Technical Difficulties

 

 *A screen appears in mid air at 12 Mariposa Alley, it is filled with the buzz of static*

 *The vague silhouette of a figure appears on the screen*

*The buzzing of static dies down and the figure comes into focus*

Anna: Chou! CHOU! Can you hear me?
I have a message for you!

 *The buzzing of static increases until you can barely see what is going on*

*Anna steps aside and a huge, dark shadow falls across the screen*

Elphaba: Ah... there we go... Chou!
Anna has asked the witches of the Majokko Shop to help poor Olive!

We have sent help, she should arrive any day!
There is one thing I have to tell you though...
The Neemo we've sent is very --------

*static begins to drown Elphaba out as she tries to give more instructions*

Elphaba: Oh crud... We have GOT to figure out what
is interfering with our communications!

*The crackling static gets louder
and you can only see vague forms moving on the screen*

Anna: Do you think they got the message?
Elphaba: I hope so, Anna, I hope so.

*The images on the screen are drowned out by the buzzing of static*

Letters from Penpals

 Anna: zzzZZZzzzZZZ

Me: Anna, wake up!

Anna: *yawn* Oh, hi Heather! I was just taking a nap.

Me: Yeah, sorry to wake you, but a package came for you!
*puts package contents down in front of Anna*

Anna: Whoa! Lookit all this! Who is it from?

Me: Your cousin, Chou.

Anna: Oh! Is there a letter?!

Anna: Oh my goodness! She wrote so much! I think I need to write her back a longer letter. T_T

Me: I'm sure your letter will be fine, no matter how long it is. It's not a competition.

Anna: Isn't it? ISN'T IT?! You know how family is!

Me: Uh... what?

Anna: I don't know, I saw this tv show where the family was very competitive,
so I thought that's how families were. Aren't they like that?

Me: No! Well... sometimes... wait, NO! No more TV for you, missy!

Anna: Aww, look, she also sent shells she collected on her trip! These are going on my shelf!

Anna: Oh, there was this little package in the letter too...

Anna: EEEE! Look! It's a necklace made from one of the shells she found!
How did she drill the little hole in it?!
Ok, now on to the boxes!

Anna: Mmmph!!

Me: Anna, you really need to be more careful. -_-;;

Anna: EEE! Earrings!! These are so cute!

Me: Wow! It was so nice of her to send you so many!
You'll have to share with the other girls.

Anna: I'm surprised Madoka isn't already here to nab some. -_-

Me: Er... me too, actually. That worries me.

Me: Here's a closeup of them!
If you're interested in a pair,
please contact Retrograde and see if she has any left to sell!

Wall-E is fascinated by the earrings... I think he wishes he had ears.

Anna: Sorry, Heather, I couldn't wait, I opened the next box
and it was filled with these lovely barrettes!

Me: Oh, we'll have to see who looks good in them!

Anna: I think Alna should wear the red bow... or maybe the pink bunny... I don't know.
Do you think she'll wear them both?

Me: Well, maybe not at the same time... but I'm sure she'll love to wear them. :)

Anna: Thank you SO much, Chou! Our package is currently on it's way to you... and my letter!

Make sure you follow the instructions on the letter's envelope. *nod*

Anna: I really, really, really love my new necklace! It seems perfect for a Geocacher...
to wear a necklace that is a found item.
It's just SO cool!

Me: Yes, thank you, Chou and Elly, you totally made Anna's day... and probably Madoka's too, if I could just find where she got off to... she's so... sneaky sometimes.
It's like she's everywhere and nowhere all at once. -_-

(Yes, I just cannot help but allude to Madoka's past almost every time I mention her...
it's like a sickness.)

___________________________________________

PS

My girls now have 4 penpals!

They are very excited about this, and letters have been dispatched to ALL penpals!

Be on the lookout!

If you're curious about who the girl's penpals are,
please check out the penpal tab at the top of the page!

If you're interested in becoming a penpal, feel free to drop me a line!

Thank you to all who are participating in the Pen Pal Program!!

A Letter Arrives at 12 Mariposa Alley

It's very probable that you all are unaware that Anna has a snail mail pen pal,
her cousin, Chou,
who lives at 12 Mariposa Alley.

Click on the image above to see the post about Chou receiving Anna's letter!

The above banner is ©Retrograde

12 Mariposa Alley is filled with quite a lot of fun adventure, and I highly recommend checking it out if you enjoy the antics of my girls here.

If you read the comments, my girls often reply to posts made at 12 Mariposa Alley as well!

It's a lot of fun and one of those things that makes playing with dolls all the more interactive!

My girls are always very excited to write letters and send them off!!

If you go out in the woods today...

Heather singing:

If you go out in the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You'd better go in disguise.

 Anna: Heather, you idiot, stop singing and help me with this!

Can't you hear? There's something alive inside!

Heather keeps singing:

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

 

Anna: *pries lid off* Hello? Is someone in there?

Muffled voice from deep within the box: Help meeeeee.....

Heather sings loudly:

Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares,
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily dance about.
They love to play and shout.
And never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mommies and daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they're tired little teddy bears.

 

Anna: Oh my goodness! *reaches in to help him out* HEATHER, STOP SINGING!
... wait... what ARE you singing?

Heather keeps singing:
If you go out in the woods today,
You'd better not go alone.
It's lovely out in the woods today,
But safer to stay at home.

 

 Anna: Aww, come here little guy, what's your name?

Kidogo: It's Kidogo (pronounced Kid-oh-jo)... I've...
I've been trapped in that box since the picnic!

Anna: Wait... so this junk Heather's singing about...
There really is a teddy bear picnic?!

Heather still singing:

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Kidogo: Yup, there's a picnic.

Anna: Wow, so it's not just a song, it's a warning...

I wonder if it's safe to be out in the woods now?

Kidogo: Oh yes, the picnic is over... but...
*sniffle* I WAS LEFT BEHIND!

Anna: Oh no!

Heather (still singing):
Every teddy bear, that's been good
Is sure of a treat today
There's lots of wonderful things to eat
And wonderful games to play

 

 Kidogo: Yup, that part of the song she just sang is right, too.  There are cookies and cakes and everything a little bear could want...
Anna: Then how did you get trapped in that box?

Kidogo: I found it hidden there, and thought there might be a cookie inside.
So I crawled in, and then someone came along and closed it.
It was probably the other bears. They probably thought they needed to hide the box before they left again... and now I'm all alone!

Anna: You're not all alone! You can go adventuring with me!

Kidogo: Really?

Anna: Really!

Kidogo: Are there cookies? 

Anna: Uhm... yes?

Kidogo: *skeptical* You don't sound too sure.

Anna: Heather? A little help here? Are there cookies?!

Heather, still singing, and glad it's the last verse:

Beneath the trees, where nobody sees
They'll hide and seek as long as they please
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Anna: Bah... she's worthless. I say, "YES" there are cookies!

Kidogo: All right! I'm in!

And thus, Anna got herself a new Geocaching partner, and a new little friend...

and since the song is done, I can stop singing and go find some cookies, because there's nothing worse than a grumpy little bear.

(Anna also took another prize... this shiny marble!
If you look, you can see me reflected in it!
Well, ok, mostly you just see my cell phone.)

Kidogo is made by the extremely talented Ginger Brame of The Piece Parade.

Her blog is always fun and exciting and is called bearbits

Into the Woods again

 Hello, everyone!

Guess what I've been doing... again?

Yup! Treasure Hunting!!

It's good exercise and fun!

This time we went to Fanghorn Forest!

Have you ever heard of that?

Heather had, and she laughed and tried to warn me about Ents, but...

I have no idea what she was talking about.

We actually went the wrong way, and ran into a river.

Then we had to backtrack until we found a bridge to cross over it.

There were some trees that had fallen across the river, and I *totally* could have made it, 

but Heather was all like, "Noooo, it's dangerous"

She has no sense of adventure.

When we weren't going the wrong way, there was a path to follow... right up until the very end.

Then we had to "off-road" it into the woods!

"Help!"

The way became fraught with perils, and I was almost lost!

Then Heather said she'd carry me and it was all ok.

VICTORY!!!! This was our first Ammo Box find! It was bigger and had really cool, waterproof log books in it! I took a dinosaur from this box, and left behind some buttons with Kana on them!

I wonder if Kana knows she's famous in the Geocaching world now?

This was Heather's favorite note in the notebook... it cracked her up.

She made me post this picture.

This cache had been there since 2004!

People have been treasure hunting for quite a while!

And LOOK!

I even found a Morel to this story!

HAHA!

Anna builds a house in one day!

Anna: Oh! Hey guys! Maybe you read our last blog entry about little doll sized doll houses you can make out of paper? Well, if not, you're about to learn about it!

I decided I'm going to make my own!

Anna: The first thing you need to do is print out your house! I chose the one with the pink roof, but it looks kinda red to me. That's ok, though. I like red!

Anna: Next you gotta cut out your house!

Me: Uh, Anna... those are thread snippers...

Anna: No, they're my scissors. They work, see?!

Me: Ok, just be careful.

Anna: Once you get it all cut out, you fold it along the dotted lines.

Unless you were careless with your scissors and cut a finger off.

Then you go the the hospital, THEN fold your house on the dotted lines.

Anna: Next *mmmrph* Next *grrrragh* NEXT YOU GET SOME TAPE! GAH!

Me: Uh, Anna, I think you're supposed to glue it together.

Anna: Well, SOMEBODY doesn't have glue at her desk!

Me: Oh, sorry bout that.

*an undisclosed amount of time passes*

 

Anna: PERFECT! You have a wonderful little house!

Me: The corners aren't really perfect...

Anna: It's because I ONLY HAD TAPE >8(

Me: Oh, yeah, that's right, hehehehe

Anna: This is not funny. I demand you buy a glue stick.

Me: I don't know, can I trust you not to eat it?

Anna: EWWW!

If your girls would like to build their own house, please see our previous post HERE.

If you go out in the woods today...

 Hi everyone, it's me, Anna... out hunting the world for treasure again!

This one was just a quick stop... or... so I thought... but, if you look below, you'll see what I saw when I got to the spot marked "X" on the map.

HOW is a little Neemo supposed to move all those logs?!

*whew* I found it, eventually!

Why are there always pricker bushes?

Treasure hunting is dangerous!

I don't know, what do you guys think, do I need a Treasure Hunting outfit that isn't quite so...

girly?

Inside the cache was a lot of fun stuff, some computer bits, some toys... but what I thought was most exciting was the boyscout stuff! I had to ask Heather what a boyscout was!

I WANT TO BE A BOY SCOUT!!!!

but... Heather says I can't be one...

but she says she'll start the Doll Scouts for me...

because she says, technically, I can't join Girl Scouts either. T_T

Do any of you dollies out there want to be a Doll Scout with me?

Here is what I left behind... a mini uglydoll!

I took the Cub Scout sticker... because...

uhm...

I like stickers.

I think the Doll Scouts will need a sticker too. Yup.

I hope that little uglydoll finds a home!