{ Independence Picnic ~ 2014 }

Hello! I'm Mia and this will be my first ever post!  And, even though my post is almost two months late, I still wanted to share it here on the blog!  Back in the beginning of July, some of us girls at the dorm decided we wanted to have an Independence Day picnic.  We all set about planning the menu; star-shaped sandwiches, fresh veggies, cheese cubes, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream and bomb pops!  We set the date and texted a couple of our friends with the info.  We were all so excited when the day arrived!

Trey had invited his best friend Alden and he was the first to arrive.....Trey says he always on time.....something about a saying he has; "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late.  If you're late, you're left behind!".  Yikes, I'd always be left behind according to Alden!  He's a really nice guy though and we had lots of time to chat before everyone else arrived.

I had not noticed that my tub of cherry tomatoes had tipped over cause I was totally into what Alden was saying.....this was not a good thing cause even though I hadn't noticed it, Honey most certainly had!  By the time I heard his snarfing noises, 6 or 7 of my yummy tomatoes were gone!  I didn't know that Honey liked veggies as much as I did! 

 

Not long after honey had his little appetizer, Trey, Christina and Faith arrived!  O.M.Gosh, they looked super cute!  I loved their outfits.  They both told me that they had bought a new outfits for today.  They both have really good fashion sense.  I'd take their hand-me-downs any day of the week!

 

Even Trey dressed for the occasion but then, he's kinda fussy about what he wears.  Most boys aren't but he always looks so swag.

 

We all gathered around the table.  "Oh Mia, you did such an awesome job of getting everything set up!" Faith exclaimed.  "It looks soooo yummy, too!"  I was really happy to hear Faith's compliment cause I had worked really hard to get it all on the table.  They guys sat right down and started to eat.....no shock there, right?  

I told Christina about Honey's little snack prior to them getting there and she decided to try and distract Honey while we started eating.  She was showing him a pine cone she found over under the trees and for now, he seemed content.  However, it seems that Meatloaf took over where Honey left off......he was trying to be really stealth in sniffing at my tomatoes too!  Little toot!  I'm glad that I made sure the lid was snapped down tight.  I wasn't loosing any more of my delicious tomatoes to these sneaky canines in the crowd!

Hollie arrived about 20 mins later and whispered to us girls that at the last minute, she invited her cousin, Charity.  She asked us to make her feel really welcome cause she is kinda shy.  "Well, of course we will, Hollie!" exclaimed Faith.  "You know how I love meeting new friends!  Tell us, what is she like?"  Hollie told us that Charity has an identical twin sister named Patience.  Charity is the quiet one of the two sisters.  But even though she is quiet, she is a very caring girl that loves to do volunteer work with her sister and the other kids from their school.  They both go to a small Christian School and are in 7th grade.  Charity has a little dog named Sugar that she takes everywhere with her.  A dog?  Another dog?!?!  Oh boy, I immediately thought of my poor tomatoes.....at this point, I was convinced that ALL dogs craved cherry tomatoes!  PLUS, Hollie had brought her 'small but mighty' Boo, who was now running around and barking with Honey and Meatloaf.  Yep, my tomatoes were surely doomed.

Pretty soon Charity arrived and Hollie ran to meet her.  "Hey everybody!  Come meet my cousin, Charity!"  Boy, I was struck by her gorgeous hair!  I love my red hair but hers was even more red than mine and it had beautiful long, soft curls.  Ohhh, she was sooo pretty!  And to think that there are TWO of them!  Her dog really was little.....it fit in a tote she was carrying over her shoulder.  It was so cute with it's little head sticking out of the tote. 

Hollie introduced all of us to Charity and it didn't take long before we were all having the best time talking about school, friends, family and yes, we did talk a little bit about boys.....but not too much, I promise!  The day came to an end way too fast and we promised to face time each other often since not all of us have texting.  By the time I packed up the left-overs, there wasn't much left.  BUT, I am proud to say that, YES, my tomatoes survived the furry guests and were only enjoyed but us humans, lol!   

Even though it was a while ago, did you have a picnic for Independence Day?  Or, did you do something completely different?  What kind of foods did you enjoy?  Did your furry friends try to eat your food? Hahaha! ~Mia ☮

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Hollie's & Mia's outfits by GillyGals ~ Etsy®

Faith's & Christina's outfits by JanieJumps ~ Etsy®

Charity's dress & tote set by EverythingNice4Dolls ~ Etsy®

Trey's & Alden's outfits by Minipparel ~ Etsy®

{ Deadwood } Part II

So, picking up where I left off......

Alden and I headed towards the train station and on the way took advantage of some cool photo-ops.  This one was pretty close to the station.

Before getting in line for the train ride, Alden wanted a photo of him by the train tracks with the train in the background.  Only problem was, it was behind the NO TRESPASSING sign!  But Alden said he had asked permission earlier and they gave him the OK to do it.  Still, I was a bit nervous because of the background on the place.....you know, they have like ammo stockpiles and real live guns and all.  I felt much better once Alden slipped back under the sign!

We were the first to get to the station and Alden was super excited to be first in line.  He was already scoping out what seat he wanted and what photos he wanted.  As the train rounded the corner pulling into the station, Alden could hardly contain himself!

 

 Next thing I know he is motioning me to jump on the FRONT of the engine!  I was like; "Dude, that's a BIG engine, are you sure it's okay?"  Alden assured me that the engineer gave him permission before he left for his lunch break and so off we went through the gate and climbed up on the front.  I gotta admit, it was pretty sweet to be able to get this close the engine - it was HUGE!  I could hear and feel this old Iron Horse chuffing and clanking as it idled waiting for passengers.  It was super cool and I can see why Alden loves these things so much! 

Next thing I know.....Alden is off again!  Dang this guy moves fast!  This time he had run on ahead of me and was motioning to climb up into the engineer's window.  Oh snap!  He'd better have gotten permission for this!!!  Since it was pretty high up, I didn't look around much as I was keeping my eyes fixed on the ground!  Not Alden though.....unlike his ride on the carousel, he was throwing his hands up in the air and yelling; "All aboard!  All aboard!!"  Go figure.

Next the train whistle sounds and Alden busted a move to get to his seat.  The train chugged out of the station and headed into the woods.  Alden was just sitting back chillin' now and seemed to be in his own little world.  So, I did the same and started looking around for the rumored aliens. 

What I saw next is really, really hard to describe!  It was big and I mean BIG!!  Like HUGE-MONGOUSLY big!  It had lots of big, red, googly eyes and lots of creepy green legs.....and a really BIG nasty mouth!  I was at least twice as big as me and could have sucked me down without even swallowing.....eeeewwwww!   Oh, and it had long antennas too!  Ick!!  I was just praying the ole Iron Horse didn't break down......I don't know what I would have done!  I turned to show Alden but he alien was gone in a flash.  Alden's reaction to me seeing an alien was to give me the stink eye......which clearly told me he didn't believe me.  He said I was just makin' it all up cause of what we had heard earlier.  But I know what I saw and I was not gonna ride that train again.....no freakin' way!

Thankfully, it was too long before the we pulled back into the station.....and I was super glad to be out of those woods!  When we came to a stop, Alden wanted to go to the back where the caboose was.  I took a few deep breaths and tried to forget what I had seen.  I caught up with Alden and we climbed into the caboose.  That was fun and we both hung out the windows and waved at all the other peeps gettin' off the train.  They looked at us like we were two poor boys from the local nut house but what do we care.....we're never gonna see them again, right?  Plus, it was fun.....we laughed and laughed at their funny looks!  Just another crazy day in the life of Trey & Alden.  We tend to get those kinds of looks when we're hangin' out together, lol.

Last stop.....the observation platform!  This was fun but now it was my turn.  I told Alden it was time for us to go and check out the cannon.  They weren't gonna actually fire it until later on the evening but I wanted to get up close to it before they packed with gun powder. 

Oh boy, the cannon was super cool and it was really big too!  I wasn't sure what to expect but I was really stoked to find out that it was in fact, a real cannon and not just a fake one.  It took a lot of effort but finally we climbed to the top passing the fuse on the way.  The wheels were super big too - I guess that means the cannon itself was waaaay heavy!  Alden dared me to stick my head over the end and look down the barrel......um, hello?  I like to have fun but I am not that stupid!

All in all, we had a great time and I still cannot believe that I ran into Alden in this little place out in the middle of nowhere.  But, I sure am glad that I did.....we had a super fun "guys" day out!  Just like we always do.  Sad, but I doubt we'll ever return to this little place.  But hey, if you are in the neighbor hood of Bear Grass, NC, you need to make a pit stop and check this place out.  Just watch out for aliens if you decide to ride the train!

I hope you peeps have enjoyed reading about our day as much as we did!  ~Trey ✌

18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Trey's shorts & Tee by  Minipparel ~ Etsy®

Trey's navy tennis shoes from seller; simplethings4now on eBay®

Alden's Bermuda shorts & Tee by Minipparel ~ Etsy®