My Birthday!

Hello everybody! Today was my real birthday, so I got to open my presents from Skye. She told me I should wait until my real birthday to open them, and not on my party. I'm glad I waited!

                     I decided to open the purple one first, since purple is one of my favorite colors.

Tearing off the paper revealed a velvety black box, like the kind that jewelry comes in.

I tore the paper off the rest of the way.

I opened the box and let out a squeal.

It was a Hello Kitty necklace!!!

I'm not sure how Skye knew that I liked Hello Kitty, considering it's a fairly recent thing of mine. I guess I've just been talking about it a lot! :)

I grabbed a long, flat present next. Normally, that means that it's a book, but this one didn't feel like a book.

I tore at the paper and saw...

More Hello Kitty stuff!!!

They were Hello Kitty hair clips!

Here's a close up:

I picked a soft lump next, which could be two things: clothes, or a stuffed toy.

I ripped off the paper...

...AND HOLY GUACAMOLE IT WAS A HELLO KITTY PLUSHIE!!!!!

Here's a close up:

I tore the rest of the paper off so I could see all of her.

She's wearing ballet clothes!

Here we are together:

I reached for the last present; a flat squishy one. Clothing, I guessed.

I tore the paper off...

...and sure enough, it was clothes! This is a halter top.

These are a pair of pants.

Close up of the pants:

Here I am with all my loot!

And of course, Skye told me to try on my new clothes, which I was more than happy to do.

Skye said blue was a good color on me. That's fine by me, since blue is awesomelicious.

I had an awesome birthday. I think the Hello Kitty stuff is what Skye was hiding from me when we went to the mall! Finally, I figured it out. :) I love birthdays, no matter whose they are. My favorite things about birthdays are watching people open their presents, opening my own, and eating cake. What's your favorite thing about birthdays? 

This has been Dani, dabbling in opening presents on her birthday. Over and out!

My Party!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a while--I've been pretty busy all week. Last Saturday, I had my birthday party! Since it was Saoirse and Jess's birthdays too, we made it a birthday party to celebrate all of our birthdays! (Saoirse and Jess have blogs, too! You can visit Saoirse's here! You can visit Jess's here!)

I was sitting in the gathering area of the Time Traveling Base playing with some of my anime action figures, when I heard a noise.

I looked up from my game, and saw Jess! 

"YAY! YOU MADE IT!" I exclaimed as I waved excitedly at her.
"Of course I made it! You invited me, didn't you?" She responded with a smile as she waved back.

Argos, Munich, and Saturn ran over and greeted her excitedly. 

While I was talking to Jess about the doggies, we heard another noise. We looked over to see Saoirse! 

"HI SAOIRSE!" We squealed. 

 "Dia duit gach duine! Let the partying begin!" Saoirse shouted excitedly back.

And of course I invited Saoirse's friends Kaya and Josefina, too! They showed up along with Saoirse.

I don't know Kaya and Josefina very well. They're better friends with Emily, Molly, Nicki, and Laughing Spirit anyway, so they went to socialize with them.

After a little while, we heard a noise again. This time, it was Charlotte and Zoe! (They have a blog too! You can check it out here!)

"YAY YOU'RE HERE FINALLY!" we shouted excitedly.

"YES! WE ARE!" They yelled back, smiling.

We all waved and greeted each other.

After chatting and playing for a while, we decided it was about time we opened presents. Since it was technically my party, I got to go first. 

This is the present Jess gave to me.

It was a soccer goal for me to practice with!!! Thanks Jess!

Next, I opened the present Charlotte and Zoe gave to me.

They got me an MP3 player, binders with soccer pictures on the outside, and a stuffed tiger!!! Thanks Charlotte and Zoe!

Last, I opened the present Saoirse, Kaya, and Josefina gave to me. (Kaya isn't in the pictures because she was off with Emily getting her hair taken care of. It was really messy!)

They made me Pikachu, Pokeball, and tiger beadlings! They also got be a dragon SillyBand! Thanks Saoirse, Josefina, and Kaya!

Next, it was Saoirse's turn to open presents. It was, in fact, her actual birthday; the 21st of July. Mine is the 30th.

First, she opened the present from me.

It was a Red Panda Hat!

Next, she opened the present from Jess.

It was a pink and green belt/headband! Pink and green are her favorite colors!

Next, it was Jess's turn to open presents. Her real birthday is July 23rd.

First, she opened the present from me.

It was a blue monkey hat!

Blue is her favorite color, and her favorite animal is a monkey, so I asked Skye to make a blue monkey hat for her.

Next, Jess opened the presents from Saoirse, Kaya, and Josefina.

She got a blue monkey and banana beadlings, a toucan SillyBand, and a little toy turtle.

Even though it wasn't their birthdays, Skye still made stuff for Charlotte and Zoe so they wouldn't feel left out.

They got knit headbands to match the hats they got for their birthdays!

In the picture, though, Charlotte is wearing her headband like a belt! Trendsetter... ^_^

Charlotte's headband/belt:

Zoe's headband/belt:

After that, we decided to take a group photo. It took a while to get everyone organized and in their places for the picture, considering there were 14 of us! :)

Ok, so this is everyone who was at my party. From the top, left to right:

Lilly, Saoirse, Stephanie, Kaely

Charlotte, Zoe, Jess, Nicki, me (Dani)

Emily, Molly, Kaya, Laughing Spirit, Josefina

When we were done taking pictures, we went inside to play and make stuff with the beads we got. Some of them were very special paper beads, made by women in Uganda. The women who make the beads do it as a job to support their families. Some of the women had jobs before where they crushed rocks by hand, all day in the hot sun, and would make less than a dollar a day. Now, they are able to roll beads at home or with friends, and they are earning 5-7 times more than what they were before. It also gives them more freedom, because they go to the market and decide which paper would make the best beads and they get to be creative. To find out more, you can watch this video.

Once we were done doing that, it was time for cake! We had lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting. 

Here's Saoirse eating her cupcake! (Excuse the quality of the following photos; our kitchen is pretty dark, so the flash had to be on.)

Here's Charlotte eating her cupcake:

And here's Jess eating her cupcake! She got frosting on her face ^_^!

Not very long after that, we went out to the tent to sleep. When we got up in the morning, we had raspberry, blueberry, and chocolate waffles. Then, everyone packed up and left.

I had so much fun at my birthday party. I loved seeing and meeting everyone! My actual birthday still hasn't come yet. That's when Skye will give me my presents from her. *SQUEE* I wonder what they could be...

When's your birthday? What do you normally do to celebrate? This has been Dani, dabbling in birthday parties. Over and out!

Popham Beach!

You can probably guess what I was up to today...I went to Popham beach! It was hot and humid back at the house, so we decided the best way to escape the heat would literally be to escape--to the beach, of course!

I was so excited when we got there. I had brought along everything I would need for a good beach day: my swimsuit, towel, shovel, and sand toys.
     The sand was warm on my feet and the sun was hot on my back, but there was a nice breeze.

I grabbed my shovel and plopped down in the sand.

I got straight to work building a mountain to protect my sea lion from the shark.

The shark is trying to attack the sea lion, but it can't because of the sand mountain. The dolphin won't attack the sea lion, though, because the dolphin is a good guy. The shark isn't hungry for dolphin either, so the dolphin is safe.

I got hot playing in the sand, so I decided I'd go play in the water.

The sea lion and shark chase story continued in the water.

I put my animals away and decided I would go look for cool stuff.

I found a huge piece of seaweed! It was totally nasty.

I got cold being in the water, so I went back to dry off.

I lay my towel out and lay down. 

With the sun shining on my back as I lay there, I felt very relaxed. I almost fell asleep! I had put on sunscreen, and wasn't trying to tan, though--Skye says that if you don't wear sunscreen then you'll look like a leather handbag when you get older. She said your risk for skin cancer also gets higher. I don't want to look like a handbag or get cancer when I'm older, so I'm always pretty careful when it comes to sun exposure.

I had a great time playing and relaxing at the beach today. I'm always really tired when I come back, too. How was your weekend? What did you do? I'd love to know!
This had been Dani, dabbling at the beach. Over and out!

The Mall!

Hi everybody! Yesterday I got to go to the mall. We went to a bunch of different stores, and Skye bought some stuff. However, she was being really secretive about it, and wouldn't let me see what she was getting or know what she got! My birthday is coming soon...hmmm...

While we were walking around, I saw those ride things that you have to put money into to make work. I didn't put any money in, though. I didn't have any with me, and even if I had, I wouldn't have spent it on that. It's more fun to pretend.

                                    First, I decided to try my luck as a race car driver.

I sped down the track. I was way ahead of everybody else! But then I crashed through the fence and landed in a tree. It turns out the racetrack was floating in the sky! A racetrack of the future!

That got a little boring, though, seeing as I don't enjoy watching Nascar or floating future-like things.

Next, I tested my ship captain skills.

"No Tigger, don't bounce off the side!" I yelled as I maneuvered the boat through the shark infested water.

"I can just jump across the water!" Tigger responded as he bounced around.

"Tigger, seriously? Tigers are already endangered. Just stay on the boat!" I screamed back at him as I dodged yet another shark.

"The most wonderful thing about Tiggers
Is Tiggers are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They're bouncy trouncy flouncy pouncy FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is
I'm the only one!" Tigger sang as he got dangerously close to the edge.
"Exactly Tigger! You're the only one! So you can't just bounce right off the side of the-" I said right as he bounced right off the side of the ship.

And apparently, hungry sharks don't care that Tiggers are wonderful things.

The ending of that tale had kind of depressed me, so I decided that I would take my turn driving a bus.

I guess I should look more closely at the outside of what buses say; apparently this one was for little monsters! Not a good group to drive around on your first time driving a bus.

I had an awesome time at the mall yesterday. I can't wait to go again! I wonder if the reason Skye was being so secretive was that she got me something for my birthday. What do you think she got? Do you think it was for me?
This has been Dani, Dabbling in mall adventures. Over and out!

Fireworks!

Holy guacamole! Last night, I watched the best fireworks display I have ever seen in my life! It was L.L. Bean's 100th anniversary, so that was the occasion for such an outstanding show. It was like a finale every moment!
We had to walk a little to get there, because there were so many people. We couldn't park right next to where we were going to watch them. Some of the roads were even blocked off for the festivities! On our walk there, we passed the stage where Chris Isaak was just finishing up a concert. Apparently, he's pretty famous. I'd never heard of him until then, though. Skye said it would be cool for me to go have my picture taken with him for the blog, but there was a huge crowd of people and the fireworks were starting. We hurried to a field near a school, where they were setting them off. We were so close that little pieces of the fireworks were falling on us! It was seriously epic. Here is a picture!

I'll update this post with more pictures and possibly a video once I fix and upload them. Most of the photos are really dark, or the flash made everything look funny.
This has been Dani, dabbling in fireworks on 100th anniversaries. Over and out!

Happy Belated 4th of July/Drive-In Movie!

Happy belated 4th of July, everybody! Sorry I haven't posted in so long--I haven't gotten around to it in a while ^-^. I hope everyone else had nice weather for all their festivities. Here, it was cloudy most of the day, and right when there would have been fireworks, it started thundering and raining. We didn't even get to do sparklers! We did cook hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, though, and that was fun. Even though the fireworks were canceled for the fourth, they are still happening. It's L.L. Bean's 100th anniversary, so the fireworks are going to be HUGE--the biggest in the state, supposedly. I'm so excited; Skye says that we're probably going, if it doesn't rain again :p.
                                                              Happy (belated) 4th of July!

On an unrelated note, I went to my first drive-in movie! It was SO much fun! In case you don't know, a drive-in movie is exactly what it sounds like: you drive in to a large field in front of a HUGE screen (which will show the movies) you park, and then watch the movies from inside or outside of your car. The one we went to played two movies back to back with a small intermission between.

They happen at night (duh) so I decided I would go in my PJ's.

I also brought along my favorite stuffie to watch the movies with me!

I begged Skye to let me wear my slippers there.

"Do I gotta wear my shoes?" My brother asked. 

"Of course." Skye answered. 

He obeyed and put on his favorite light-up sneakers.

"Can I wear my slippers?" I asked, holding up the fluffy blue ones that matched my PJ's. Skye looked over at me, glanced at the slippers, turned back to my brother and said

"No."

I couldn't believe it! I was sure she would have said yes. She normally didn't care. 

"Why not?" I inquired. Contrary to what most may think, I did this in a polite tone of voice, for I am not one for attitude.

"Because," Skye said while helping my brother zip his sweatshirt, "Slippers are for inside. Those don't even have a proper sole," She retorted, looking up from my brother and to said slippers.

"We're just going to be sitting in the car," I tried.

"But what if you need to go out to use the bathroom? You're going to have to get out of the car and walk outside. Oh, and then you'll have to walk around in a public bathroom in slippers. I don't think anyone wants to do that. Just imagine what you might step in." She said with a final tone to her voice.

The more I thought about it, the more I kind of wanted to vomit. I could just imagine stepping in a wet puddle on the tile of the bathroom stall. YUCK. 

"Ew ew ew ew ok I'll just wear some other shoes." I said, setting down my slippers and putting on a pair of sandals. 

"Hah, that's what I thought," Skye said as she opened the door and ushered my brother and I outside. 

There was a long ride to the place, so we passed the time by listening and singing along to the radio. We had decided not to bring the dogs because we would be inside the car for hours, and we would also have snacks with us. So, the dogs stayed at home.

When we got there, we drove by the ticket booth and got our car a ticket. The lady in the booth told us to tune into a station on the radio so that we could hear the movie. We found a nice place to park, where we could see the screen. It was HUGE!

This is what it looked like from inside our car.

At 9:00, the first movie started, which was the new Pixar one Brave. It was really good! I loved the girl's curly red hair! Pixar always has really good movies.

After that, there was an intermission. People got up to stretch and go to the concession stand for more snacks, but we didn't. We brought our own!  

The second movie, which was The Avengers, started around 10:40. That one was really good too! My brother fell asleep during it, but I stayed awake through the whole thing. It was 1:00 in the morning before the movie ended, so it was pretty late. I almost fell asleep on the car ride home, but I managed to stay awake. When we got home, it was nearly 2:00 in the morning! My brother and I went straight to bed. We were really tired!

Have you ever been to a drive in movie? What did you see?

Happy belated 4th of July everyone! How was your day? Did you get to see fireworks?

This has been Dani, dabbling in 4th of July festivities and drive-in movies. Over and out!