A Birthday Party for Nanea

Yesterday (May 13) was a big day! It was Nanea's birthday --- marking the first anniversary of her arrival here. I can hardly believe that it's already been a year since we picked her out at the American Girl store in Columbus. At the same time, though, it feels like she's been here forever!

A special day like this couldn't pass without doing something fun, so some of the other dolls set up a surprise party! Here they are all in place . . .

Everybody in place, waiting for the birthday girl to arrive!

Mariamne (pronounced "Mary-anne") was there to greet everyone, check the invitations and keep Nanea from seeing anything too soon. When Nanea was finally allowed to turn the corner, she was so surprised that she had to gasp and quiver.

Even Flossie (Nanea's pet chicken) came to the party and donned a festive hat . . .

Flossie wishes Nanea many happy returns of the day.

Everyone sat down, and the group sang "Happy Birthday" (except for Eliot, who can't sing). The guest list included Janie, Johanna, Eliot, Bunty, Leo, Vicki and Harold.

Lots of fun and lots of conversation went on while they all enjoyed some amazing treats -- provided by Eydie and Janie!

Janie and Nanea

Johanna and Eliot

Bunty and Vicki

Harold and Leo

The party went on for quite some time. Poor Benny arrived a little late for his sister's party, but he had been out diving for pearls and couldn't get back on time. No matter! They set up a chair for him near Harold, and the boys decided to share some cake and ice cream.

The food was amazing and included several kinds of birthday cake (including some that were set in a ring of pearls), fudge sundaes, banana splits and cupcakes -- all provided by Eydie's Gourmets, the fanciest eatery on Islandshire. Janie brought a platter of exquisite (and tasty!) handmade chocolate truffles. These are her specialty and include all kinds of cream centers. Special pink lemonades and strawberry limeades were served in beautiful heirloom glasses, lent by Bunty for the special occasion.

 With all of this to eat, everyone sat and talked for a long time. There were all kinds of things to discuss, but the favorite topic is definitely the newest excitement on Islandshire --- Nachito's recent acquisition of a Wind Surfer! This fun vessel will soon be available for rental, and I think there will be a long line to try it out.

Johanna was really thrilled that one of the birthday cakes was actually a Minnie Mouse Strawberry layer cake! Minnie is one of her favorite characters, which you can guess by her fancy dress.

Johanna enjoying her Minnie Mouse cake.

Suddenly, there was a little noise coming from the end of the table. Harold and Benny had spilled one of their lemonades, so it took a few napkins to clean everything up.

Harold cleans up some spilled lemonade.

Even Flossie got to enjoy a treat with her own chicken-sized cupcake . . .

Once everyone was full, having enjoyed lots of cake and ice cream, it was time for Nanea to open her presents. Everyone had brought beautiful things for her -- including a pitcher of pineapple juice, a fresh pineapple, tickets to play carnival games, homemade Cornish pasties, a Hawaiian dollhouse play set and a wrapped surprise!

Nanea admires her gifts.

The play set looks really fun, and the girls decided that they'll all come over to Nanea's house soon to have a play day!

No one could guess what was in the wrapped surprise, so they were all holding their breath . . .

How amazing! It was a doll! And it was a very special doll, because it is a little Hawaiian girl in traditional dress. This was no ordinary little doll -- it was January Lotus from Ma and Pa Kettle in Waikiki! That is Nanea's very favorite movie, and January is her very favorite movie character.

Thanks to Auntie Elizabeth, January has a beautiful homemade dress and scarf. She even has a miniature pearl necklace!

 The remainder of the party was spent in more conversation and play. The boys talked about things like fishing, diving, wind surfers and scooters. The girls planned a meeting of the Islandshire Doll Group to welcome their newest member!

So, a big "thank you" to everyone on Islandshire who made this Nanea's best birthday ever!
And Flossie says . . . cluck, cluck.

 Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back soon for more Islandshire fun!

Meet Flossie (Nanea's Pet Chicken)

Trudy here. It seems like a lot of news is getting posted, but none of it ever mentions pets. So, we're adding a new column! Everyone on Islandshire loves animals. They all want a pet. Zaida and Bessie have an Adopt-a-Pet shop and rescue all sorts of animals --- from dogs and cats to skunks and pigs. In fact, everyone on the island is getting ready for the big Adopt-a-Pet event set to take place very soon.

The Islandshire market was open this weekend, and lots of crowds came by for the Grand Opening of Pete and Jerri's (a fantastic vegetable market). Even Nanea's pet chicken, Flossie, came out to sample the corn bread. Flossie is no ordinary chicken.

This brings us to our first "Spotlight on Pets" feature. Flossie is a very special chicken. No one has ever seen a chicken quite like her, in fact. Nanea says that it is because she comes from China (so the tag said) and is a special Chinese chicken. Flossie is covered in furry white feathers and has a black face and beak. She's very friendly and hardly ever makes noise! Every morning, she lays three eggs (quite an amazing chicken, like I told you) and clucks when they are ready.

Nanea loves Flossie. That chicken gets treated as well as we girls and boys do! She has her own little area in Benny and Nanea's house. It's a nice green box with her nest in it, and she shares a green food bowl with Benny's pet skunk (Flossie's food is the white half). Nanea has even planted some purslane in a pot and put that right next to Flossie's box. Purslane is very edible and a favorite snack for chickens.

Not only does this chicken have her own box and nest inside the house, but she also has quite a wardrobe! She has a little blue ruffled skirt and a fancy green pineapple skirt . . . and, she's leash-trained. Her little collar is all different colors and has a plastic flower tag hanging from it. This is no ordinary chicken.

Nanea giving some corn bread to Flossie.

 Flossie appeared at the Market on her leash. This proved to be quite an attraction to the other visitors --- particularly to George. He had never seen a chicken on a leash before! He and Eloy offered to babysit while Nanea shopped, and Flossie was treated to the best of care. She was given a temporary crate (which proved so comfortable that she laid an additional three eggs), a glass of water and some excellent chicken food. George became quite attached to her and has decided to offer chicken babysitting services on any Market Day.

George climbs up for a better view of a chicken on a leash.

 Another member of the household here has formed quite an attachment to Flossie --- though not as friendly a one. Henry the Kitten (now 1-1/2 years old and real terror to dolls . . . he would like to chew vinyl) has decided that Flossie is the more amazing cat toy in the world and considers her quite a prize. Just how he has managed to climb onto desks and shelves to find her is a bit of a mystery, but she has now been carried as a special prize four different times! She has to stay in the closet in her house when not being watched by Nanea, because Henry loves her. We even found her right in the middle of a bed pillow one day --- having been deposited as a special prize in a perfect sitting position!

Flossie has certainly found a nice home at Nanea and Benny's house. She gets along wonderfully with their pet parrot, Coucou. Even their turtle, Stanley, likes her. Benny's pet skunk will be arriving soon, but I'm sure they'll get along really well, too.

Nanea and Flossie inside the house.

Check back again soon for more pets at Islandshire!

Fashion Fun: Z's Easy Breezy Outfit

Trudy here: For those of you who have been following the Islandshire Gazette for a while, you may remember that Nanea had asked that we start a fashion column. What with all the fun things happening around here, that idea didn't get very far off the ground --- but I'm hoping to change that this Winter.

Today, our fashion fun is modeled by Nanea and Nancy*. The outfit is Z's Easy Breezy.

Z's Easy Breezy outfit has just been discontinued by American Girl, but it's still pretty readily available on the secondary market, so we want to review it while you can still pick up this real bargain!

This is definitely one of the nicest modern outfits you'll find, and quality is certainly here. The shirt is made of cotton fabric with real buttons. Thin enough to conform to the doll's shape, but not so thin that you feel like you're handling a one-time costume. The pants are a nice stretchy denim-type material that gives the look of thick pants without bulk --- plenty long, too! And these don't suffer from the new problem of being so low-waisted that the doll's bottom shows. They fit fabulously with an easy velcro fly opening and real back pockets.

The shoes are tall padded sneakers in a bright medium purple and Z's signature light orange. A stretchy elastic headband (also in the pale orange) tops off the outfit for a look that's ready for play or relaxation. This outfit comes with an A+ recommendation from all the Islandshire girls!

 Stay tuned for more news, and if you don't want to miss anything, the "Follow" button is now working in the right-hand column!

*Nancy is a 2014-body tag Julie with a long, wavy red CYO wig.