It's been fun and busy around here, so there are a lot of photos to catch up on. We had a very quiet and relaxing Christmas day. Four adults in the house means that we don't need a lot of stuff, so Mom and I had cooked up this fun idea months and months ago. We would set up the "Islandshire" group in the family room with the Christmas tree, and wrap nothing. Everything we bought for my sister was for her dolls, so we set things up like a scene and just had the new items and outfits incorporated. Dad had been working on building doll stuff for all three of us (secrets, but we knew it had to do with dolls), so we incorporated that right in. I knew what he made for Mom and Elizabeth, so he only had to keep mine covered.
Mom and I were upstairs almost all of Christmas Eve setting things up! But it made a really cool thing to walk into the next day. Plus, we got to just sit and enjoy "playing" and setting things up all afternoon on Christmas.
Eydie (above right, customized #47) is a big fan of Julia Child, so she got a new kitchen counter and a lot of new food (this was my sister's present, and Mom and I have been collecting food pieces for this for months!). She had been wishing and wishing for some trays of cinnamon rolls, so she couldn't have been happier. She served everybody all day, with Hallie's help behind the counter.
The Boys' "Merry Men Club" got a Campus Snack cart, which they really needed for all the burgers and french fries that they have been serving out of a box up to now.
Audie (a new arrival and soon to be introduced here) set up the Snack Stand with all of his Tex-Mex food. The tacos and pinata were cool new additions.
Connie and Amabel sat in the comfy chair with some friendly pets. These girls got new pajamas for Christmas. Connie was dressed like a reindeer, and Amabel was dressed like a black kitty.
Of course, Benny and Nanea's house had to be out for the occasion, and you can see their present from Dad under the gift wrap . . . more on that in a later entry.
Bunty (another new custom who will be introduced soon) and Harriet got a beautiful cart to use for their Charity Bazaar. Right now, they're selling fancy refreshments --- lemon squash, lemon tarts and biscuits.
George was really thrilled. He got a Corgi and named him "Prince". Eliot got a sheep dog and named it "Earl". Harold got an Army dog and named it "Alton".
Penny and Janie ate the new breakfast in Nanea's house. I think the strawberry French Toast was one of the biggest hits of the day! The little French Bull Dog on the right was Violet's special present, but she hasn't decided on a name for her yet.
More photos of the stuff that Dad made for the dolls coming soon!
Friday, December 28, 2018
Sunday, December 23, 2018
Merry Christmas!
[Note: For some reason, this post was posted on Christmas Eve but not showing up correctly. Hopefully, it's all working now!]
Merry Christmas from everyone on Islandshire! Some of the girls got all dressed up for a special picture by the Christmas tree.
Hoping everyone has a very wonderful Christmas, and may God bless you in the New Year!
Lots of surprises going on here in the doll world, so more pictures coming. Nanea has a bag all her own and is just dying of curiosity to know what's inside. Good thing it counts the days down to tell her when she's allowed to open it!
Merry Christmas from everyone on Islandshire! Some of the girls got all dressed up for a special picture by the Christmas tree.
| Back row: Violet, Hallie & Vicki Front row: Penny, Amabel, Nanea, Lauren Elizabeth, Harriet, Trudy & Bunty |
Lots of surprises going on here in the doll world, so more pictures coming. Nanea has a bag all her own and is just dying of curiosity to know what's inside. Good thing it counts the days down to tell her when she's allowed to open it!
Friday, December 21, 2018
FLA Vacation: Flying Home & Unpacking Souvenirs
After all the expectation and fun of vacation, it was finally time to head home. We had to get up pretty early on Wednesday morning (which felt really early, since we didn't go to bed until one o'clock that morning) to get everything packed into the car.
We took ten minutes to check out the Disney Store inside the airport before heading through security. Nanea and Harold had their photo taken with Snow White!
The little store is so cute, and Lizzy and I were actually crazy enough to buy two mugs in there (just what we needed to carry onto the plane, right?) --- but they were Chip & Dale! The cashier loved the dolls, so she had to hold them and call all the other employees over to see them. She was wearing a lanyard for pin trading, and one of her pins was actually a little Hawaiian Hula Dancer . . . so guess who had to trade one of her little pins!
The Sea World shop was right across the way, so Nanea and Harold wanted to stop in for a quick look around.
By then, it was time to go through security, so everybody had to get safely tucked into bags. The flight was so empty going home (half full at best) that they started boarding super early. In fact, Nanea had gotten a nifty travel seat to ride around on one of the suitcases, but we never got to use it! There was only time to grab a very hasty picture of Harold and Nanea sitting with the bags as the boarding call was starting.
The flight home was quite uneventful. Elizabeth and I sat in the very back row of the plane, and Harold and Nanea got to sit on the seat next to us. The flight attendants enjoyed them, and even gave them their own pack of "Plane Crackers"!
It was sure nice to get home, and Nanea, Benny and Harold couldn't wait to share the souvenirs they brought home with all of their little friends. Unpacking was a lot of fun!
Everyone had a special souvenir that they were excited about showing off. Nanea had her little plush Minnie Mouse . . .
Harold had a real Robin Hood pin that he'd gotten at Disney Springs . . .
And Benny had his shiny rocks and a T-Rex shirt from his favorite store!
So, that ends a very fun Florida vacation. Plans are, Lord willing, that we'll make it down to see Gramma again in the Spring . . . and do some more pin trading . . . so, we'll see which little dolls want to go then.
Having come home just in time for Christmas, lots is going on. Stay tuned for more Islandshire fun and a new arrival!
We took ten minutes to check out the Disney Store inside the airport before heading through security. Nanea and Harold had their photo taken with Snow White!
The little store is so cute, and Lizzy and I were actually crazy enough to buy two mugs in there (just what we needed to carry onto the plane, right?) --- but they were Chip & Dale! The cashier loved the dolls, so she had to hold them and call all the other employees over to see them. She was wearing a lanyard for pin trading, and one of her pins was actually a little Hawaiian Hula Dancer . . . so guess who had to trade one of her little pins!
The Sea World shop was right across the way, so Nanea and Harold wanted to stop in for a quick look around.
By then, it was time to go through security, so everybody had to get safely tucked into bags. The flight was so empty going home (half full at best) that they started boarding super early. In fact, Nanea had gotten a nifty travel seat to ride around on one of the suitcases, but we never got to use it! There was only time to grab a very hasty picture of Harold and Nanea sitting with the bags as the boarding call was starting.
The flight home was quite uneventful. Elizabeth and I sat in the very back row of the plane, and Harold and Nanea got to sit on the seat next to us. The flight attendants enjoyed them, and even gave them their own pack of "Plane Crackers"!
It was sure nice to get home, and Nanea, Benny and Harold couldn't wait to share the souvenirs they brought home with all of their little friends. Unpacking was a lot of fun!
Everyone had a special souvenir that they were excited about showing off. Nanea had her little plush Minnie Mouse . . .
Harold had a real Robin Hood pin that he'd gotten at Disney Springs . . .
And Benny had his shiny rocks and a T-Rex shirt from his favorite store!
So, that ends a very fun Florida vacation. Plans are, Lord willing, that we'll make it down to see Gramma again in the Spring . . . and do some more pin trading . . . so, we'll see which little dolls want to go then.
Having come home just in time for Christmas, lots is going on. Stay tuned for more Islandshire fun and a new arrival!
Labels:
Harold and Audie,
Nanea and Benny,
Vacations & Trips
Thursday, December 20, 2018
FLA Vacation: A Day at Disney Springs (Part 2)
Following the previous entry, here are the pictures of the rest of the dolls' day at Disney Springs. After going through the whole World of Disney store, there were still some things that they just couldn't wait to do!
Benny had really been chomping at the bit to go to the T-Rex store. In fact, this was probably the biggest reason he wanted to go on vacation! He was really excited to go to the bin full of shiny, polished rocks. You could fill a bag of them, and he wanted to bring home a shiny rock for all the members of the Islandshire Merry Men Club (our boy dolls). This store was rather noisy and intimidating to little Nanea, so she didn't care for it. But sitting on the rocks outside for a picture was okay!
Inside the gift shop side of this place (it's also a restaurant where you can eat in a very cool atmosphere and blue lights), the boys headed right to that bin of shiny rocks. The bags were a cool lime green --- which was really neat, because they were also able to get some matching souvenir t-shirts (don't tell them, but we'd ordered Dino-mite outfits on the Cyber Monday sale).
It didn't take too long for the boys to fill their bags, but they went through a lot of stones --- everything had to be "pocket-sized" for the boys.
With the rocks safely stowed in bags, we got to walk around the store and look at all the fun stuff. Benny like the shirts . . . and Harold liked the Junior Paleontologist vest.
At the back of the store, there's a special "Build-a-Dino" workshop run by "Build-a-Bear". It's the cutest thing! Benny liked the dinos, but Harold was partial to the Woolly Mammoth. In fact, Harold decided that Mammoths were really his thing, because there was a really cool toy there as well.
Once outside of the T-Rex shop, the trio got to pose on a really cool adventure Jeep. This was just up the boys' alley, let me tell you!
Now it was time to walk over a long bridge and see the Rainforest Cafe. It was a sunny walk, but everybody was really enjoying it. They posed on a table, and several other visitors had to stop and take their photo.
There were squished pennies at the Rainforest Cafe that dolls really wanted, and we'd never actually been inside. The whole building is shaped like a Volcano --- and erupts with great noise and fire every half hour. Nanea enjoyed it all, except the eruption. It sounds like a huge storm inside, and the lights go on and off. That was a little scary for her. The boys loved it.
The inside is totally decorated like Rainforest, accompanied by appropriate sounds. Even the ceilings are decorated!
Finding the squished penny machines was easy, so Harold bought a souvenir penny for Eliot. Benny got a souvenir penny for himself . . . and Nanea got a squished quarter!
There were also a lot of fun plush items to pose with. Harold liked the plush pineapples. Nanea liked the Rainforest animals.
The boys found these really neat drums in a display, and some were just their size!
The next thing on the "must do" list was to find a little charm. Nanea was under strict instructions to get one for one of Harriet's pen pals. Finally, we located this large table full of bins of little Disney charms. You could pick out charms, and there were even bracelets you could buy to put them on. Nanea needed on to make into a necklace, and her pen pal wanted a Princess. It was lots of fun to pick just the right one . . . and Nanea chose a "My First Visit" charm to make a souvenir necklace for herself. There were certainly lots to choose from!
Having found all the souvenirs, the dolls were ready to head back to the car. On our way, we stopped at the "Pick a Pearl" stand. You can choose an oyster, and they open it for you and you get your own pearl! There were several people doing it at the time, so we didn't want to crowd the place up getting one. But Benny and Nanea had their picture taking studying the available oysters. Since they both dive for pearls on Islandshire, this was pretty neat. (Nanea has a "Pick a Pearl" of her own that I got for her on our previous visit to Disney Springs.)
By now, it was getting late, so we all headed home. We went back the next day for a whole day of pin trading with our Aunt and Cousin, but the dolls were tired and stayed at home.
A few more photos will be coming, as Nanea and Harold did visit the Disney Store in the Orlando airport --- where they had their photo taken with Snow White and traded pins with the cashier! Check back soon . . .
Benny had really been chomping at the bit to go to the T-Rex store. In fact, this was probably the biggest reason he wanted to go on vacation! He was really excited to go to the bin full of shiny, polished rocks. You could fill a bag of them, and he wanted to bring home a shiny rock for all the members of the Islandshire Merry Men Club (our boy dolls). This store was rather noisy and intimidating to little Nanea, so she didn't care for it. But sitting on the rocks outside for a picture was okay!
Inside the gift shop side of this place (it's also a restaurant where you can eat in a very cool atmosphere and blue lights), the boys headed right to that bin of shiny rocks. The bags were a cool lime green --- which was really neat, because they were also able to get some matching souvenir t-shirts (don't tell them, but we'd ordered Dino-mite outfits on the Cyber Monday sale).
It didn't take too long for the boys to fill their bags, but they went through a lot of stones --- everything had to be "pocket-sized" for the boys.
With the rocks safely stowed in bags, we got to walk around the store and look at all the fun stuff. Benny like the shirts . . . and Harold liked the Junior Paleontologist vest.
At the back of the store, there's a special "Build-a-Dino" workshop run by "Build-a-Bear". It's the cutest thing! Benny liked the dinos, but Harold was partial to the Woolly Mammoth. In fact, Harold decided that Mammoths were really his thing, because there was a really cool toy there as well.
Once outside of the T-Rex shop, the trio got to pose on a really cool adventure Jeep. This was just up the boys' alley, let me tell you!
Now it was time to walk over a long bridge and see the Rainforest Cafe. It was a sunny walk, but everybody was really enjoying it. They posed on a table, and several other visitors had to stop and take their photo.
There were squished pennies at the Rainforest Cafe that dolls really wanted, and we'd never actually been inside. The whole building is shaped like a Volcano --- and erupts with great noise and fire every half hour. Nanea enjoyed it all, except the eruption. It sounds like a huge storm inside, and the lights go on and off. That was a little scary for her. The boys loved it.
The inside is totally decorated like Rainforest, accompanied by appropriate sounds. Even the ceilings are decorated!
Finding the squished penny machines was easy, so Harold bought a souvenir penny for Eliot. Benny got a souvenir penny for himself . . . and Nanea got a squished quarter!
There were also a lot of fun plush items to pose with. Harold liked the plush pineapples. Nanea liked the Rainforest animals.
The boys found these really neat drums in a display, and some were just their size!
The next thing on the "must do" list was to find a little charm. Nanea was under strict instructions to get one for one of Harriet's pen pals. Finally, we located this large table full of bins of little Disney charms. You could pick out charms, and there were even bracelets you could buy to put them on. Nanea needed on to make into a necklace, and her pen pal wanted a Princess. It was lots of fun to pick just the right one . . . and Nanea chose a "My First Visit" charm to make a souvenir necklace for herself. There were certainly lots to choose from!
Having found all the souvenirs, the dolls were ready to head back to the car. On our way, we stopped at the "Pick a Pearl" stand. You can choose an oyster, and they open it for you and you get your own pearl! There were several people doing it at the time, so we didn't want to crowd the place up getting one. But Benny and Nanea had their picture taking studying the available oysters. Since they both dive for pearls on Islandshire, this was pretty neat. (Nanea has a "Pick a Pearl" of her own that I got for her on our previous visit to Disney Springs.)
By now, it was getting late, so we all headed home. We went back the next day for a whole day of pin trading with our Aunt and Cousin, but the dolls were tired and stayed at home.
A few more photos will be coming, as Nanea and Harold did visit the Disney Store in the Orlando airport --- where they had their photo taken with Snow White and traded pins with the cashier! Check back soon . . .
Labels:
Harold and Audie,
Nanea and Benny,
Vacations & Trips
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