where Elizabeth, Addy and I had lunch with Grace. The cafe supplied us with a baby seat so she too was comfortable at the table in the pink painted ceiling and white and black striped walls, a festive room. We had made the reservation months ago but when my Sarasota granddaughter Jillian came to town, we got a table the same day! This is heaven for little girls (or their mothers) and a reservation is as coveted as a front-row seat at a sold-out show. The lunch offered kids’ favorite dishes of chicken fingers or macaroni and cheese. For Elizabeth and me, they offered salads and burgers. But the best dish was the last one: a beautiful pink and white frosted chocolate and vanilla cake with four candles for Addy’s fourth birthday. She made a wish and blew out the candles with a squeal of joy. How happy I was to see her happy! To continue the celebratory weekend, Elizabeth, Jonah and I accompanied the birthday girl to a carnival barbecue where I had as much fun as the kids. In the middle of the grassy knoll of the games, the face painters, clowns and inflatable jumpy slides, we all sang “Happy Birthday to You.” The next day Josh, Tracey and Hudson joined Samantha, Spencer, Blake and Morgan to continue the celebrations with a barbecue. Even the weather was perfect. It’s fun being four and for a few days we all were too! Wonderful weekend celebrations Addy at the American Girl “beauty parlor” with Grace, her new birthday doll The girls with the birthday cake Hudson and Morgan rolling in the grass Addy and Jonah playing carnival games
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