Aubrey Rose Tea Room with Kiddos

Dancing Girl celebrated her fifth birthday last week. I KNOW! When did my baby pants get so big? She used to promise me that she would grow to five and then stop, but she has since taken back that promise. Now she says she has to grow up so she can take care of her kids one day.

Anyway, she was gifted with a tea party at the Aubrey Rose Tea Room by some of her favorite people. This was our first official tea party, so we were very excited. We dressed in our Sunday best and made our way to La Mesa. The tea room is downtown La Mesa, so be on the lookout for street parking(free for the first 2 hours).

Dancing Girl kept taking off her hats before I could get a picture.

My first thought as we walked into the Aubrey Rose was, "I am so glad Messy Boy isn't with us." He would have been like a bull in a china shop. Everything was so pretty and dainty (and breakable).  We had a reservation and were immediately taken back to our table.On the way to the table, our waitress showed us an area in the back where the hats and boas are stored. You heard me correctly, they have hats and boas that you can wear while you have tea. How fun is that?!? Dancing Girl and her friends happily picked out accessories for all of us to wear (and frequently changed them during our two hours at the tea room).

Yummy treats during tea

Our friend booked us for the Princess Sophia tea from the menu, which includes tea, sandwiches (PB&J for the kids), fruit, and pastries. And, they even treated Dancing Girl to some freshly baked blueberry scones for a birthday treat.  Everything was delicious. Dancing Girl was especially a fan of the raspberry cheesecake squares (so was I).

 You can pick as many teas to try as you would like, and they were amazing. That's high praise coming from a southern girl who used to only drink sweetened ice tea and has only recently become tolerant of hot teas.  Ironically, the only tea out of the TEN (They all sounded so yummy we couldn't make up our minds) that I wasn't a fan of, was the peaches and cream.  I normally love anything peach, but that tea missed the mark for me. My favorite was the Aubrey Rose House Tea blend, and I enjoyed it so much that I purchased some to have at home.

A very happy birthday girl

Dancing Girl had a great time celebrating her birthday. She loved having the freedom to mix her tea with sugar, milk, and ice. She was able to stir to her heart's content.  And, she spent the afternoon with her favorite people.  This was a much better gift than another princess doll that gets tossed aside and stepped on after a couple of days.

What about you? Ever been to a real tea room?  Do you have any unique gift experiences that you have given to the kids in your life?