More Adventures with Nora

A few more pictures 

 

We started Sunday morning off by going to church.

Then Jess and I played a little Sunday afternoon football.

And climbed the Dogwood tree in the front yard.

We had a birthday party with all those cool Totally Tropical doll sized party wear and treats. It wasn't really anybody's birthday, but we had fun.

Oh, and here's a picture of me at a falls in Dollywood that I forgot to post last time!

Traveling Toast

Toast is the sweetest little American Girl Coconut dog. He's come to spend a little time with us during his travels.  

 Traveling Toast arrives at his first host's home in Tennessee    

Toast meets the other AG pets that currently live there.  

After Toast got settled in his new home, he went out golfing with his new family.

 

"This ball is huge!" he says.  

After a LONG walk on the beautifully landscaped golf course, Toast is ready for a rest.    

Later in the week we take a trip to Dollywood.  

Toast tries to get on the Thunderhead (roller-coaster) but the ride officials say he's too small.    

"Finally! Something that I can do!"    

Toast gets to meet the real dog that lives with his host's family.    

Toast and Traveling Earhart have to wait outside on the trip to the library. No dogs allowed!  

While we were downtown, we went to the Sunsphere. Toast has a great view of Knoxville from up here (even though it's raining)  

 The next day we stayed home and Toast got to climb trees at his host's home.

 

Toast curling up to rest with one of the real pets.  

Toast's last day with his Tennessee host it's raining outside, so I can't get off the porch and go play!    

Oh well, I'll just stay inside and play with my new friends.Goodbye sweet little puppy!  We're going to miss you!

Nora goes to Dollywood!

Dollywood (September 9, 2007)

Dollywood theme park is a one-of-a-kind Smoky Mountain Family Adventure! Spanning 125 acres and nestled in the lush foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near Gatlinburg, Dollywood is one of the most popular family vacation destinations. Read more about that at their web site Dollywood.com

I just had to stop at this road sign on our way to Dollywood on Saturday. I was confused as to which direction the road we are traveling on was heading.  Can you tell?

We are finally here. Well, actually it's only about a 40 minute drive, but when you're my size, it seems like it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get anywhere.

I tried this ride (The Timber Tower) but the worker said that I was a bit small and would probably fall out into the water when the tower tilted. Oh, well. I look pretty cute trying out the seat. 

 Now, some of these rides are just too frightening. This is the Mystery Mine. My host family rides everything. They're pretty much fearless. I just watched.

I tried the seats at the Thunderhead (a wooden roller-coaster) too. Again, I didn't pass the height requirement.

So I'll just settle for watching the craftsmen at work.This is Mr. Cal. He's working with leather.

I watched, with fascination, the glass blower making a vase out of really, really REALLY hot sand! How that works, I can never understand.

I got to try to pick out a duck for a prize in the games area. I didn't win anything, but it was fun to play.

Ah, the Carousel!! Now this was something that I wasn't too small to get on. I did have trouble hanging on to this slick pole when the ride started and the horse began moving up and down.

They have a real steam locomotive at Dollywood that you can take for a 5 mile ride. We didn't go on it because my host was afraid I would get too sooty. She said she usually gets soot in her eyes and on her clothes when she rides. I didn't want to get Nicki's pretty tie-top outfit dirty, so I just posed with the engine.

There are many beautiful trees and flowers in Dollywood. It's very shaded and we had lots of fun there. It certainly was a long, hot day, but I enjoyed it.

I was so exhausted when we left, though, that I fell asleep in the car on the way home. What a day!

Nora's Fun Friday

Fun Friday (September 8, 2007)

Whew, it's hot here, so Jess let me wear her meet dress today. All I brought was long pants and jackets. Lindsey let me borrow her laptop so I could do my blogging in the morning.

At lunch time, I got to join with the family at the big table. Kaya was kind enough to share her foods with me. All the girls here are very generous.

Later in the day, one of the boys took me out on a real go-kart! That was sooooo exciting! I'm wearing Lindsey's helmet here, to protect my head in case we wrecked. I have a neat bungee cord as a seat belt so I won't go flying off the kart. This certainly was a thrilling ride for me!

He also took me a ride on the front of the motor scooter. That was a bit scary and my dress kept blowing up, but it was fun. Next time I'll put on my pants first!

After riding the kart and scooter for a while, I took a relaxing walk near the pond. Here I am among the beautiful cat tails. I ask my host if this is really where they grow cats, but she said they're just called that. The real cats are inside the house.

Here is Earhart taking a rest with one of the inside cats. Her name is Molly. Which can be confusing sometimes for the 'real' Molly.

As is typical in this family, Friday night is family movie night. I got my own flip-chair and my own bowl of popcorn. We watched some movie called "Kart Racer." It was about racing go-karts, of course! It was pretty good. I had a fun Friday in Tennessee.

Nora's first day here

We have a traveling doll at our house! A traveling doll is when someone takes one of their American Girl dolls and sends her to different hosts for a couple weeks at a time. The point being to learn about different states and countries. Traveling Nora (GT#23), along with her pet dog, Earhart, is originally from Wisconsin, but she came via her first host in Florida yesterday. She will spend two weeks with us before I send her on to her next host. Fun!

"It's been a long, hot week, Earhart," said Nora, "But I think we're almost to our new host's home in Tennessee." Nora and Earhart continued their journey down the lane.    

"Yep, this certainly looks like where we're supposed to be. Let's go up to the door and see if anyone's home," declared Nora.    

 Nora gets to meet all the other sisters who already live at her new host's home. "Boy, there certainly are a lot of other girls who already live here," Nora exclaimed. "Are you all traveling too?" "No," said Jess. "We all live here."    

Earhart is introduced to the other AG pets that live at his new host's home. Rascal (Marisol's kitty), Posie (Felicity's lamb), Tatlo (Kaya's dog), Sandy (Kailey's dog), Original Coconut, Coconut, Licorice, another original Coconut and another Licorice! That's not counting the two real cats and one real dog that are here!  

The other girls clear out a closet for Nora to be able to unpack and hang up her things. "Wow, I'm going to have a lot of fun at this house, I can tell," Nora exclaimed. "I'm glad I got to come to Tennessee."


After getting all unpacked Nora and Earhart decide to go on a golf outing.    

 Earhart has his own set of clubs and he and Nora head for the links.  

 "Wow, my club is a bit big for me, but I'll try this anyway." Nora declared.  

"This place is HUGE," Nora said. "Do we really have to walk it all?"    

"The flag is pretty big too, but I think I can manage to get it out of the hole," Nora added helpfully.

"The hardest part of golfing is trying to convince Earhart that he shouldn't be chasing the balls!    

"Wait, I see a beautiful pebble in here.....if I could just reach down a little further."  

 After her long day of traveling, moving in and golfing, Nora is greatly relieved to be able to get in her jammies and into a comfortable bed. "Goodnight!" she says.