Athena's Adventures

Athena had the opportunity to spend some time outside on an unseasonably warm fall day. The early setting sun reminded her that fall is really on its way.

I love days like today, school has started signaling the start of fall, but the sun is still warm enough that I don’t need a sweatshirt or jacket. I know winter will be here soon, so I want to spend time outside and soak up as much warm sun as I can.

After climbing halfway up the hill to get to the swing I was inspired to see how high I could get and how far I could see. I grabbed the rope, ran and jumped on to the swing. I held on tight to the rope and leaned back, with the wind on my face I felt like I was flying!

After swinging as high as I could I decided the best way to get the view that I wanted was to climb a tree. The swing is on a tree, but the branches are all too high for me to reach. I’m not very tall so finding a tree with branches low enough for me to reach and thick enough to hold me can be challenging, but I found a tree leaning so much I could climb it without using any branches.

After enjoying the view I decided that I could make my own backyard gymnastics routine. I dismounted the vault threw my hands in the air to salute the tree shaped judges, I am pretty sure they were impressed.

After the vault I moved to my balance beam routine.

After several leaps, jumps and turns I dismounted.

I sat down to rest until the sun dropped below the trees and the cool breeze chased me inside.

A new girl named Cordelia just moved into my neighborhood. As soon as I saw her out in the yard I introduced myself and invited her to come play with me. She and Lydia both came to my house and we were all playing with our Lalaloopsy dolls when she saw my Josefina doll sitting on my dresser. Cordelia was drawn to Josefina and asked me all sorts of questions about her. Her friends in her old neighborhood played with Lalaloopsy dolls or cloth dolls, but none of them had American Girl dolls. Before she left she said that she was going to ask for an AG doll of her own.

The next time she came over she asked if we could play with Josefina. She told me that her parents said unless she could buy the doll with her own money, she could put an AG doll on her holiday or birthday wish list, but an American Girl doll is too expensive to be a “just because” toy. We talked about how far away December seems, and she told me that her birthday is even further away.

A few days later she invited me over to her house play and asked me to bring Josefina with me. As soon we arrived at her house I could tell that Cordelia was excited. She asked me to sit down and disappeared into her room.

A minute later she reappeared holding an Our Generation doll box. She told me that she counted the money she had saved and was disappointed that she didn’t have enough for an AG doll. Her parents suggested that she look the Our Generation dolls, she was skeptical, but when she saw Sienna in the store she fell I love.

She thought it would be more fun if I was there when she unboxed Sienna. She told me it was hard to wait, but she was glad that Sienna and Josefina could meet right away because meeting a friend makes moving to a new place much easier.

I held Josefina up so she could see.

We made up stories and played with our dolls until my mom came to pick me up.

Josefina and I are both happy to have a new friend to play with.

Lydia’s favorite way of celebrating Earth Day is by spending time outside and enjoying nature.

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Earth Day 2014

Earth Day 2013

Earth Day 2012

I had an awesome winter break.  I visited my grandparents house for Christmas. I was excited that I was able to wear my new dress when we went out for dinner on Christmas eve.

We were in a rush to be on time for our reservations so when we got back my parents wanted take my picture.

After I hung my stocking by the fireplace I looked outside in case Santa was running early and I could catch a glimpse of him. I didn’t see Santa or any reindeer, just a nice blanket of snow to make them feel at home.

I woke up early on Christmas morning, my stocking was full of candy and there were gifts under the tree with my name on them. I got a new outfit, earrings, a Fancy Frost N Glaze Lalaloopsy doll, art supplies and a new outfit for my American Girl doll. I played with my new toys and spent time with my parents for the rest of Christmas day. On boxing day we packed up the car and headed home.

When I got back home I arranged a time for Lydia to come over so we could exchange gifts.

She said I could open mine first.

From the first peek I could see that it was pink!

I love the Hello Kitty lunchbox Lydia gave me! I set it to the side because I was so excited for her to open the gift I found for her.

I was so excited for her to see what was in the box that I told her to rip faster.

Doesn’t she look surprised!

Lydia loved the squirrel stuffed animal I got her.

Here we are with our gifts. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing. I wanted Lydia to stay overnight, but when we asked our parents said “not today.”

A few days later I arrived at Lydia’s ready to spend the night. We played in the snow for a long time working on a giant snow fort. When we both got too cold to stay out any longer we went inside for hot cocoa. Just after dinner we decided to change into our pajamas.

After playing with our dolls I had the idea to style Lydia’s hair. She agreed and said I could do anything that I wanted! I put it up in pigtails and used pink hair ties to match the Piglets on her pajamas.

It turned out so well that we decided we should pose for a picture.

After I finished with Lydia’s hair it was starting to get late, so we pulled the quilt off her bed and snuggled up with our stuffed animals to watch a movie before bed. We planned to stay up all night talking but when the movie was done Lydia’s parents said it was “lights out,” we stayed up talking in the dark for awhile but we were both really tired so we didn’t last long. I don’t remember it but the next morning Lydia said that I fell asleep right in the middle of a story! In the morning my parents picked me up, I was so tired that I took a nap that afternoon.

My winter break was awesome. I saw my grandparents, spent time with my best friend, slept in late almost every day and got fun presents. Even though I had a lot of fun, at the end I was almost ready to go back to school.

Did you have a long winter break? Did you do anything fun?

Today was my favorite type of fall day where the sun is warm and there a cool breeze to remind you that winter is on its way. Lydia and I decided to spend some time enjoying the great outdoors by exploring an area close to where we live.

We started by walking down a path in a natural prairie area. This grass was taller than us, imagine what it must have been like for explorers and settlers to walk for miles in grass like this.

After awhile we came to a clearing where the grass was laying down and we were able to sit and soak up some of the warm afternoon sun. We didn’t stay long because we could see a wooded area that Lydia was anxious to explore.

We had just started walking in the wooded area when Lydia saw something at the edge of the trail, she called me over to look.

She had found mushrooms growing on a fallen log. I wanted to know what type of mushroom they were and if they were poisonous. We didn’t touch them just to be safe, but we looked at them really closely so we could try to identify them when we got home.

A bit further down the trail there was a small path that led into this natural shelter created by fallen trees.

We spent some time in the natural shelter pretending that we were lost in the woods and we were going to make this our new home. I wanted to move sticks to make rooms and a bed with a leaf pile for a mattress but Lydia said that it was best for us to make the rooms with our imagination and leave the area undisturbed.

At the end of the trail we found this log and sat down for a rest before heading home.

Lydia said her favorite part was discovering the mushrooms.

Do you like to spend time in nature?

Lydia and I went trick-or-treating on Halloween.  Last year we coordinated our costumes, we decided that this year we would each do our own thing.

I tried on my costume the night before Halloween to make sure everything was ready.  My parents wanted to take a picture and I gladly agreed, thinking that it would save time on the big night.

I dressed up as a flower.  I also made a costume for my doll Josefina and dressed her up as a lady bug.

It rained all afternoon and into the evening.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to go out to trick-or-treat.  Right after dinner the rain stopped and Lydia came over.

Lydia loves to spend time outside surrounded by nature.  I love to spend time with Lydia and am always up for an adventure, so when she asked me go go exploring, I happily agreed.

We started to walk down a trail, keeping our eyes peeled for poison ivy.  Lydia was pointing out and naming different plants and wildflowers the whole way.

We stopped by this small pool of water to see if we could see anything in it.  Lydia loves all living things, she even wore a shirt with a dragonfly on it!  I like some bugs, and wildlife that is cute and furry but I was thankful it has been too cold for mosquitoes.  There is a large pond on the other side of the plants behind us, but we couldn’t get close enough to look at it.

At the end of the trail was a field full of dandelions.

We laid down in the grass to soak up the warmth of the setting sun.

After awhile we decided we should walk home before it got dark, but promised that we would be back soon to do more exploring.