It's a Penpal kinda week!

This seems to be the week filled with a flurry of penpal activity!

Anna also got to join in the fun, getting a package in the mail from her beloved cousin, Chou.

Please check out Chou's world here:

12 Mariposa Alley

Anna: I can't wait, I'm opening it!

Lookit the squishy purple stingray!!!

*happy squealing commences as she rips through the package*

Anna: Lookit this stuff! Puppies and kitties and froggies and bunnies!

A Stingray and butterflies.... and LOOK AT THESE SHOES!

Me: That sounds a little too much like Alna for my taste -_-

Anna: HOW DID SHE KNOW?? How did she know I've been walking around barefoot for the last few weeks??? Chou is amazing!

She wrote me a lovely long letter too... you'll have to put this card on the penpal tree!

Me: Yeah, this stuff is all pretty neat.... but...

Me: I think you might want to question why Chou is sending you butterfly poops...

Me: and power hungry Domos intent on world domination!

Anna: Ooooh... oh my!

(I busted out laughing when I saw the PWPS sticker on the butterfly bag... it was fantastic!)

Waiting...

It's a rainy day and Anna finds herself waiting, 

refreshing the USPS website...

UNTIL...

OH my!

Stay tuned to see what has arrived!

This ain't Charleston, baby...

Poor Anna.
It just wasn't her weekend.

When I told her we were taking a trip this last weekend, she got very excited.

See, Anna has a cousin named Chou.

Right before we left for our trip, Anna got to read all about Chou's
really awesome trip to Charleston, SC.

(Check out Chou, and her really fun, happy adventure to Charleston HERE)

So, when I told her we were going to a beach and forests too, she was super psyched!

Poor, poor Anna.

You already saw what happened with the forest, and how she's now lost, perilously alone in the woods, wandering, probably hungry for cookies, and thinking that slugs are going to suck out her brains.

But here's what happened the day before that, at the beach.

Anna: This is so great, Heather! It's sunny, and I am going to a beach, and I'll look for little shells just like Chou, and there'll be water I can stick my toes in and sand and look how blue the water is and wow! I mean... uh... it's kinda cold... so, I don't get that, cuz, it's really sunny, but, uh, I guess that it could have been cold where Chou was and she just didn't say.... and it's pretty windy, and the sand is kind of blowing in my eyes, but she might not have mentioned that either, because I'll bet it's way better down by the water...

Me: Uh... yeah... I'm sure that's it, Anna... *carries Anna down to the water*

Anna: AAAH! What is that?? There is stuff in the water? Dirty black stuff!

Me: *puts Anna's toes in the water*

Anna: AND IT'S FREEEEEZING, GETMEOUTGETMEOUTGETMEOUT!!!!

Me: *puts Anna on the beach near the shells*

Anna: AAAH! What are these??? They're nasty and they smell! GROSSGROSSGROSSGROSS!!!!

Anna: *huddled among the gross beach junk* PICKMEUP~PICKMEUP~PICKMEUP *cries*

Me: Ahh... Michigan beaches in the spring time *inhales deeply with satisfaction*

~DISCLAIMER~

No Neemos were hurt during the filming of this photostory, LOL

As you'll note, the gross beach and shell photos were devoid of Neemos... that's because the water WAS gross, and so were the shells... and they stunk too... Michigan beaches in spring really aren't pretty, LOL... they're icky... and there's a bunch of eww floating in the water... and the wind was blowing so hard that even sitting down, Anna was blown over to face-plant several times... the poor girl... she still ate a bunch o' sand.

I think she hates the beach now. :)

Into the Woods

This weekend Anna went on a little trip Up North.

This trail goes all the way from our cabin to Lake Michigan.

For my family, "Up North" has always meant Traverse City, Michigan,
and the surrounding area. Our cabin is actually about 1/2 an hour out of Traverse City, in an area with no cable, no cell phone reception... nothing but wilderness.

Our property is surrounded by National Forest and protected by law... so this path, and the woods that surround us will hopefully be there for a very long time.

Little Anna, I have to admit, had a hard time on the path.

Anna: Heather! Pick me up!

Me: Uhm, Anna, you're supposed to walk the path, that's part of the fun.

Anna: Don't patronize me! I just walked this log!! It's the same as you walking the whole path!
This was hard! I fell off twice!!

(It's true, she did... every time I left her to stand alone, a heavy breeze picked up and knocked her right off the log!)

Anna: Look, there's strange stuff on this log... I think it's an alien growth...
we should quarantine the area!

Anna: Look at this... a body snatcher!

Slug: 0_0

Anna: Hurry, Heather! Get the lab equipment! Get the containing devices! We have to trap him before he can take over one of our brains!

Me: Anna, it's a slug... because Michigan sucks and is seriously lacking in snails.

Anna: I don't know what either of those things are... which means you're making up words, which means YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN POSSESSED!!!! *runs off*

Me: Anna! Come back!

Slug: *slimes away*

Anna: *whew* To anyone out there reading this, I am trapped in the woods by Alien beings... they have taken over Heather's brain. TRUST NO ONE.

And send help...

and cookies.

Something is bothering Anna...

Anna: Isn't it beautiful here, Alisa?

Alisa: Yes, Heather's parents have a lovely property.

*wind whistles through the dogwood*

Alisa: There's a lot of time to sit here and think.

*more wind whistles through the dogwood*

 

Alisa: What are you thinking about, Anna?

Anna: That thing.

Alisa: What thing?

Anna: That thing, in the middle of the yard...

Anna: It was just there... 

Anna: and I don't know why.