PixxieHobbits

As they made their all-important destination at Goblin Valley, the YoSD crew hopped out of the car to explore and have some lunch. Descole, Jasmine, Ryder, and Aidan took a seat on the best rock they could find. With pizza slices and coke, they were content even to sit in the hot afternoon sun. Ryder was actually too interested in the scenery to eat much. Descole kept his coke close to his leg. With the wind blowing so hard, he was afraid it might tip over right into Jasmine's pants. And Jasmine can be kind of scary... Balancing precariously on the edge of the rock, Jasmine held her coke in one arm and her pizza in the other hand. How come I always get the stupid spot? she grumbled silently. Of them all, Aidan was totally focused on his pizza. He was afraid if he didn't eat it fast someone else would get it. With lunch behind them, the group decided to explore. They followed the map carefully until they came to the treasure. Unfortunately, Descole...

Before we left on our trip, four of our little ones plotted to join us. Descole and Ryder invited Aidan and Jasmine over to discuss their upcoming trip. "Wait till you see what we found!" Ryder exclaimed when they answered the door. "What is it?" Aidan asked, excited. The Wall brothers led their guests to a large chest brimming with all kinds of strange and interesting things. "It's a treasure chest," Ryder pointed to the loot. "And this book says 'Our Adventure Book' on the cover," he added, lifting the old volume carefully from the dust. Together the four tromped back to the living room to settle on the couch and get a better look at the book. "Who're those guys?" Ryder peered over Descole's shoulder at the pictures within the pages. "I think that's our dad," Descole considered carefully, "and Uncle Rocky. Look, they signed it." "'I ...

With everything else done, it was time to say goodbye to South Dakota and pack away into the travel box. While Xavier lounged about on the couch, Brick tried to help Horace figure out how to get back into the box. "Horace, what have I told you about packing away in the travel box?" Brick questioned his son. "Uncle Rocky goes on the bottom because he's the sturdiest?" Horace guessed. "What?!" Rocky was flabbergasted. "You told him that?" he accused Brick. Brick laughed. "Well, is he wrong? No, Horace, what I meant was to be careful, courteous, and make absolutely sure you don't kick anyone in the face. Okay?" Horace agreed and they all got packed away safely in their sturdy box again for the ride home. ~SilverStar-Burst

After they'd had a little fun, Rocky and Brick decided it was time to get down to detective business and make sure they didn't find any suspicious activity. So they called Marcus and Xavier, their assistants, and got to it. While Xavier paid close attention... ...Marcus just sat around and looked bored. "Just what do you hope to find?" he asked, not entirely convinced there was anything worth looking for in the first place. Suspicious was the last thing this house was. He was sitting on a handmade decorative pillow, for goodness sakes. What could be less suspicious than that? "Never you mind, Marcus," Brick told him gruffly. "Just sit there and keep an eye out, okay?" "Nothing here," Rocky sounded off after a few more minutes of fruitless searching. "And nothing here either," Brick sounded disappointed. "Oh, well, I guess that's that. We'll have to give up the search before the people g...

After Horace and Jasmine took a closer look at the bananas, the rest of the dolls grew bold enough to climb out of their box and take a closer look around. Xavier, who has no memories prior to coming to live with the Walls, was fascinated by the South Dakota farm country. As for Marcus, he quickly became enamored by my Grandpa's collection of tiny tractors and persuaded Xavier to come look them over with him. Meanwhile, Jasmine and Horace looked for ways to get into trouble again. "This basket has so many greeting cards in it," Jasmine mused. "Are they all homemade?" Horace was fascinated with the cross-stitch. "Do you think I could learn how to do this?" he wondered aloud. "Probably not," Jasmine told him bluntly, "you don't have the patience." Left to their own devices, Brick and Rocky found my Grandpa's case of large tractors and tiny wrenches. "Brick, let's pose for a pict...

Before I move on to posting about our most recent vacation, I want to do a few more posts about our vacation earlier this summer. While we were at our grandparents' house, our uncle got some of the biggest bananas I've ever seen. Horace and Jasmine had to inspect them, they were so big! "These bananas are HUGE!" Jasmine exclaimed. "You expect me to eat a whole one of those myself?" Horace demanded incredulously. "Maybe we could use them as a bench," Jasmine suggested, taking a seat on the bananas. "Do you really think you should be sitting on that?" Horace asked skeptically. ~SilverStar-Burst