Britney might have wanted to actually use the toy shopping as a cover to grab some alone time.

The pop princess, whose new album Circus (check the new video) dropped on her birthday Tuesday, was spotted accompanying the kids for ten minutes wearing a colorful turtleneck and shades.

Then she disappeared, as parents Jamie Spears and Lynne Spears and bodyguards made sure that SPF and JJ didn't wreak too much havoc in the Fisher-Price for the next hour and a half.

“Each of the boys had one of those soldier guys to walk around with, and they each had a huge metal trolley cart to fill up,” a source told OK!. “They picked out hundreds of dollars worth of Mack Trucks, cement mixers and RC cars.”

The speculation is that Brit snuck out from the store and enjoyed some time alone with friends in the big city.

Who can blame her? It's not like she's been lying around eating bon-bons and watching Oprah.

The busy lady has whirled through Europe and the UK in past weeks. She landed in NYC on Sunday night to perform on Good Morning America on Tuesday.  That night she taped an appearance at Rockefeller Center. And then there was a little birthday party at NYC club Tenjune...whew!

The girl has earned a sit-down at Starbucks with a latte and some girl talk.