We received this accommodation for free in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that we love!
This past weekend, Isla and I headed to Dallas a fun ‘big girls getaway’ – she asked at least two-thousand five hundred times why Emi wasn’t coming, of course. We met our best friends, Kirby and Lillian, at the Hilton Anatole for the first of many similar trips. We had an unbelievably fun time with our big four year old girls (Lily is four this Saturday, so I’m rounding up!).
When we arrived in our adjoining bedrooms, we walked in and saw two of the queen beds with treats waiting for the girls – American Girl beds, robes, slippers, swimsuit and cookies! The girls were literally giddy with excitement. We arrived on Thursday, but the plan to go to the American Girl store wasn’t until Friday, so we all threw on swimsuits and headed to JadeWaters – the pool at the hotel. It’s a kid’s pool dream come true. There is a lazy river, lots of shallow wading areas, slides galore and on Friday, a pool party! After hours in the sun, we ate at the restaurant by the pool, then headed to our rooms to get ready for the big day.
The girls woke up READY TO GO on Saturday! We met our friend, Mary, and her baby at Snooze for breakfast (the scrambled tofu was delicious!), then went to the American Girl store for the main event. The girls were running around wide-eyed, looking at all of the pretty dolls and accessories. Lots of “Can I have that please?” being asked. Lillian picked Samantha, and Isla picked a lookalike doll (“Truly Me”), whom she named Samantha (ha!). They picked out a few accessories, then as soon as we got to the car (valet was free and included in the Hilton Anatole package!), they were ready to change their outfits already!
We ate lunch at Flower Child (holy cow, it’s amazing), then went back to the Hilton Anatole to relax (i.e. try pointlessly to get the girls to nap!) before going back to JadeWaters. We participated in the pool party, went down the big slides again and relaxed in the sun. It was heavenly! Isla proclaimed, “This is the best day of my life!” I’m not even kidding! That evening, we ordered room service, as everyone was exhausted and we didn’t leave the pool until 6:15pm.
We had to be up early in the morning, as I was taking family photos for a friend and Kirby and Lillian wanted to hit the road to spend the day with Brett and Henry before they left on another trip the following day. The girls ate Top Knot Doughnuts before doing a super huge farewell hug.
We will definitely be going back to the Hilton Anatole with Kirby and Lillian again (probably with the rest of the motley crew too!), as Dallas is halfway between Oklahoma City and Houston. Isla is in love with her Samantha doll and hasn’t stopped talking about how much fun she had this weekend. I loved my American Girl doll growing up (Kirsten), and I’ve long thought about what it would be like when I could take Isla to get her first doll. Such a dream come true!
Special thank you to The Monogram Shop in Houston for the fun inflatables, towels and beach bags!
