Liberty and Chrissa's Frozen Birthday Party

Hello, lovely readers!  We have had such a wonderful time with our cousins, I didn't want to take a break to post.  Marie-Grace, Jewel and Liberty left two days ago, sadly.

But Liberty and Chrissa's joint birthday was lots of fun!  Chrissa invited our cousins Victoria, McKenna, and Kit, while Liberty invited her friends Addy, Jubilee, and Sarah.

Since Chrissa's birthday, as you know, was May 14th and Liberty's birthday is June 11th, the two of them wanted to have a party while we were together.

All the guests were asked to come dressed as their favorite Frozen character.  When we had all assembled, proper introductions followed for those of us who didn't know each other.  We also tried to guess who was which character.

"Are you dressed as Elsa?" Georgia asked Jewel.

"Yes, I am.  Are you Anna?"

"Yes!  How did you guess?"

"Your two braids speak for themselves." Jewel replied.

I turned to Marie-Grace. "What character are you?"

"I'm just one of the ladies from the coronation scene." Marie explained.

"Really?" Victoria asked. "So am I!"

"Good to see you again, Kit!" Jubilee said.

"It's interesting to make your acquaintance at this gathering." Kit replied while raising her eyebrows and winking at her.  

"I like your nose, Kit." Chrissa commented.

"Thank you.  I made the whole costume myself in my sleep."

McKenna, who overheard, coughed.  

Kit grinned. "McKenna may have helped a little."  Then she leaned over to Chrissa and whispered, "Or maybe not at all."

"Uh, can Chrissa and I open presents now?" Liberty requested.

"That sounds fine to me." Chrissa agreed.

We all sat down to watch the birthday girls open their gifts.

"Please, open the gifts from us first, Chrissa." Marie-Grace said.

"Sounds good!"

"Frozen headphones?  Awesome!" Chrissa exclaimed.  "And what's this?"

"It's a game I made." Jewel said. "On each of the cards is a little story, and each player is dealt three cards.  The rest of the cards are left in a stack.  On your turn, you either draw a new card and discard one you don't want or you trade with another player.  The goal is to be the first player to have a coherent story."

"Cool!  Could we play it after we finish with the gifts?" Chrissa asked.

A chorus of "Sure!" and "That sounds fun!" came from the guests.

"Thank you, Gardeners!" Chrissa said.

"You're welcome." Marie-Grace, Jewel, and Liberty replied.

"Libby, will you please open the gift from us next?" Georgia offered.

"Okay!"

"Is this what I think it is?" Liberty said.

"If you think that it's an Olaf shirt, then you're right!" Chrissa said.

"Yay!  Now I can match you, Rissa!"

"Isn't it great? Elizabeth made it!" Chrissa replied.

"Thanks Edwards!" Liberty said.

"You're welcome." Georgia, Chrissa and I replied.

"Here - this is from Addy, Sarah and I." Jubilee said to my sister.

"What a fabulous snowman bucket!" Chrissa said happily.

"I know it's not Olaf, but -" Addy began.

"It's wonderful!" Chrissa assured her. "We can use it to vote for costume contest winner."

"There's a contest?!" Kit exclaimed. "Things just got way more interesting."

"Yea, I forgot to tell you." Chrissa said. "Okay, so for each character we will have a winner.  So there will be a winner in the Elsa category, the Olaf category, the Anna category, and so on.  Everyone gets to vote once in each category."

"When are we going to vote?" Sarah asked with her lovely British accent.

"After the game."

We all played Jewel's story game, and then had a snack of sandwiches and blizzard punch.  While we were eating the guests voted for the costume contest winners.  Then we all went outside to the photo both.

First we took a group picture.  From left to right: (back row) Jewel, me, Victoria, Liberty, Chrissa, Kit, Jubilee, (front row) Sarah, McKenna, Georgia, Addy, and Marie-Grace.

Do you see the baby that Addy is holding?  That's her new little sister, Emily.  She was sleeping most of the party.

Jewel, Sarah and I were dressed as Elsa.  I was "Colonial" Elsa and Sarah was "Modern" Elsa.  Jewel won (the winner is always in the center).

Victoria, Addy, and Marie-Grace were Coronation guests, Addy being the winner in this category.

Jubilee, Kit, and Chrissa were dressed as Olaf.  Kit won.

Georgia and McKenna were Anna, and Georgia came out victorious.

Since Liberty was the only one dressed as Sven, she won that character.

Here are the  "Polaroid" pictures from the photo both.

Sarah,

Me, Elizabeth,

Jewel,

Addy (and Emily!),

Marie-Grace,

Victoria,

Kit,

Chrissa,

Liberty,

Jubilee,

Georgia,

And finally, McKenna.

What is your favorite birthday party memory?

Hello, Nebraska!

Hi everyone!  Last Thursday my sisters and I flew to Nebraska!  We are staying in my awesome Nana and Poppa's house for now, but on Monday we going to drive (or more accurately, my parents are going to drive) down to our cousin's house.  I am way excited to see Jewel (and Libby and Marie, too)!!!

That's all for now.  Elizabeth will be posting soon!

Who are you seeing this summer?

P.S. Shout out to our cousins for posting about our coming! (http://sandhilladventuresadollblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/welcome.html)

To the Creek!

Hello, lovely readers!  Yesterday, we flew home from Nebraska, ...

... but I wanted to share with you how one of our last days with our cousins passed.

First, they showed us their newly-decorated Christmas tree.

"Nice decorations!" Chrissa commented.

"Thanks!" Libby replied. "It was fun having Jewel decorate with us."

"Oh!  Where are my manners?" Marie-Grace exclaimed. "Jewel, these are our cousins: Elizabeth, Georgia, and Chrissa.  Cousins, this is Jewel, our foster sister."

"Pleased to meet you!" Jewel smiled.

"Same to you!" Georgia said.

Most of the time, I would think of a foster girl as being quiet and subdued.  Jewel was the opposite: bubbly and always laughing.

"It's such a beautiful day - we should go outside." I offered.

"That sounds like a lovely idea!" Marie-Grace agreed.

"Hey -" Liberty said, "let's go to the creek."

"I don't think we've ever been down there with you." Georgia said thoughtfully.

"Oh, enough talk already!  Let's GO!" Chrissa said as she and Libby pushed the rest of us out the door.

"Let us go, 

Let us go!

Can't hold us back anymore!

Let us go,

Let us go:

Run outside and slam the door!"

Chrissa and Libby sang in unison.

"Don't really slam the door!" Aunt Clare yelled behind us.

"You're right, Elizabeth; it is a gorgeous day." Jewel said, breathing in the cool air.

"So - where to next?" Georgia asked Liberty.

But Chrissa was distracting Libby.

"Oo, Libby, let's climb this tree!" my youngest sister exclaimed.

"Sure, why not?" she agreed.

So, up they climbed.

"Um, Chrissa?" Georgia said. "We were kind of planning to go to the creek, you know ..."

"Yea, yea, yea, we're coming." Chrissa muttered as she and her cousin swung down and joined us.

The day seemed to be trying to decide if it was fall or winter: the wind crept under our coats, some of the water froze over, but the ground was covered in a thick blanket of orange leaves.

They sky was lightly dusted with cirrus clouds.

Jewel, Georgia, Marie-Grace and I carefully proceeded through the underbrush, but Rissa and Libby recklessly raced ahead.  When we found them, the two girls had plopped down by the creek-bank. 

"I think is the the prettiest part of the creek." I smiled.

"That used to be a beaver dam," Liberty explained to us, "but the farmer who owns this land didn't like beavers, so he cut out parts."

"That's kind of sad - for the beavers, at least." Chrissa said.

"Yes, but the little waterfall is nice." Jewel added.

We all stood/sat quietly, enjoying the sound of running water.

"Liberty, you said earlier that there was a bridge farther down. Could we go there?" Georgia asked hopefully.

"Sure!  But the bridge is kind of thin and it has only one railing, just waning ya." Libby said. "Follow me!"

We all conversed separately on our way.  Georgia seemed to be bonding with Jewel, which was nice.  I'm close to Marie, and Chrissa is "Best Fruzzies" with Liberty, but in the past Georgia didn't really have anyone.  I overheard Jewel asking Georgia to be her pen pal, too.  They both love acting, so the two of them tried to convince us to do a play.  I don't think the rest of us are quite sold on it, though.

Here's the view off the strong, but thin, bridge.  After crossing it, we walked back to their house, where lunch awaited!

What's you favorite way to enjoy "the great outdoors"?

Letters and Gifts

 Hi all!  This afternoon, when Elizabeth went to get the mail, she found not one, but three things from our pen pals!

 "Chrissa!" she called, "We received several letters!"  

 Quickly rushing downstairs, I asked for mine.

"Here is a package for you, as well as this letter -" Elizabeth started.

"Thanks!" I interrupted, grabbing them from her hand.

 "O-o, gifts!" I exclaimed. "Fun!"  Leaning over my shoulder, my sister read

"Don't open until your birthday."  She picked them up and set them on the side-table. "Since your birthday is not for another eight days, let's keep them over here."

"I'm so excited." I sighed happily.

 "I am too.  I think you shall love your gifts." Elizabeth said with a mysterious smile.  I tried to get her to tell me more, but she sealed her lips, still smiling.

 "Well, I think we have some letters to reply to!" I said finally.

"Indeed."

Oh, by the way, I loved all the names you suggested for my little wiener dog!  I had such a hard time picking just one.  In the end, I decided on Salty.  Actually, I have always wanted to name a stuffed animal Salty, so it was perfect. 

What exciting things have you done today?