The next morning, as the humans were all discussing what the plans for the day were, Mama confessed something to me. Apparently, a couple of days before we'd come over, Mama had checked Craigslist in the Eureka area and found someone who was selling two American Girl dolls and some clothes for a really good price. She and Grandmama had arranged to meet the lady sometime today. Mama had to call and set up a specific time, and we'd plan the rest of the day's activities accordingly.
I was pretty annoyed with this news. Here I had thought that I would have Mama all to myself for the whole vacation. I knew how it would be now. I would be the cast off, the old, boring doll. Mama would be all enamored with a new doll and have no time for me. And she was still discussing buying and selling dolls. At least she wasn't going into specific prices, but still...this lady needed to learn some manners.
I haughtily explained that it was very rude to discuss selling and buying dolls, and I didn't really care what she did, as I would now obviously be spending the rest of my vacation sitting on the nightstand, like I was doing now.
Mama said, "You're welcome to sit there for the rest of the week if I wanted to. It's too bad. I'd planned on taking you to the mall, the beach, and some other fun places while you were here."
I wasn't sure if she was teasing me or not, but I was still mad.
"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" I asked grouchily.
"Because I didn't want you acting like this and ruining your whole vacation," Mama replied with a teasing smile. "You're not going to be on the back burner, Maggie. I don't even know if Grandmama and I will buy these dolls. It depends on what kind of shape they're in. But no matter what, you won't be replaced, okay?"
I nodded reluctantly. I still had a bad feeling about the whole situation.
Shortly after our conversation, Mama got ahold of the lady with the dolls and the schedule was set. They could meet her at 1:30, which didn't give us enough time for a beach trip this morning. It was decided that the best place to go would be the mall. We would eat and shop, and then leave Papa there at the playplace with his girls while we went to pick up the newbies.
As soon as we got to the mall, it was time for lunch. We all ate at the food court. Mama was kind enough to share her burger and her daughter's fries with me.
I even got to take a few sips of Mama's ice water. I would much rather have shared a drink with someone who had something more interesting to drink, though...like soda!
After everyone had eaten, we went to this really cool toy store. I was so excited to find a little plastic unicorn just the right size for my collection!
Mama's girls each got to choose a little animal to buy, so Mama said she'd buy me my unicorn, too.
Isn't she cute?
I really loved these bigger unicorns too, but Mama said they were too expensive. Maybe next year I'll get one of those.
By the time we finished up at the toy store, it was time to go meet the lady with the dolls. Mama, Grandmama, Mrs. S and I all left the girls with Papa and headed to Mama's van.
I didn't go inside with them, so I don't know exactly how things went. I do know that Mama came out holding a big paper bag full of stuff. I could see a doll head peeking out from the top, but the doll's eyes were behind the paper, so I wasn't able to make eye contact. I have to admit I was curious, but I refused to lower myself to asking questions.
We went back to the mall, picked up Papa and the girls, and headed back to the house for a break. Mama was really excited to get to work cleaning the new dolls. She informed me that they were in pretty rough shape.
Here's a pic of everything Mama and Grandmama got. I didn't ask how much they paid, because, as you all know, that is extremely distasteful. One thing I noticed as Mama got everything out is that it all smelled pretty strong. And it was not a really pleasant odor, either. Mama said she'd wash the clothes and do a downy dunk on the dolls' hair and it should be fine. I had my doubts. I just hoped Miss Smelly wouldn't be rooming with me and Katie.
Here's a close-up of the dark-haired doll before Mama got her clean. Apparently, she'll be staying at Grandmama's house. Her name is Jess. Yikes! Floss, anyone?
This is the other doll, the one that will be staying at Mama's house with us. Her former owner was big on eyeshadow, apparently. She used to be called Julie, but she informed Mama that it was all a big mistake. Her real name was Rachel.
Here they are after Mama cleaned them up. Jess...
...and Rachel. I must confess, Mama does seem to know what she's doing. They look a whole lot better!
I didn't really talk much with the new girls the day they came back with us. They were really busy getting cleaned up by Mama, and I wasn't feeling all that sociable. I was still nervous that "Rachel" would suddenly become the traveling doll for this vacation.
Imagine my surprise when, later that evening, Mama came and told me that Grandmama and the others were going to watch the girls so that Mama, Papa, Mama's brother and his wife, and C (the son of the family we stayed with) could all go to the beach and watch the sunset. Mama wondered if I'd like to go, too. Would I!! I put my sweater and boots back on and piled into the car with everyone else.
When I heard that the beach we were going to was called "Stinky Beach" by the locals, I was a little worried. C assured us that it wasn't stinky anymore. I guess in the past, there was an animal rendering plant close by. I was relieved to know this was no longer the case. :}
To get to the beach, you had to cross a field and some old train tracks. It was really fun walking on them. Oh, and I'll just warn you now...this will be a really picture-heavy post. Mama went wild with the camera!!!!
Some of the pretty flowers on the way. This is really more of a Tess pose, but I figured I could humor Mama for at least a few pics.
This is the view of the bay we had as we made our way to the beach.
Papa really liked these plants. The little yellowish-green things you see hanging all around me looked just like Rattlesnake tails. I know they probably have an official name, but I'm not a botanist and could really care less. I'm sure Charlie would have gone back and looked them up online or something.
The beautiful beach. I've never been to a beach before, and totally decided I could live there for the rest of my life! :D
Sitting in the sand.
A view of the waves
Arrrggghh!!! Stupid Blogger! This was not supposed to be sideways. >:(
The sun is getting lower!
Papa suggested taking some pics on this really cool old pier thingy. I had a lot of fun climbing all over it and posing for the camera. :)
Almost sunset!
When the sun had reached this point, we decided to head back. We had a long walk and didn't want to be walking in the dark with no flashlight.
A view of the bay as we left.
This day was beyond a doubt my favorite day of the whole trip, even with the unpleasant surprise of an additional 2 dolls showing up. I couldn't wait to get to the beach again!
Stay tuned, readers. Day 3 will be up soon. :)
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