Mall Hunt Birthday Fun!!

We had a great time celebrating Tally's 10th birthday in an unusual way. A party is the norm for us and this year, it was just too much for me to pull off (I have a hard time doing a small scale party ~ I tend to go all out and create more work than necessary for myself). Knowing that about myself and with the traveling out of town to see Chuck and all the guests we have had lately, we decided to do a Mall Hunt Birthday.













Tally was given clues to different stores along with a map of the mall and she had to go find the store. Sometimes her clue included money (a $10 since she is 10). Then at the store, she could pick out a gift. With the money she got, she was had the option of staying with in her budget (anything she didn't spend she could keep). If she wanted to spend more than the $10, she could dip into her other birthday money that she had gotten from grandparents.













Her clues lead her to a book store to pick out books. She got her 2 favorite Magic Tree House books. 2 for under ten bucks, not bad.

Both girls also got to pick out new t-shirts from the Disney store (compliments of Aunt Susi).

A unusual stop for us...the gumball machines.This clue included quarters for the gumball machines. We all sampled the sugar overload.











Both of the girls had been looking forward to new Webkinz. Their accounts were about to expire. Considering the hours of fun you can get for a ten dollar toy, not a bad investment. On this clue, Tissy was also included in being aloud to pick a Lil' Kinz.










The biggest highlight of the day was a trip to Libby Lou. We have never been to this little girl make-over salon. Oh, my, were we in for a surprise. If you are unfamiliar with this place check out the web site HERE. Both of the girls were able to get the basic package which includes a hair do, nails, and a bag full of glittery girly goodies.



















To be totally honest...this place felt like it went against everything that I stand for. It was really fun for the girls and I am so glad that a place like this is such a treat for them (we hardly even go to the mall). But this salon has this atmosphere of trying to make your little girls older than they are. While we were waiting there was a party of preschool age girls all dressed up and dolled up and working these dance moves out in the middle of the mall for their parents to video tape. Somehow it seemed unnatural and slightly creepy.












OK, off my soap box (which I am sure I offended someone out there with my opinion rant in the previous paragraph). It was fun to watch the girls get their hair done in these fancy up-dos. I watched carefully to see if I could recreate the hair style at home (by the way...I can). Both Chuck (being the only Dad in the salon) and my sister Susan (who has 3 boys) were good sports. The music was pretty loud in there and we were glad when it was time to move on to the next stop in the Mall Hunt.

After lunch in the food court and a treat at Cinabon, we were just about done and ready to head home. The girls spent most of their birthday money on Calico Critters (a very sweet toy ~post to come later).This was a huge hit and they have been playing with them ever since. One last stop at Clair's for new necklaces (big sis and little sis ones). Tally said this was her favorite birthday and Tissy was hoping that she could also have a Mall Hunt birthday (um, maybe when she turns 10 ~ I need time to recover). All in all, it was a really easy way to have the celebration seem really special to Tally and be easy on me for planning. What surprised me was how tired we all were from walking around the mall for 4 hours. It was like breathing a sigh of relief when we drove "back out into the country" to head home. (Can you tell I am not a shopper???)