Guest Post by Hayden: A Trip to Mimi's

Hello everyone, Hayden here!  Mama and her girls spent the night at Mimi's house last week, and Mama chose me out of all of the dolls to go too! :D  I was just going to tell my sister Emma about my stay and have her do a post about it, but then Emma thought it would be fun to let me do a special guest post.  Tess thought it was a great idea.  Maggie took a little more convincing (okay, she totally scares me!!), but they finally persuaded her to let me have a go at it.  So here goes nothing! :) 

I was so excited to go with Mama.  This was my first family trip with her, and I had no idea what to expect.  Emma and Charlie assured me that I'd have a great time.  I packed some clothes in the backpack I borrowed from my sisters, grabbed my stuffed horse, Chester, and said goodbye to my sisters.

I spent a lot of time in the car waiting.  First, Mama had to go pick up her older 2 girls from school, and then they had to do a Christmas practice at the church.  But finally, it was time to go to Mimi's house!

When we first got there, I got to meet Jo, one of Mimi's dolls.  She looked really cute in her 50s poodle skirt.  Mimi's whole kitchen has a kind of 50s theme.  Everything is pink and light green, and she has lots of old antique dishes and kitchen items.  It was pretty amazing.

Next, I got to go see my cousin Piper in her new room.  I got to meet a new friend, too.  Piper will always be special to me because she's the very first doll I met at Mama's house.  She was so kind and welcoming when I was feeling shy and new.  Today was no different. 

She greeted me warmly and immediately introduced me to her new friend, Kailani.  She was from Hawaii.

Kailani and I exchanged pleasantries.  She told me that Piper had mentioned my sisters and I often.  I really liked Kailani's voice.  It was low and silky, and made me think of sand and surf and hula dancing.

I'd heard a little bit about Kailani from Emma.  Apparently, Kailani was a special doll that Mama and Grandmama gave to Mimi for her birthday.  Mimi had really wanted a Kanani doll to come live with her.  I can understand why...I knew a lot of Kananis at American Girl.  They were so beautiful, and most of them were really nice.  I guess Mama and Grandmama couldn't get a Kanani, so they gave Kailani a makeover and a new home.  She used to be a Josefina with a bad haircut and loose limbs.  She doesn't remember anything about her old life, though, so I wouldn't suggest bringing it up if you meet her. 

Another fun doll I got to meet was Zaara.  I guess she's named after a character from one of Mama and Mimi's favorite Bollywood movies.  Piper is really into Bollywood, so she's thrilled to be in the same room with Zaara...even though she's not the Zaara from the movie.  I've never seen a Bollywood movie before, so I can't really judge.  Of course, as soon as Emma reads this post, I'm sure she'll make me watch one! ;)

I stayed and visited with Piper, Kailani and Zaara for a while.  When the little girls were done with their dinner, Mama brought us some of the leftovers to enjoy in Piper's room. 

Later, after Mama's girls went to bed, I got changed into my new jammies from Grandmama and wandered out to the living room.  I invited Piper and Kailani to come too, but they decided to stay in their room.  They'd had a really big day, I guess.  I wasn't about to miss out on my very first movie, though!!  Especially since Mimi has a big screen TV!  Emma watched a movie here the last time she came, and she said it was AMAZING!  We ended up watching "13 Going on 30".  Well, I watched almost all of it.  Mama didn't let me watch a few parts that she said were not appropriate.  (By the way, Mama wanted me to mention that she cannot recommend "13 Going on 30" even though it's fun and has a great message, because of a few suggestive scenes and some swearing.  She said it would be a really good movie with one of those "Clear Play" thingees that take out some of the bad stuff.  I'm not really sure what she's talking about, but hopefully you will.)  I enjoyed the parts I did see, and I also enjoyed the Nabisco Sweet and Salty snack mixes that Mimi and Mama shared with me. :D

We stayed up entirely too late!  It was almost midnight by the time our movie ended...I was sooo tired!

Chester and I fell asleep right away and slept long and hard. :)

The next morning, Mimi fixed us some delicious Macadamia nut pancakes (the mix was imported from Hawaii!).  I had homemade pear butter on mine.  It was so delicious!!  I could have eaten 10 of them, but I restrained myself.

YUMM!! :D  It was really nice that Mimi had a fork and a plate just my size!

After breakfast, Mama put me on the windowsill of the dining room window so that I could see Mimi's beautiful yard.  All of the fall colors were so lovely!

I hoped we would get a chance to go play outside!

Thankfully, Mama's girls wanted to go outside too, so I got my wish. :)  Well, sort of.  I didn't really play much, because Mama wanted to take about a bazillion pictures of me.  Hayden standing in the tree.  Hayden sitting in the tree.  Hayden standing next to the shrub...and so on.  It was sorta fun, but I would have liked to just be able to play instead.  Of course, I'm not really supposed to do that in front of Mama's girls, I guess.   They don't know we're alive.  I don't see what the big deal is.  It's not like they would tell anyone, and even if they did, people would just think they were using their imaginations.  I watched them play with Mimi in the yard, and they seemed really sweet!  I think we should let them in on the secret.  What do you think?

Even though I got a little bit tired of the pictures, one thing I love to do is use my imagination.  So, while Mama took picture after picture, I just imagined I was someone else in the middle of a story. 

Like here, I imagined I was climbing Mount Everest...and I made it to the top! :)

And here, I pretended I was a wood sprite in an enchanted wood, resting after a long day of gathering roots and berries (what exactly does a wood sprite do, anyway?).

While Mama was taking this picture, I imagined I was a princess, sitting by a dry riverbed.  There had been a famine in the land for 3 years, and it was up to me to figure out how to undo the dry spell that had fallen over my kingdom.

Towards the end of the photo shoot, Mama did let me climb around a little bit, especially since her girls were in another part of the yard.  I had a lot of fun climbing this old fallen tree trunk.  I pretended I was Maid Marion in Sherwood Forest, searching for Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

There were a lot of other pictures that Mama took, but to add more to this post would be a bit embarrassing.  I think Mama was planning to put a lot of them on her Never Grow Up blog, so you can check there if you want to see the rest. :)

Soon after the photo shoot, it was time to go home.  I got a chance to visit with Piper, Kailani, and Zaara a little bit longer while Mama packed up all of her things, and then we were off for home. 

I really enjoyed my visit, but it was nice to be home again.  Home.  Yes, this really is starting to feel like my home now.  I was hoping it would. 

Well, thanks for listening to my rambling post.  And thank you, Tess and Maggie, for letting me be a part of your blog. :)