Hot Summer Days

Today felt like the middle of summer because it was so hot and sunny. We were kind of bored, but I knew not to complain about that. Know why? Because then Tía would say, "Well, Kiki, I'm sure I can find something for you to do. There are lots of jobs that need done around here..." And pretty soon I'd be pulling weeds or something, and only Holly likes to do that.

So, I got out my new camera (thank you, Bolton girls!) and looked for some photo ops. I found Traveling Sophie and Luci hanging out on the back fence.


Kiki: "Hey, guys! What's up?"


Sophie: "Not much! Just watching the tractor plow the field."


Kiki: "Can I take some pics of you."
Luci: "As long as there is purple in the photo."
Kiki: "OK... that's a little odd, but I have an idea."

Here's what we came up with:




What do you do on hot summer days? I need some ideas because it's already here!

Going With the Flow

Mary had the best idea, or so she thought.
Mary: "I'm going to have a tea party today! I'll go around and invite everyone!"


Mary: "Hey, Kiki! Want to come to a tea party?"


Kiki: "Now? Sorry, I can't, Mary. I have to study this bird book for when we go hiking and camping. Why don't you ask Chrissa, Lalita and Amy?"
Mary: "OK. See ya later."


Mary: "Hi guys! Do you want to come to a tea party?
Chrissa: "Now? Sorry, but we have to rehearse for our performance at the festival this weekend. Why don't you ask Mia, Eva and Sophie?"
Mary: "OK. Good luck!"


Mary: "Hi you guys! Do you want to come to a tea party?"


Mia: "Now? Sorry, Mary, but we have to get this ship loaded for the big ocean voyage. Why don't you ask Josefina and Elena?"


Mary: "Hi Josefina and Elena! Do you want to come to a tea party?"
Josefina: "¿Ahora? Sorry, we have to take the animals out to the pasture and then clean their stalls. Why don't you ask Felicity?"


Mary: "Hi, Felicity! Do you want to come to a tea party?"
Felicity: "Now? Sorry, but I'm just about take Penny out for some exercise. Why don't you ask Holly?"


Mary: "Hi, Holly! Do you want to come to a tea party?
Holly: "Now? Sorry, but I need to pull these weeds before they take over the garden."


Mary: (to herself) I definitely need another plan. Hmmmm..."


A LITTLE LATER...

Mary: "Welcome to my party!"


Mary: "I hope you like the goodies!"


There was a taco for Chichi Chihuahua, a cookie and for Gino the orangutan, a cookie for puppy, honey and fruit for Miss Beary, grass for the pony, a carrot and watermelon for the bunny twins, and cake and fruit for Mary.



Mary: "Thanks for coming! This turned out to be a fun party!"

A Springtime Discovery

Hi everyone. I hope you are having a nice spring like we are. Today I got to go visit my favorite creek and see how things are changing.



I watched the water rushing in the creek. It flows down from the mountains and comes from melted snow.



Then I had a really exciting discovery! At first I thought there was a strange log on the other side of the creek.



But, I looked closer and realized it was a turtle! It was about 3 feet long. I've never ever seen such a big turtle around here and neither has Tía! That was cool.



Have you made any exciting discoveries this spring? Let me know!

Workin' In The Coal Mine

When Luci and Sophie went to the museum they picked up some literature about the olden days. Last night we read about working in the coal mines so today Luci got the idea that we should play miners. We divided up the jobs and here are Luci and I. We are "breaker boys" (or rather girls!) and that means we have to separate the coal from rocks.





We work hard, but sometimes we goof off and start talking:


And Mia, who is our boss, comes in. YIKES!


We get right back to work!


Sophie is the mule driver. She directs the mules that pull the coal cars:


These are our "mules" teehee...


Eva is the wealthy lady that owns the mine:


She is kind and surprises us by bringing...PIZZA!


Actually, it was lunch time, so we stopped playing and had pizza after posing for a final photo.


Here's an important fact: In 1938 President Roosevelt signed the "Fair Labor Standards Act" and most child labor stopped, particularly in the mines.

Kiki Stands For...

Here's a fun game! Kiki stands for:

K - kind
I - independent
K - kewl - haha
I - intelligent

Mia stands for:

M - magnificent!
I - ice skater
A - athlete

Eva stands for:

E - elegant
V - vivacious
A - artistic



What does your name stand for?

Happy Mother's Day

We want to wish a happy day to all the mamas, Tías, dolly mamas, animal mamas, and I guess most everyone! haha



That's Holly in front, then Traveling Sophie (left) and Luci, then in the back is Mia, Kiki and Eva.

Hugs from all of us to all of you!

Olden Days!

Today Luci and Sophie were running some errands with Tía and they stopped at a little tiny museum. It has lots of really old stuff in it.


Luci wondered what it was like to have to get water from a pump...


...to wash clothes in this...


...or like this!


Sophie wanted to call France on this phone!


And she liked this doll:


I think the most interesting thing is that our town was started by a woman! Her husband died, leaving her with a farm and 6 small children. She also started the first bank. That's cool.

Tía ran into a friend from high school at the museum and they talked about their own olden days! Luci and Sophie thought that was boring and played in the yard. I stayed home to do some research on phoebes and how long it takes for their eggs to hatch. More on that later!

Luci, Sophie and the New Dolly

This was a crazy weekend. On Sunday we planned to go visit Aunty Carla, who lives about an hour away. But when we woke up that morning, my little sister Luci looked like this:


Poor Luci has allergies! She felt miserable and wanted to stay home, even though Aunty Carla is really fun to visit and has a beautiful house filled with treasures. Luckily, traveling Sophie had just arrived. She said she was happy to stay home and play with Luci, because she'd just spent 3 days traveling.


So, Holly, Mia, Eva and I went to Aunty Carla's. Here are some of her treasures that have been in her family for a long, long time:


She even gave us a cute, little dolly to play with and take home for keeps!


Now, it is fun to get a new dolly, and we are pretty good about sharing, but on the way home we girls talked and came up with a plan!

When we got back home Luci and Sophie were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Luci was feeling better, thanks to the special allergy herbs that Tía gives her. We walked in and surprised Luci by giving her the dolly to be her very own!


Luci was so happy! It was like she had not even missed the visit to Aunty Carla's house at all!

I also need to say WELCOME SOPHIE! We are so glad you are visiting us this month, and we have bunches of things to do and go see while you are here!

Jane Kurtz and Ethiopia Reads

This was such an exciting weekend that I hardly know where to start! I met Jane Kurtz, the famous author who wrote the Lanie books. And, I have a new friend that Tía has named Holly. Here we are with Jane Kurtz:



Jane has written lots of books and I was helping out at the sales table:


We ate lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant. The food is very different and the Ethiopians eat with their right hand. No forks or spoons! Jane grew up in Ethiopia and taught us how to eat the food. You have to tear off pieces of the "injera" (the rolled up bread) and use that to scoop up the other food.





After lunch Jane gave a talk about being an author, the Lanie book, and had slides of places all over the world. I was really inspired to follow my dreams to be a scientist and write about birds. I'm already starting to do that in my backyard journal! Yay!

But, the most IMPORTANT thing I learned was that many children in Africa do not have ANY books to read! When there are no libraries in the schools to loan out books and no libraries nearby, the children have nothing to read. I can't even imagine that, because I read every day and go to the library in our town every week.

SO the IMPORTANT thing is that we can help get books to those children by supporting Ethiopia Reads, which is a non-profit organization. They have already sent lots of books over to Africa and set up libraries in schools. And guess what! There are mobile libraries that are pulled by donkeys! That is cool.

We had a silent auction to raise money for Ethiopia Reads and it was very successful. Eva and Mia helped out with that.



There are LOTS of ways to help Ethiopia Reads get books to the children. Jane could come to your school and talk, you could help set up a fundraiser at your church, or you could come up with your own ideas about ways to help. You can also go to this website and make a donation and learn more about Ethiopia Reads:

http://www.ethiopiareads.org/

Happy reading!
xoxo Kiki