Monday, August 30, 2010

My Summer in Virginia and DC

I was very sad to leave my new friends in Oregon, but my gloom didn't last long. My next stop was at PrincessRuthie's (On AGFMB) house in Virginia!


I got there on July 10th, 2010. Very excited to be there, I helped myself out of my box. I heard a loud thud and ran in the direction of the loud noise. I stumbled across a girl, passed out on the floor, face first! I helped her up and asked if she was going to be alright. I helped her over to her bed when she asked me if I was Sophie! Certainly not, but I explained to her that I am Hodel, and I'll be visting. She didn't like the idea of  another visitor, because she just had said goodbye to Ruthie. She also told me they put on a play while she was there!


"THEATRE!" I yelled. I'm sure I scared her a little bit! I went on to tell her that I'm in love with theatre too! We stayed up all night and talked about plays and musicals, and everything theatre!


The next day, Rebecca took me to the school's Thespian meeting. It was nice to be at an arts school!


At the meeting, I met Isabel! "HEY, wait! You're HODEL?! Hodel Yanovic, Anna Lee's friend!?!? Hi, I'm Isabel Cohen, and I've been dying to meet you and Anna Lee both! Oh is it true that you are going to see Anna Lee next?! Can I go with you? Oh my goodness, PUH-lease? Anyway, I can't believe it's really you! I just know that we're going to be good friends, too!" It was very exciting! I felt famous!


The girls and I decided to put on a talent show instead of a full-blown production. Anya started out with a little tap dancing number. She didn't want to compete. Rebecca dressed up like Barbra in "Funny Girl" and sang/danced to "I'd Rather Be Blue". Nathalie and Isabel dressed up like Anne and Dianna from Anne of Green Gables. They sang a song from the musical!


Finally, moi! Lindsey, Chiara and I did our own version of "Bad Romance", spoofing that of Glee. The YouTube watchers voted, and WE WON! The talent show was so much fun!


On July 18th, my trip took a change of pace. Laura took me to Vienna, VA to see Idina Menzel (!), and decided to drive a little farther to DC! I'd never been there before!We first went off to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History! We saw the ruby red slippers (Just like in Minnesota!) and Julia Child's kitchen!


We at lunch and walked up and down on the National Mall. We also saw all kinds of pretty buildings along the path!


When I got back to the school, it was time for Camp Blacker, a summer day camp filled with fun activities bound to keep us from becoming couch potatoes. After setting up a cozy camp environment and putting up a nifty sign, everyone got in on the fun.


The next day was so hot. Nathalie and I HAD to cool off in the sprinkler!


Oh! And I want to place a shout-out to my host, Laura! She made me this dress! Isn't it darling!?!?


My last day was nearing, so I went around the school trying to say goodbye to everyone. I found Becky laying under a lamp with cream all over her face! After I made sure she wasn't going to faint I said goodbye and headed out.


I said goodbye to everyone else too, but I couldn't find Isabel. The girls told me that she isn't good with goodbyes, and it probably off somewhere.


I couldn't find Isabel, but it was time to go. I was just about to climb into my box when it was already full!


I pulled back the blanket and uncovered a familiar face - Isabel! "Oh, there you are, Isabel! I missed saying goodbye to you earlier. Lindsey told me that you'd hidden yourself away since you hate goodbyes..." "It's not that," Isabel interrupted, pulling herself up, "I just want to go to Michigan with you! I thought that, if I stowed away in your box, I could meet Anna Lee and spend time with the two of you. How much fun would that be? Of course, Laura would never let me go out traveling right now - she's got a strict rule about one doll traveling at a time - so that's why I stowed away. And don't tell me that two dolls can't fit in a box like this - Kit-Kat shared a box! But, anyhow, I just have to meet her...I have to! And I don't want to say goodbye to you either!" "Oh, Isabel, I wish you could come with me, I do, but since you don't live with me, it'd probably be better if you went in your own box someday. You'll meet Anna Lee someday, you will. She's not going anywhere! Now, come on, let's get you out of the box, and we can hang out a bit before I go," I said, trying to reassure her. I helped Isabel out and embraced her in a hug while thinking of one last thing that we could do together, "Hey, why don't we have some ice cream at Kirsten and Addy's café? I hear Addy makes the best vanilla ice cream around! I'll even tell you all about the adventures Anna Lee and I have had..." And that's just what we did.

On to my next stop... Michigan!

My Summer in Oregon

This summer, I was allowed to travel again! My first stop in my summer adventure was in Oregon. ~Crazy~Doll~Lady~ (On AGFMB) was kind enough to let me visit her and her girls for a few weeks before going on!


Kelsyee woke me up when I got there. There isn't much to do on a three day journay, other than sleep. It's the worst part about traveling to your first spot. In between hosts, I need that sleep, and I'll gladly take it!


On memorial day, Marsali, Kelsyee, and I decided to dress up in old clothes and pretened to be the little girls that came before us! It was very exciting because when we were playing, we saw ducks! Yes, we have ducks in Ohio, but these were Oregon ducks. And ducks are just cute...


We decided to go inside and play with our dolls. SaraDawn, their dog, also wanted to play with us, so we let her! She wanted to be in all of our pictures, too! I liked her, and it made me miss our dogs.


One of the most exciting things that I saw in Oregon was buffalo. I'd never seen a real one before, except at the zoo. They were hudge! And we even saw baby buffalo! They wouldn't make good pets, but they were awesome! I wonder if I can convince Alyosha we need one in the backyard...?


Here we are at Smith Rock. While we were taking this picture a nice man asked if TracAn felt weird setting up photos for us. I'm glad she said 'no', that she was used to it! The man thought it was cool and even took a picture of us for his granddaughter! I felt very special!


I love trains. Cincinnati was a HUGE train spot in the 1930s and 1940s! Here is Oregon, we got to see a bridge that the trains used to go over! It was exciting!


Here we all are at The High Desert Museum in central Oregon. We saw all sorts of things like old cars, baby animals, snakes, otters, and anything else you can imagine! (You can see both the albums on the right!)



On June 20th, we got together and started planning a 4th of July picnic! We made a list of what we needed.


I helped set up the lawn chairs in the nice, cool shade! You never know what Oregon weather will be like!


We played all sorts of lawn games! It was so much fun. This was the last album with "Pooka" in it. RIP SaraDawn! I loved getting to know you!


But at the end of the day... it was time to leave Oregon and all my new friends. I was very sad, but it was on to a new adventure in Virginia and DC! Bye!