{ Cello Practice Interupted }

Hello everyone.  It sure has been a long, busy winter so far.  Christmas seemed to come sooo quickly.  We all had a super time but it was oh-so-busy.  Now that we are into the New Year at school, I got assigned new music for our Spring Orchestra Concert in March.  I was super excited that one of the pieces is "Somewhere Over The Rainbow".  I just love that song.  And, what is really cool is all three grades are going to play it together.  I sure hope the 6th & 7th graders can keep up with us 8th graders!  So, yesterday afternoon I decided to get out my new music and get started.

Just as I was finishing up my third run through, Alden walked in the family room and asked me what I was doing.  "What's it look like, silly?" I shot back.  (I know, I know, it was a bit sassy but I couldn't help myself...it was pretty darned obvious since I was holding a huge cello!) 

He got a big grin and laughed and then sat down beside me on the couch.  "I'm practicing my new music for the Spring concert.....do you recognize the song?"   I held my breath hoping he'd recognize it even though I had only run through it a few times.  "uhhh, well, hummmm.  No, I'm sorry Mia, I don't."

I could tell he felt bad that he didn't so I laughed it off saying it probably sounded more like dying pigs.....to which he busted out laughing and replied, "Yeah, sorta but I wasn't going to say THAT to you!"   We both had a good laugh!

"I know, play it again for me and I'll turn the pages when you tell me to.  I promise not to look at the title and this time I'll listen really hard to see if I recognize it." Alden suggested.

"You're on!" I replied.

 
"Ohhhh, I know it, I know it!  It's from that old movie with the Wizard of Odd!  Ummmm....darn it....oh, oh, oh!  It's Someone Over The Rainbow!!  Right?!?!"  He blurted out.

By this time I was rolling...Wizard of Odd?  Really?  SomeONE Over The Rainbow?  Seriously?

Alden!  You have to be kidding me, right?  Just then his lip quivered and he couldn't fake it any longer.....bwahahaha, he busted out laughing!  "Oh my gosh, you are so funny, Alden!  I thought you were being totally serious dude!"

Alden just winked at me and flashed that smirky little smile that he gets when he's chuffed with himself for fooling someone....he is such a fun guy-friend!  He always brightens my day when he visits the dorm.  All at once he stood up and as he put his scarf on said, "Hey, lets go for a quick walk before it gets dark outside...come on, grab your hat cause it's fairly cold today!"

I was happy for the break from cello practice so I pulled on my beanie and headed out with Alden.  Sarah looked up, "Have fun guys!  Mia, don't be long as we all have to pitch in and get dinner ready and it's a school night so we gotta be on time to bed!"

"No problem Sarah!  We aren't going far!" 

What about you?  Do you have a girl friend or guy friend that always makes your day a better one?  If so, what is it about them that cheers you up?  Are they funny?  Are they a good listener?  I'd love to hear about your friends!  ~Mia ❄

  18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:

Alden's jeans & Mia's hoodie by Minipparel ~ Etsy®

Alden's fleece pullover by Sew Fun Doll Clothes ~ Etsy®

Alden's knit scarf by Little Froggies ~ Etsy®

Mia's linen shirt by Janie Jumps ~ Etsy®

Mia's orange knit beanie by Bella and Hoot ~ Etsy®

 

{ 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®

{ Deadwood } Part I

Sup peeps!!  I am so stoked to share my adventure with you!  As you most likely know by now from the girls, we had to leave the Outer Banks of N.C. and head inland for a few days to avoid those hurricane force winds that Arthur was sharing up and down the coast.  So, we ended up at this really small (and kinda boring) campground out in the middle of nowhere.....seriously, I'm not jokin', it was like in the middle of a soybean field!  BUT, right across the road from the campground was this place called DEADWOOD.  Yep, you read it right.  Now, when I first saw the sign as we pulled in to the campground, I thought to myself; oh yeah, that place sounds happenin' (extreme sarcasm) and wrote it off as B-O-R-I-N-G.  The next morning I got up and figured what the heck; I'd go and check it out.....I mean what's to lose other than a few precious hours watching the soybeans grow, right?

So, it turns out that this place has been around for a while and is known in the area for having western themed dinner shows and a little amusement park.  I liked the idea of being amused so I decided to go on in.  I walked down this long bridge into a kind of courtyard place area and all of a sudden, I heard someone call my name; "Trey!!"  Kinda freaked me out to tell ya the truth.  I looked around thinking there must be another dude named Trey (lucky dude, right?) and then I saw my best buddy, Alden, over by the train ride waving wildly to get my attention!  I was totally stoked!  Now, I wouldn't be bored at all! 

"Dude, whatcha doin' out here in the middle of freakin' nowhere?" I asked.  Alden explained that he too had to stop his vaca at the beach to get out of the way of Arthur.  He and I both could not believe how lucky we were to have both ended up at the very same campground!  He was actually excited to visit DEADWOOD cause he'd heard about this place on TV.  Boy, he had me there. TV? You gotta explain this one to me real slow.....

So, turns out the owner was featured on a show called 'Doomsday Preppers' that was on the NatGeo channel a while back.  The Wild West amusement park is used as a front for the family's end-of-the-world preparations.  Cowabunga dude, I did not see that coming!  Alden, being the sorta guy he is, went into great detail about their guns and a real live cannon that they shoot!  I for sure wanted to see the cannon blast.

Alden really wanted to ride the train but the engineer wasn't around.  Alden had already purchased enough tickets to ride the train twice but said he'd give me one so we could ride together.  Awesome.  But we had to wait for the engineer to return so in the mean time, we decided to explore the place. 

We headed over to the carousel ride and jumped on the horses!  I threw my hands up in the air and yelled; "Yeeeeeehaw!!"  Heck, at that very  moment, I felt like Hop-a-long Cassidy or.....better yet, The Lone Ranger.  Ha ha, then the thought it me - Alden could be Tonto!  What a riot.  At this point, I couldn't help but notice that Alden was holding rather tightly to the bar.....almost like he was scared of falling off.  Some Tonto he'd make!  I am pretty sure the real Tonto rode his horse bareback and he most certainly didn't have a metal bar to hold on to!

After a few times around, Alden seemed comfortable enough to at least throw one hand up.....and when it did, he yelled out really loudly; "High Ho, Mr. Ed!!"  At this, I nearly fell of my horse.  Mr. Ed?  Seriously?  "Dude! The Lone Ranger did NOT ride Mr. Ed!!!".  He didn't reply.  I just put it down to his totally random sense of humor.  He is always saying the craziest, most random things that totally crack me up!

After a dozen times around the carousel, we headed over to the rock-climbing wall....saaa-weet!  Before I could even grab a rock, Alden was scaling the stinkin' wall!  Now, that like totally threw me.  He was afraid to ride the carousel horse but he can climb a rock wall with nothin' but a little rock to old on to?!?!?!  Somethin's wrong with my buddy Alden.

By this time I really wanted to take a break but ohhhh, noooo.  Not happenin' yet.  Alden was up the orange ringed ladder and yelling "Last one to the top has a rotten leg!!"  Now, I have to admit, as soon as I realized what he said, I immediately looked around and prayed that nobody overheard him.  Whew, thank God no one else was even remotely close to us!  "Dude! It's not a rotten leg, it's a rotten egg!!"  To which he replied "Where?"  Oh, for cryin' out loud.....really?  So, I caught up to him and convinced him that I really, really needed to go and chill-ax.  

As we made our way back to the courtyard, we came across this heavy dude with no hand, two broken ankles and a creepy scar across his face.  Not sure why he was holding a flowery lantern?  It didn't match his outfit at all.  Captain Hook was a pirate, not a cowboy, right?  Maybe he was yodeling?  I dunno but he was definitely lackin' in the swag department.  Frankly, he left us speechless but since we were tourists, we thought the least we could do was have a photo op with him.  Not sure what more we can say about this poor guy other than he'd make a good character in one of those creepy doll movies.

Back in the courtyard area we found a super cool water well that had some nice shade...perfect for a chill-axin' moment....or two, or ten or heck, even twenty.  We talked about how it must have been hard livin' back in the olden times when you had to go and "fetch" water for drinkin' and washin' and all kinds of water-needin' chores.  We both agreed we were really glad we weren't actually born waaaay back then. 

After a nice long break, I was starting to feel like explorin' again.  We started looking around to see what else we could get into.  Alden was getting antsy to ride the train.  He absolutely loves riding trains and I just knew that until we did that, he was not gonna stop talking about it.....plus I have to admit, it did sound like a load of fun.  Apparently, the word around town is they had "aliens" back in them woods!  Who knew that aliens had landed and were living in the middle of "Nowhere, NC". 

And, just as I was about to suggest going back over to the train station to see if Mr. Engineer man had returned, both Alden and I heard a loud "All Aboard - Awwwl Aboard!!!!"  Whoa, that was great timing!

Stay tuned for the rest of my story!  There is much more  to share.....it's just that I gotta catch some much needed Z's.....like right now.  ~Trey ✌ 

P.S. If you want to know more about Alden, check him out on the "Meet the Guys" page!

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® 

Alden's shoes are 2003 Grey Sneakers by American Girl®