American Girl Place Visit 2012!

I have finally managed to upload all of our photos from class onto flickr!  That's about 500 photos from all 5 of our classes!  

It's almost time for our Third Annual American Girl Place Visit!  I know how much the girls enjoy their visit, as do their friends and family.  Even the AGP staff loves having us!  ;)  I can’t wait to see you this Friday!  I sent detailed emails to the girls who RSVP'ed earlier today, if you didn't receive one, please email me.

DATE: Friday, August 3, 2012

LOCATION: American Girl Place Los Angeles (189 The Grove Dr. 90036)

Lunch @ 2:30

RSVP only.  Lunch has been pre-paid by attendees.  No additions can be accommodated at this time.

Craft and Scavenger Hunt @ 4-6pm
The store is hosting the McKenna Bracelet Craft as well as the McKenna “Take the Challenge” Scavenger Hunt.  Each girl who participates in the scavenger hunt will receive a free American Girl poster.  In addition, I will be handing out a mini scavenger hunt of questions about 6 historical American Girls. You might win a prize!

If you need to contact me, I can be reached by email and will respond within 24 hours.  In case of emergency on the 3^rd, I have provided my cell number by email.

If you haven’t already, check out the American Girl set on flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_cong/

Parking at The Grove can be a bit costly.  I encourage visitors to carpool if possible.  Generally, the first hour is free and is $3 for up to 3 hours.  After this, the cost is significantly more.  AGP does not validate, but other shops and the theatre at The Grove do.  For more information, see: 

http://www.thegrovela.com/los_angeles/concierge_services/parking.php

If you wish to indulge in some retail therapy, the Concierge’s Loyalty Rewards program offers complimentary valet parking all day with purchases of over $250 in one visit.

The Farmers Market stalls also offer validation for their parking lot.

Photo courtesy of American Girl

McKenna: Shoots for the Stars

The 2012 girl of the year, McKenna Brooks is starring in her very own movie, "McKenna: Shoots for the Stars!"  Check out a trailer and some clips here: McKenna Videos.  To celebrate, American Girl Place Los Angeles will be hosting a free movie screening at The Grove on July 17 at 8PM.  Reservations are required, so call 877-247-5223 to sign up.  They will also be offering a free McKenna mirror craft and gymnastics warm-up demonstration that day, see website for details.

You can also catch the movie on NBC (Channel 4 for most of you in the L.A. area) at 8PM on July 14, or on DVD available at American Girl or Walmart.

Since we are reading McKenna this week, I will be handing out a book vs. movie Venn Diagram activity on Friday.  Girls who complete the activity will earn an extra credit (bonus point sticker) toward our summer's end prize raffle.

Week 2

We have uploaded all of the pictures from Week 1, and Week 2 is going up as we speak!  Be sure to download and save any that you like. 

The Fancy Nancies began the week by reading Fancy Nancy: Tea for Two, in which Nancy and her friend Bree have a little tiff over tea.  We made fancy butterfly fans and placemats to prepare for our Fancy Friday tea.  The girls made their own special tea sandwiches and decorated cookies to enjoy with lemon iced tea.

The All American Girls learned about the Great Depression through the story of Kit Kittredge.  When her dad loses his car dealership, her family has to pull together to earn enough money to keep their house. I still owed the girls potato pancakes from the previous week, so we had those on Monday.  Everyone made paper lanterns to hang up for our garden party (Kit's mom is part of a garden club) and we enjoyed club sandwiches, chocolate cupcake, and lemonade. 

In Camp American Girl, we read about Nikki, a girl who just can't say no, even when her mom asks her to train a guide dog.  She lives on a ranch in Colorado, where her parents raise pigs.  Everyone made a doll-sized paper tiara and on Friday, we had BLT sandwiches (since Nikki's family has a pig farm) and dessert with strawberry lemonade.

Finally, Book Cooks completed week two by learning to make deliciously plain vanilla buttercream frosting for Cupcake and then helping him out by adding sprinkles and other toppings (!), then we served up some revolting mudburgers like the centipede ate in James and the Giant Peach.  On Thursday we learned that George Washington's Breakfast consisted of three small hoecakes with honey and three cups of tea, and on Friday, Curious George Goes to an Ice Cream Shop and made a big banana split!

We are having a busy time at summer school, but it's halfway done already! 

Lanie's Favorite Nature Websites

If you want to know more about nature, here are links to websites listed in Lanie:

Monarch Butterflies
WWF - Discover the work being done to help different animals
National Zoo, Washington D.C. - "Adopt" an animal
Roots and Shoots - Join an environmental club or start one!

The orangutan site listed is no longer valid, but here is another one:
Orangutans

Summer School 2012

Welcome to Summer School 2012!  I apologize that the blog and flickr and not quite up and running, I am in the process of uploading last week's photos, and there are many!  The photos will be available to download on flickr indefinitely and at no cost to you.  However, I have paid for only a 3 month pro account, so after that time, it may be more difficult to find the photos you are looking for.

We have had a great first week getting to know each other.  The Nancies are taking fancy lessons, learning a new fancy word every day, plus many words in French.  The first book was the original Fancy Nancy, so we topped off the week with mini pizzas and "parfaits" from The King's Crown. The All American Girls got to know Rebecca Rubin, a Jewish girl growing up in New York in 1914.  We had a technical problem with our burners, so the girls had to wait until Monday to sample the potato pancakes, but in the meantime, we learned how to play the dreidel game.  In Camp American Girl, we read about Lanie, Girl of the Year 2010.  Lanie loves the outdoors and science.  Her sister Emily only eats things shaped like pizza, so we tried the hummus pizza served on mini rounds of pita.  Book Cooks read 5 books, preparing a different recipe for each, from caramel corn inspired by The Popcorn Book to a hot chocolate as rich as candy bars (and made out of real Hershey bars) from The Polar Express.

If you are in any of the American Girl classes (All American Girls or Camp American Girl), we are still working on this year's excursion plans.  A date will be announced shortly, probably a weekend in August.  Remember, this is an optional meet-up at the American Girl Place at The Grove.  Transportation is on your own and there is a non-refundable charge for the meal (no charge for tours, etc.). 

Remember that there is no class on Wednesday due to the Independence Day holiday!  Be safe and have a Happy 4th of July with your families!

American Girl Place Excursion - July 30, 2011

The second annual All American Girls trip to American Girl Place Los Angeles at The Grove was on July 30, 2011.  Over 20 girls from 2 classes and over 20 guests were in attendance!

Most of the girls participated in the Kit's Tree House Book craft in the bookstore.  Once everyone was checked in and had a chance to complete their crafts, we assembled the group for a special meet and greet with Jessica Griffiths, the girl chosen for the Kanani (Girl of the Year 2011) ad campaign.

We then separated into two groups for our tour, led by Belinda and Heidi of American Girl.  The girls were given a quiz, to be completed during the tour.  The quizzes were checked in random order until one had been answered 100% correctly.  Congratulations to Rachel, who received the prize!

After the tour, we had a little time to browse and chat while waiting for our tea reservation.  We were escorted through a separate entrance so that we could be seated before the other diners.  Every girl borrowed a chair for their dolls, and a doll if they didn't bring one, and every doll had it's own little tea cup and saucer.  Our group had the entire terrace all to ourselves!  We were served a warm welcome of cinnamon buns while the waitstaff took our drink orders.  Next came a tray of delicious sandwiches, fruit, and sweets.  Finally, tea was topped off with chocolate mousse, served in flowerpots!  Everyone took home a pink ponytail holder, which had been used as the napkin rings.

See more pictures on our class flickr! 

Remember, your feedback is important.  Let SPEF know what you thought of summer school this year!

Meet Kanani!

As part of our American Girl Place excursion on Saturday, the girls were able to meet a very special guest!  Jessica Griffiths, the girl chosen to star in the Kanani ad campaign, was visiting the store from Maui, Hawaii.  She was gracious enough to speak with the girls about her experience as the "girl of the year."  Her proud papa even posted a video of it on youtube (click hyperlink to view).  Read more about Jessica in this article from the Maui News.

I'm in the process of uploading pictures from Saturday, so stay tuned!