Camping with Kiki and Emi

Hi Everyone! Here are Emi and I at our campsite way up in the mountains. We followed a river that went up a canyon to get here.



Don't we look a lot alike? Everyone says so. I have yellow ties in my hair and Emi has blue. Tía said we had to put the rainfly over the tent just in case.



We went hiking everyday.



And we got to eat yummy food.



I'll post a few more pics later.

A High Desert Hike

This is Traveling Sophie's last week here, so I wanted to show her one of my favorite places to explore. We started out walking along a little trail...



...and then Sophie saw some really strange plants!


And I had to tell her not to touch them because they are sharp! She felt like she was on another planet, but I told her this was normal for a high desert to have cacti. That is plural for cactus in case you thought that was an alien plant!


Then we went on toward the forest...


...and took a little break under the pine trees.


We had to admire the view:


I begged Tía to let us climb up in one tree because I've seen so many photos of dolls in trees this spring.


From up in the tree we saw a train going by way down below.


The End!

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!