Packing for Alaska!

With 6 days left, Marsali and I decided to get a head start on packing for our Alaskan cruise. Deciding what to bring was the easiest part. Certainly, we'd need outfits for every occasion imaginable and, oh, wouldn't lounge chairs be nice to bring, too?

By the time we'd finished deciding what to bring, the pile of stuff had really accumulated. "How will we ever pack all of this?" I worried. Marsali, ever the seasoned pro when it comes to cruises, reassured me that we'd find a way. So, we thought for a bit, and finally, I suggested that we needed to come up with a way to organize our belongings.

Marsali agreed and proposed the perfect solution - suitcases! She had suitcases galore, from smallest to largest. So, we set to work, arranging our clothes in the order that we'd be wearing them. We made sure we had everything, including shoes and hair accessories!

By the time we'd finished packing all of the clothes into the suitcases, we were pooped. Taking a little break, we had some soda. I also took the opportunity to thank Marsali, once again, for inviting me along on the cruise. It was such a nice gesture on her part; I know I will remember this trip forever!

After our break, we loaded the smaller suitcases into the big piece of luggage and ended up with a little room to spare ... which turned out to be a good thing. In our haste, we'd forgotten that Novya hadn't brought her things over to us yet. We both felt bad when we saw Novya trotting up, lugging her suitcases.

We laughed it off and turned to help Novya repack her things. With a little rearranging, we were soon able to pack her things with ease. Whew!

Album: Packing for 2011 Alaska Cruise!

~Sophie

The Bike Course

After our horse ride, Taryn and Taryn G. decided to go on a challenging bike course. Marsali and I, faithful friends that we are, cheered on the two cyclists.

The two girls maneuvered around rocks, rode through a roundabout, and rode up a ramp before crossing the finish line as champions. Even Taryn G., while not as experienced a bike rider as Taryn, made it through without stopping, and we were so proud of her.

We shot our fists into the air while screaming, "Hip-hip-hooray!" It was a perfect ending to a day full of fun.

See the album HERE.

~Sophie

Horseback riding with the girls!

Soon after I'd arrived, Marsali and a few of her friends decided to take me up into the mountains on a horseback ride. I've only gone horseback riding once before, so I was quite nervous! When Marsali told me that we weren't going to be using bridles, I was even more nervous. How would I EVER remember all of the leg movements?!

Marsali led me over to Gyspy, the horse I'd be riding. After checking the cinches, I mounted Gyspy and tried to relax. Marsali soothed me by telling me stories about the first time her Mama rode without a bridle.

Once Tinaia and Audrianna had mounted their horses, we were on our way, heading in the direction of the campsite that Taryn and Angel were setting up for us.

After a while, my nervousness subsided, and I began to talk and laugh with the other girls. Unfortunately, their laughter distracted me, and I found myself giving Gyspy the wrong leg movement! My horse was now on a trail a little lower down the mountain. I was mortified that I'd forgotten a leg movement so quickly and pressured myself to stay more focused. I HAD to get these leg movements down pat! If Marsali and Anya (my horse-loving friend back at school) could do it, so could I.

After a few hours of riding, the girls and I were getting pretty sore. We'd all made it safely to the campsite, and aside from my horse being spooked by Pooka (the girls' canine companion) and my hair being attacked by a ladybug, I'd had a lot of fun. I was glad I'd gotten past my initial nervousness over riding Gyspy. We'd actually become great friends over the course of our ride together. I made sure to give her some love after I'd dismounted.

Soon we were talking and laughing around the campsite. We didn't want to start a fire, so we sat around a pile of pine-cones instead.

Marsali and I chatted about the adventures we'd had in the past year as well as the adventures

awaiting us in Alaska. It was great to be spending time with her again!

You can look at the whole album of our horseback riding adventure by clicking HERE.

Have you ever been horseback riding?

~Sophie

Au Revoir, Oregon et Bonjour, Colorado!

La semaine dernière, j'ai dit "Au Revoir" à Oregon et mes nouveaux amies Marsali, Kelsyee, et Jayd. J'ai été triste, bien sûr, mais j'ai eu à partir pour une nouvelle déstination: Colorado!

Last week, I said "Goodbye" to Oregon and my new friends Marsali, Kelsyee, and Jayd. I was sad, of course, but I had to leave for a new destination: Colorado!

I spent my last day or two in Oregon outside and enjoying pretty blossoming trees like this one:

Then I packed myself up yet again and headed off to meet Mia, Eva, and Kiki from Kiki's Korner. I arrived just as the girls were heading off to meet author Jane Kurtz, but I met Kiki's sister, Luci, and kept her company. Isn't Luci adorable in her nightgown? She reminds me a bit of Inky actually. ;)

Ton amie,

Sophie

Luci, Sophie and the New Dolly

Celtic Music Night!

Last night, Jayd lent me a Scottish dress for a Celtic music night in town. Don't we look smart in plaid?

After we'd eaten, we started dancing around to the likes of the celtic band playing. We laughed and twirled each other and had even more fun when we met up with Angel (who even taught me a bit of Irish step-dancing as well!).

See the album here!

~Sophie

Le Jour de Pâques...quelle surprise!

Quelle surprise! Marsali and I celebrated Le Jour de Pâques [Easter Day] à la française. We had gotten to talking about Easter, and before I knew it, I was telling her about French Easter traditions.

We then decided that it might be fun to celebrate our own French-style Easter right here in America.

First, we trained one of the girls' horses to bring us les oeufs de Pâques [Easter eggs] so that we could take turns hiding and finding them around the house. Quel amusement!

We then posed for pictures in our pretty Easter dresses before settling down to a dinner of gigot d'agneau [lamb].

Finalement, we found the basket left for us by the bunny, and each of us got a few little things. Do you like my new purple polka-dotted high-tops?

Our Easter post on the Bolton girls' blog!

Pâques Traditions

Hope everyone had a fun Easter and/or Passover!

~Sophie

A Mystery to Solve (and meeting Marsali)

Wow, I'm LOVING Oregon! I hadn't even been here a full day yet, and there was already a mystery to solve. If you don't know already, I love a good mystery. There's just something I love about discovering something that's gone wrong and problem-solving until I find the answer. It's even better when you have friends to help you! I don't really have that back at FHSG - unless I can persuade Nathalie to take part - but, here, Jayd and Kelsyee like spying and mysteries as much as I do!

So, anyway, here's the scoop. When we woke up from our deep slumber, we couldn't find Akarya and Mayzee, the girls' two little puppies. Emi checked the yard and confirmed that, yes, the puppies were missing - and that the gate was wide open at that!

Getting dressed quickly, Jayd, Jyzzyee, Emi, and I headed outside (Kelsyee had to stay in because of her cast) to look around the neighborhood, knock on neighbors' doors for information, etc. Not finding anything particularly good, we asked Kelsyee to make signs with pictures of the lost puppies.

As we were putting the signs up, we discovered more newly-put-up signs advertising lost dogs. This was puzzling for sure, especially since Jayd told me that dogs don't go missing often in this community. Then we met up with Kyle, the girls' cousin (How cute is he?!), and he confirmed that his dog went missing this morning, too.

Bewildered, we all went back to the house to discuss possibilities - our one big lead being the green explorer we'd seen passing our house. Could the owner of the green explorer be taking all of the dogs in the neighborhood?

When Kyle and Sarafina came over, we decided to go out looking again - on bikes this time. But we didn't have any luck! No green explorer. No puppies. Dismayed and a little bit discouraged, we headed home, hoping that we'd be more successful on another day.

Of course, the weather has not been on our side! Typical March and April weather, that's for sure. It's been raining so much lately that we haven't been able to go back outside and resume looking for the dogs. Hopefully that day will come soon - and hopefully we'll get those poor puppies back home where they belong.

Meanwhile, Marsali returned from the hospital (looking even more beautiful than ever!), and lately, I've been spending a lot of time with her. We've already become really good friends, and I suspect we'll be even closer by the time my visit ends. ;)

If you haven't yet seen the album of our mystery, you can see it here.

Hopefully I'll have good news about the puppies by the next time I update!

~Sophie

Sleepover fun!

As soon as Kelsyee and I had finished typing up that latest blog entry, we decided to join Emi, Jayd, and Jyzzalyn for a little late night slumber party. The girls lent me some comfy PJs (which were far nicer than the ones Laura made me bring with me!), and we all settled down into sleeping bags, sipping root beer floats - YUM!

I talked more about my travels - going to Florida with Mrs. Jeanette, celebrating Hanukkah with the Valdez quintuplets, getting my ears pierced at AGPLA with Mrs. Sheila - and, when I got tired of talking, Jayd recounted her own traveling adventures.

Soon we were all fast asleep - all except for Jayd, that is. ;) Before going to sleep, she went on the internet and loaded up all of our pictures. What a sweet girl she is!

~Sophie

Finally in Oregon w/ the Bolton girls!

Well, I left California earlier this week bound for Oregon! I'd been chatting with Kelsyee Bolton - and wanting to meet Marsali since FOREVER, hehe - so, of course, I had to ask if I could visit them. ;)

I arrived today after a few days in that stuffy box, which I quickly let myself out of - surprising Kelsyee and Jayd. They'd not expected me to show up until Monday!

Kelsyee and I immediately hit it off! :-) We started chatting about my travels and what fun we'd have with each other. We also wrote a blog entry together which you can view right here. Or, see the Picasa album of my arrival.

I'm loving this picture of us! :-)

I'm sure looking forward to our upcoming adventures together! :-)

~Sophie