A Triple Birthday Party!

On Saturday, Zoe and I went over to Dani's house for a triple birthday party - Dani (you can read her blog at http://dabblingdani.blogspot.com/), Saoirse (you can read her blog at http://saoirsesspace-ag.blogspot.com/), and Jess (and you can read her blog at http://hellobelizeimjess.blogspot.com/) all had birthdays around that time. Zoe and I were late (as always, as our friends like to say) because we were coming from our summer house 2 and a half hours away. So when we walked in the front door, everyone was already there.

"Hey everyone!" We cried.

 

"Hey guys!" They all waved and Dani ran out to give us a hug. Of course, I'd never met any of them before, but I had chatted to Dani and all of us had commented on each others blogs, so I wasn't too nervous. Of course, Zoe wasn't nervous about anything. If she had her way, she would have burst in the door and arm-wrestled them all as way of a greeting (she's a bit of a tomboy).

We sat around for a while socializing, until I finally said "Let's open presents already!" So we went out to the living room, where all the presents were. Dani opened Jess's present first.

"Cool!" Dani said. "A soccer goal! Thanks, Jess!" 

 Dani opened Saoirse's present next. Inside was a Pikachu, Pokeball, and tiger beadings!

Finally, Zoe and I got to give Dani our presents.

 We had made her two binders with soccer designs on the outside, an MP3 player with a green cover, and a stuffed tiger! 

Saoirse opened her present next.

Dani had made her an adorable red panda hat!! It was so cute!

Then Jess gave Saoirse her present.

It was a pretty green and pink belt and a card she had made!

Jess opened her presents next. The first one was from Dani.

It was a blue monkey hat! Jess loved it - her favorite color is blue and she LOVES monkeys!

From Saoirse and Josefina, Jess got a little toy turtle, a blue monkey and a banana beadling, and a toucan silly band! 

Zoe and I had only made stuff for Dani, because we didn't know it was a birthday party for Saoirse and Jess too until a few days before the party. Though there isn't a picture of it, we did make a birthday cake for everyone, though!

Then it was our turn. Even though it wasn't Zoe and my official birthday (ours is in April) Dani had made us presents too so we wouldn't feel left out.

We opened them, and inside were two headbands that Dani had knit! They were really cute, and matched the hats she had made us for our birthday a few months ago! Thanks Dani!

Here's Zoe wearing hers, on her head where it's supposed to go.

And here's me wearing mine. Well, that's not how it was supposed to be worn, but it was still comfortable and it matched my dress. :P

After we had opened all the presents, we went outside to take a group picture on the stairs. All of Dani's friends from the Base were there, as well as Saoirse's friends, Josefina and Kaya! Including Jess, me, and Zoe, that was 14 girls! We had to use three steps to fit us all!

So, from top, left to right:

Lilly, Saoirse, Stephanie, Kaely

Me!, Shiloh (he's at my feet), Zoe, Jess, Nicki, Dani

Emily, Molly, Kaya, Laughing Spirit, and Josefina!

After that, we went inside to start beading. Dani had a bunch of beads that were made by woman in Uganda! They were beautiful, and though no two were alike, Jess tried her hardest to find some so she could make some earrings! Zoe made a beaded belt, two bracelets, and a necklace made of orange slice beads (that Dani had made! They were so intricate), and I made a few necklaces and a bracelet too. But when she was told to put them on so Dani's friend Skye could take a picture, she looked disgusted and shoved them at me. "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a necklace," she told me. I rolled my eyes. Sometimes she's too much of a tomboy.

We all changed into our PJs and brought our stuff out to the tent where we were sleeping that night. It looked like it would be pretty crowded, but that was part of the fun. :)

We came back inside for dinner (pizza and sweet potato fries) and dessert (lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting!). They had sunflower seeds on the top, but Zoe and I really don't like sunflower seeds all that much, so we gave them to Saoirse.

 Here's me eating my cupcake. Sorry the lighting's so bad - we were in Dani's kitchen which was pretty dark.

And here's Jess eating her cupcake (she got some frosting on her face!). She made some cool bracelets, you can see them on her arm!

We brought some AG magazines and Kit-Kats out to the tent and stayed up talking until at least midnight. Of course, we were all really tired in the morning, but hey, it's summer!

Zoe and I had so much fun! It was so great to finally meet Saoirse and Jess and Dani and all their friends! Have you ever been to a big sleepover like this one?

 

(PS, none of these pictures are mine. Dani's friend Skye took them all!)

London Olympics!

I'm so excited for the Olympics this year! I didn't get to see the opening ceremony yesterday, but I saw highlights of it and it looks amazing! I think my favorite sports to watch in the summer Olympics are diving, gymnastics, and track and field, but really I love them all. What sports are your favorites?

Here are some random pictures of the opening ceremonies that I found on the Olympic Games Facebook page. Go Team USA!!



Our Adventure!

Since Zoe sprained her ankle, she's just been lying around the house reading books and playing computer games. Meanwhile, I've been lonely and bored to death doing everything by myself. So today, I decided I'd enlist Shiloh to come along with me for an adventure

I packed a backpack with a blanket, a peppermint lollipop, two hot dogs, and a notepad and pencil for drawing pictures of the animals and views I saw.

Shiloh and I hadn't been walking for more than a few minutes when we encountered a big staircase.

"I wonder what's at the bottom!" I cried excitedly. It looked to lead into a thicket of ferns. Shiloh barked and bounded down the steps. I followed, but cautiously.

At the bottom of the stairs, I inspected the fern forest.

"Look how thick it is, Shiloh! Maybe we'd better go around," I said, as I peered through the ferns and saw how dark it became.

But, being a dog with no worries about darkness or spiders, Shiloh simply barked again and crashed through the thicket anyway. With a sigh, I followed him.

I stumbled through the thicket (called thick-et for a reason) for what seemed like ages when I finally spotted some sunlight up ahead.

I brushed aside the last few fern stalks and emerged into a clearing. "Shiloh!" I called.

I spotted him a little ways ahead of me, running around the base of an enormous boulder.

"Whoa," I said softly, as I took in the size of the thing. It was directly in my path, surrounded by more thick forest that stretched around me in a wide circle. We were trapped! The only ways out were through the forest, back through the fern thicket, or over the boulder. I decided to try to climb the rock.

I inspected the boulder carefully, looking for the best place to climb up.

I took a deep breath and hoisted myself up.

"Hooray!" I cried, when I had reached the top.

I started to pull off my backpack, ready for a break and a snack.

Then I heard a faint "Woof!" from down below.

"Oh no!" I yelled. Poor Shiloh! He was still at the bottom!

I heaved a sigh and climbed back down the boulder.

And shoved Shiloh up the boulder by his butt.

I pulled off my backpack for a second time, tossed Shiloh a stick to chew, and took out some food for a snack.

I decided I'd leave the hot dogs and lollipop for lunch, but ate a few berries I had found growing on top of the boulder.

After resting for a while, I grabbed Shiloh and we clambered back down the rock and set off walking again.

After walking for a little while, I spotted a log bridge. 

The end of it disappeared around a corner, which naturally made me want to know what was at the end of it. So Shiloh ran off across the bridge and I followed behind.

The first bridge led to another one just like it, which was followed by a third, and then a fourth. At the end of the last one was a big wooden platform.

I climbed up on top, and was met with a view of...

A lake!

I sat down on the end of the platform and set out my lunch on the blanket (I found the berries and leaves along the path - the leaves taste like mint!)

And I tossed Shiloh another stick to chew on for his lunch.

After lunch, I brought out the notepad and pencil and drew a picture of a squirrel in a nearby tree, and the view of the lake from where I was sitting.

Here are some pictures of the squirrel I spotted. He let me get very close, but seemed awfully angry at me for taking pictures of him - he wouldn't stop chittering at me! He looks pretty evil in these pictures with the glowing eyes, though I think it was just the flash of the camera that made him look like that.

I was pretty hot from our walk, so I decided I'd go for a swim. But I changed my mind pretty quickly once I touched the water with my hand and realized how cold it was!

So I decided to go beachcombing instead.

"Look, Shiloh!" I said, holding out the handful of smooth, pretty rocks I had collected from the beach. "Aren't they pretty?" He whined and looked away.

"You miss Zoe, huh?" I asked. He barked in response. "Yeah, me too." I sighed and rubbed him behind the ears. "Let's go home."

So I packed up, and we climbed back up onto the bridge and headed for home.

 Shiloh and I had a great time on our adventure, but I'm really beginning to miss having Zoe to play with! I hope she's up and about soon!

Have you ever gone on adventure like Shiloh and I did? What happened? I'd love to hear about it!