I woke up in Boise and had a nice tourist moment on the way to breakfast.
My sister opted for hotel breakfast rather than my walk across the parking lot to Cracker Barrel. And since she missed this photo op, she picked another one in Idaho, somewhere in Twin Falls. We still aren’t sure which falls are the Twin Falls, but we stopped at Shoshone Falls.
Our next stop is really nerdy. I wanted to stop at the Golden Spike National Historic Park at Promontory Point, Utah. It’s where the transcontinental railroad was completed.
And weren’t we lucky that the reenactment ceremony started as soon as we arrived, and that we caught the last reenactment of the season?
Um, maybe we weren’t that lucky. The reenactment was pretty boring, much as I imagine it would have been in 1869. I voted not to watch the whole thing, and beat the crowds back into the museum.
Are you wondering why Kira chose this outfit today? It’s the Maplelea Paleontologist Set, and after a yummy lunch (Polynesian plate lunch from Mo’ Bettahs), we found dinosaurs in Ogden, UT!
At Ogden’s George S Eccles Dinosaur Park, there are acres of dinosaur replicas, as well as a natural history museum. Fun and educational.
I took lots and lots of photos of the dinosaurs, but I think I’ll stop here. We spent the night in Salt Lake City. Sister skipped dinner, and I had food attempting to be Belgian (it failed). Comfortable beds at the Sheraton, but our room was impossibly noisy.
Another summer coping with covid = another road trip with my sister! If you want more stuff to read, here are the posts from last summer’s road trip. Just like last year, the journey started with a little plane ride. But while I brought along GOTY 2020 Joss last year, this year I brought GOTY 2021 Kira!
Kira says Ciao! before we leave homeall packed and readyaboard the planeflying past our house……and into Seattle
And those are the only photos I have of Kira on this first day. In fact, I don’t have many pictures from the first day at all. We drove all the way from Seattle to Boise, which would be almost eight hours without stopping. We made a couple stops: first in North Bend, WA for groceries, second in Yakima, WA for lunch at Sonic (and also McDonalds because the bathroom at Sonic was closed), third in Hermiston, OR for gas, and finally in Boise.
In Boise we got dinner (steak from a takeout container!), ate it at a picnic table around the corner from the Capitol building, and strolled down the Freak Alley Gallery. We spent the night at a pretty lame hotel near the freeway.
Hello all! Before I start adding my next dolly adventure, a little side trip to how I spent my summer at home.
I signed up for adult tap classes! I took an adult tap class once about twenty years ago, but quit after the second class. Starting on Memorial Day of this year, I gave it another go. It was a class for all levels, but I was the only beginner that stuck with it.
And it was hard. But I found inspiration in Molly’s stories! In Molly’s movie, she’s a terrible tap dancer, but her spirit and effort win her the part of Miss Victory. If Molly can be Miss Victory, then I can learn this routine in time for the recital in August.
I also took inspiration from the book Changes for Molly. Unlike the movie, in the book Molly is one of the best tap dancers in her class. But, she fears that she is not pretty enough to get the solo, so she almost gives herself a home perm. Her older sister stops her from perm-tastrophe and helps her figure out that the best way to make Molly’s naturally straight hair curly is to sleep with rag curls in her wet hair. So that’s what I did to make my straight hair bouncy for my tap routine!
Instead of rags, I used socks. I put them on wet hair before I went to bed on Saturday, and kept them in all day until my recital Sunday evening. When I took the socks out, I was worried because my hair was still damp, but it stayed curly all night! I took another selfie when I got home.
I made a lot of mistakes, but I kept my spirit up, like Miss Victory. It probably helped that our song was Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, which is also from the 40s, and is on the soundtrack for Molly’s movie.
Don’t you love our costumes? Here’s their story:
Struggling with being the worst dancer in the class, I wore my sailor dress to class one day early on. I bought it at the WWII museum when I went to New Orleans with Cecile. I was hoping dressing the part would make me better at tap dancing. And honestly it helped a little, but I am still definitely a beginning tap dancer. Well, a couple weeks later, as we’re discussing costumes, the group decides to take inspiration from my sailor dress! (By the way, if you’ve been following my blog through the years, you’ll remember I wore this dress that time I did a pageant, and at dinner one night on a Disney Cruise)
I found inspiration from Molly’s stories, and I hope my story can help you find inspiration to try something new, or learn something you’ve always wanted to learn.
I’m very excited to introduce my new dolly. She’s my first Create Your Own American Girl.
I designed her to look like me, but I’m not sure I’m gonna give her my name. So for now, she doesn’t have a name.
I picked Face D because I liked the wider nose, and I wanted her to stand out amongst my other blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls. I was also very curious about the “textured” hair option for Create Your Own dolls. And so far I love her hair. I’m curious about how it will hold up over time, because I really don’t know. No other American Girl dolls have hair like this. It’s a little bit like Melody’s, but not exactly.
I’ve introduced her to a few new friends.
Her face is different from McKenna’s and Courtney’s, and they have three different hair colors and textures, but all very similar. Right now you have two choices for eye color when you Create Your Own doll. I chose the light blue, and it ended up a bit darker than McKenna’s (though it’s possible McKenna’s eyes have gotten lighter in the past 9 years).
I also wanted to introduce her to Gabriela, who American Girl claims has the same face shape.
I resisted the Create Your Own dolls for a while; it was a risk ordering a doll before I knew what she would look like. Oh, I should show you what she looked like in the computer when I ordered her!
I got the glasses because they’re included in the price, but I’m not planning on my look alike doll wearing them. I might try them on other girls, but I’m not sure.
I’m pleased with how my doll turned out, and she feels really special. To keep her special, I’m not planning any other Create Your Own dolls. But who knows how my dolly addiction will go…
PS: Here are some of my new dolly’s vital statistics:
Face shape D
Skin tone 10
Eye color: light blue
Hair Color: Blond (not light blond)
Haircut: Long texture
Hairstyle: Double braids
freckles, earrings, glasses, Let’s Party outfit, Let’s Create accessories
Last year we saw Truly Me dolls 86, 87, and 88 with rainbow colored hair. #88 was my favorite, so I added her to my dolly family. Then at Christmastime, American Girl introduced the limited edition Sugar Plum Fairy doll, an embellished version of #87. She was impossible for me to resist. And now we have 3 new dolls with colored hair: the Street Chic collection, Truly Me dolls 89, 90 and 91. I think they’re all really cute, and I had trouble deciding which was my favorite, so I bought them all! I picked up #87 too, so she wouldn’t feel left out either.
So here are #91, 89, 90, and 87 in the outfits they came in. I left them standing on this shelf for about a week so I could just stare at how pretty they are!
Today I changed their clothes and had them join their friends. I would like to introduce Amethyst, Calypso, Unicorn, Bingo, Bluey, and Chili.
The four dolls I got this year are named after characters on the preschool show Bluey, inspired by Bluey’s blue hair. They’re wearing outfits from the World Traveler Collection, and Amethyst is wearing one of Kira’s outfits. The Australia t-shirt goes with the shirts from Ireland and Japan. These six girls soon joined some other dolls dressed for adventure!
Kaya’s a pilot, Grace, Z, and Kailey are loving some Paris, Mia is craving some Canada, and Addy is a flight attendant!
As much as I’m loving these travel-themed outfits, I am deeply craving some actual travel. Hopefully soon.
Girl of the Year 2021 is here! Her name is Kira Bailey, and I just finished reading her first book, Kira Down Under. I’m excited to introduce this doll and book to you!
As you may guess from the title, American Girl Kira takes a trip to Australia. She is going to spend some time with her Aunt Mamie, her deceased father’s mother’s sister. Mamie is a veterinarian, and she and her wife (Kira calls her Auntie Lynette) run the Bailey Wildlife Sanctuary. At the sanctuary, they are taking care of all sorts of cool Australian animals. Of these, you can buy your dolls koalas, kangaroos, and wombats. Here are some of my girls wearing Kira’s outfits, and playing with the Animal Exam Table.
And that’s Kira Down Under! I’d like to say I’m kidding, but this book spends most of its 123 pages describing life at the sanctuary. I found the plot climax extremely predictable (but since this book is so new, I’m going to leave out the spoilers). Kira’s relationship with Alexis was pretty interesting. Alexis was so eager for a girl her age to come live at the sanctuary, that she and Kira bonded really quickly. That makes the friendship pretty fragile, but Kira and Alexis both seem like really caring girls, so I think it’ll stay strong for a while. I think we’ll see more of Alexis in Kira’s second book.
I have a few more things to say about the book. There are some lovely full-page illustrations, but they’re a bit too cartoonish for my taste. At the end of the book, there’s a few pages about a real girl who works with koalas, and a few more pages about the author’s research in Australia. Both of these sections are my favorite part of the book.
Caroline’s Secret Message is the second book in Caroline’s original series. It was first published in 2012, and in 2014 it became part of the anthology Captain of the Ship: a Caroline Classic Volume 1. It is written by Kathleen Ernst and illustrated by Robert and Lisa Papp.
At the beginning of the book, we are reminded that America is at war with Britain, Papa has been kidnapped, and Mama is running his shipyard business. Caroline and Grandmother are working hard on household chores. While Caroline is working in the garden, Caroline sees her cousin Oliver! He was kidnapped too, and Caroline was sure that Papa would be with him. But he’s not. Bummer. Oliver reports that the British dropped him off somewhere on US soil, but since they heard Papa was a master shipbuilder he was not released. The British have more prisoners than they can handle across the lake in Kingston, so they’re planning to move some east to Halifax.
Halifax! That’s way too far away from Sackets Harbor, so Mama decides to go to Kingston. She needs to see Papa, and maybe she can convince the British officers to release him. Good luck with that Mama. Mama feels prepared for the journey; she’s an experienced sailor. She promises, “I’ll watch the weather and stay close to the shore. I can always stop to rest or take shelter at the Baxter place.” Seth the mailman replies with a sharp “No!” Apparently the Baxters are loyal to the British, and the journey will be more dangerous than Mama thought. Mama is nervous to travel alone. Cousin Oliver volunteers to help, but the family does not want him to delay enlisting for the navy.
Poor Cousin Oliver.
Other companions for Mama’s journey are suggested, and I’m sure you’re all shocked to learn that Caroline is elected. So she packs up her handbasket, to make sure Papa doesn’t get sent to Halifax.
As the girls are packing, there’s a knock at the door. It’s the Hathaways! Strangers at this point, Mrs. Hathaway and her two daughters (Rhonda age 12 and Amelia age 5) need a place to stay while Mr. Hathaway serves in the army. The Hathaways follow Mr. Hathaway anywhere the army takes him; sometimes they have to sleep in a tent. But how fortunate that they arrive just before Mama and Caroline are leaving! They can help Grandmother with chores!
The girls are to sleep in Caroline’s room, and there’s some tension between Rhonda and Caroline. But they bond a little over sewing. Rhonda tells Caroline she can make lace, and Caroline shows Rhonda her current embroidery project.
My latest embroidery project
Caroline is embroidering a map of Lake Ontario. She’s gonna have it made into a fire screen and give it to Papa.
The next morning, Caroline and Mama are off to Upper Canada. “‘May I take my embroidery?’ Caroline asked. ‘When I’m worried, it helps me to stitch.'” As they’re setting sail, we learn that Caroline’s birthday is coming. Most of the other American Girls have birthdays in the spring, but this book is set in the fall. On the boat, Caroline has some selfish moments when she tells Mama she’s not getting along with Rhonda, but she dismisses these thoughts to focus on rescuing her father.
Ready to set sail
After a long day’s journey across the lake, they dock at Caroline’s Aunt and Uncle’s farm. They are thrilled to learn that Cousin Oliver is safe, but are still full of fear. When Aunt and Uncle settled in Canada, the border between the two countries didn’t seem to matter, but now it’s quite dangerous for them because they are living on British soil but loyal to the United States. So Aunt and Uncle are building a boat in secret so they can get back to the United States before they are forced to fight for the British. Mama shares her plan to give Papa a note inside the bible that will help him escape safely. Uncle calls out this terrible idea, because everything they bring to the prison will be searched by the guards. The chapter ends with Caroline working on her embroidery…”‘Oh!’ she said suddenly. ‘I have an idea!'”
Caroline’s plan is to mark on her embroidery the unsafe spots on the map (like the Baxters) and show it to Papa. When Mama and Caroline arrive at the prison, the guards will not let Mama in to see Papa, but Mama manages to negotiate to let Caroline in. Caroline’s basket is searched, but she gets to take it in, and she succeeds in showing her map to Papa, right under the nose of a guard.
The Caroline doll seems a little too happy for this dramatic moment, but look, a fort!
Caroline and Mama return home. The Hathaways are still there, and Caroline is green with envy when she sees Rhonda petting her cat, Inkpot. Caroline is mad at Rhonda, but Mama encourages her to think about how Inkpot feels. He was probably lonely while Caroline was gone. This advice also helps Caroline settle some differences with Rhonda. As she talks to Rhonda, she starts to realize how she feels. While Caroline is jealous of Rhonda’s nice dresses and how her father is not missing, Rhonda is jealous because Caroline doesn’t have to worry about getting her dresses dirty and she and Papa have such a strong relationship.
Inkpot and Addy. Cats are such traitors.
Meanwhile, Aunt and Uncle safely leave Canada and arrive at the Abbotts’ house in time for Caroline’s birthday. Caroline is pretty bummed that Papa hasn’t made it home in time for her birthday, but she gets some nice presents. Rhonda has made lace to put on Caroline’s new dress, and Aunt and Uncle have brought a handcrafted box with Caroline’s name on it. They explain that it was left on their doorstep before they left Canada, so Caroline knows it’s from Papa! Happy Birthday Caroline!
Caroline’s birthday dress
What a great story! Caroline’s special skills, and even her youth, were necessary to solve the problem. Interestingly, the ending wasn’t completely happy. Caroline’s father is still imprisoned. But I can’t help feeling hopeful that Caroline will triumph. I’m excited to read the next book!
I recently read a list ranking all the American Girl historical characters. I didn’t really agree with the list, but I had trouble making my own list because my memory of some of the stories is a bit foggy. So I’m gonna try to reread all the books. But that’s not my something new. Book and movie reviews are some of my favorite things to read online. I like reading someone else’s take on my favorite characters and stories, or getting an intro for something I’m considering reading or watching.
So where do I start? American Girl now has 16 historical collections, and most of them have more than one book (Courtney only has one so far, but that should change soon). I think I have the best chance of keeping this going if I just read whatever and whenever I feel is right. Hopefully later I can sort and index them. Since I love all these stories, I’m worried that sharing my opinions of them will get boring. I have a feeling writing a review that’s informative and interesting will be much harder than reading one. I hope you don’t get too bored.
I decided to start with Caroline’s books, finding inspiration from my recent blog posts about a vacation with my Caroline doll. So now I’d like to get on to My Dolly Addiction’s first book review: Meet Caroline!
Meet Caroline is written by Kathleen Ernst and illustrated by Robert and Lisa Papp. It was first published in 2012. In 2014, Caroline’s first three books, including Meet Caroline, were compiled into Captain of the Ship: a Caroline Classic Volume 1. I want to be clear that I’m reviewing Meet Caroline, because the anthology may contain some minor changes.
At the beginning of Meet Caroline, Nine-year-old Caroline Abbott and her eleven-year-old cousin Lydia are sailing on Lake Ontario with Caroline’s father and Lydia’s older brother Oliver in the year 1812. Caroline and her family (Mom, Dad, and maternal grandmother) live in Sackets Harbor, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario. Lydia, Oliver, and Caroline’s aunt and uncle live across the lake in Upper Canada (near present-day Kingston, Ontario). Caroline loves sailing and dreams of being captain of her own sloop. She feels she can make this dream a reality if she can prove to her father that she’s responsible. Caroline’s father is a shipbuilder with a business in Sackets Harbor, and one day he might build Caroline her own sailboat.
But we are promptly reminded that Caroline is just a child, when she and Lydia are playing with a top while on the boat, and almost cause a serious accident.
A top is part of the accessories for the Caroline doll
Caroline’s Papa is angry, but quickly forgives her. Then something terrible happens. A longboat flying a British flag approaches Caroline’s family’s boat, and a British officer boards the boat and captures Caroline’s father! Everyone aboard is very confused because they had not yet heard that the United States and Britain are at war. Papa and Oliver (and the boat) are taken to Canada as prisoners, Lydia is also taken to Canada (with a promise to be taken home–scary), and Caroline is escorted home by a mean British lieutenant.
Caroline breaks the bad news to one of Papa’s employees, Seth the kid who delivers the mail, and finally her mom and grandma. They try to calm themselves with tea. We learn that Grandmother lost her husband in the Revolutionary War. Seth the Mailman (the “Caroline’s Family and Friends” section calls him a post walker) volunteers to make a dangerous trip to Canada to send a message to Papa and Caroline’s aunt and uncle. Before Seth leaves, he tells the women that the new carpet for Caroline’s bed has arrived at the warehouse. Caroline is worried that the British will make her lose her carpet, as well as her father. I think this is meant to teach us that a carpet was a treasure to nine-year-old girls in 1812.
Chapter 4 establishes some expectations for men and women in 1812. As Mama and Caroline are heading to Papa’s shipyard, they encounter a neighbor Mrs. Shaw, who disapproves of Caroline spending time at the shipyard. In her opinion, Caroline should be in the home cooking and sewing. Mama defends Caroline “There are many girls twice her age who aren’t as skilled at needlework.” This is the book’s second mention that Caroline likes needlework. When they arrive at the shipyard, the workmen assure Mama that they can keep building ships until Papa returns, but they’re not sure about paperwork and accounting. Thanks to Caroline spending so much time at the shipyard, Mama is confident she can keep the business running. Take that, Mrs. Shaw!
An American officer arrives at the shipyard. We learn that Abbott’s Shipyard will be important for the war effort. The navy will need boats. And we learn that the men serving on shore don’t have the right size cannonballs. Caroline and Mama head home and receive more disapproval from Mrs. Shaw. Caroline and her cat Inkpot enjoy her new carpet. We hear again that Caroline likes embroidery. Grandmother and Caroline have a heart to heart.
Remember the cannonballs that are too small? Meet Caroline concludes when Caroline sacrifices her carpet for the soldiers to wrap around the cannonballs, which will make them fit. War sucks. The end.
Meet Caroline is more action-packed than most American Girl books. We spend more time on the action than we spend learning about Caroline’s personality. But so far I like her. She is coping very well with her father being gone, and I think it’s pretty cool that she is the first American Girl to live on the frontlines of war. And with titles like Caroline’s Secret Message and Caroline’s Battle, it’s likely that we’ll see more of what that’s like in the rest of Caroline’s books. In our interactions at the shipyard, with Mrs. Shaw, and in a heart to heart with Grandmother, we learn about gender roles in 1812. At the end of the book, we are treated to a 6-page “Looking Back” section. It gives a quick background for the War of 1812. I vaguely remember learning about it in 8th grade US History, but don’t remember much about it. And I imagine most of the readers of Meet Caroline know even less about this war.
And maybe some of my readers. Here’s what I learned about the War of 1812 from the “Looking Back” section.
When Caroline was a girl, America was young, too. The United States was barely 30 years old and had just 18 states. But the population was growing. Its population had almost doubled since the end of the Revolutionary War. The nation was much bigger, too. Its land now swept from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains.
Although many Americans were pleased about their country’s rapid growth, Britain was not. America had won its independence in the Revolutionary War, but the two countries were not on good terms. Some Americans wanted to expand to the north and take control of Canada, but Britain wanted to protect its claim to the Canadian colonies. Britain also befriended Native Americans, who were angry that U.S. settlers had been taking their land. Many Americans believed that Britain was stirring up trouble on the frontier and encouraging Indians to fight the settlers.
Since the Revolutionary War, the British also had been capturing American sailors at sea and forcing them to serve in the British Navy. Over the years, more than 100,000 men had been kidnapped, leaving their children fatherless and their wives in poverty. More recently, the British had begun to block American ships from landing in other countries to trade, making it much harder for American farmers, merchants, and tradesmen to sell their products and earn a living.
Some Americans were very angry at Britain. They wanted to put Britain in its place. Though many other Americans disagreed with this plan, the United States declared war against Britain on June 18, 1812.
Meet Caroline, pp. 80-81
I hope you enjoyed the review. I’m excited to do another, and I’m hoping to get it done before too long.
“Caroline was born on the shore of Lake Ontario, and she’d been sailing for as long as she could remember.”
As I mentioned in the last post, we had dinner in the city of Canandaigua. Since Canandaigua Lake is one of the Finger Lakes, I had to put a finger in it!
Caroline did not put a finger in the lake, but we did a little sightseeing around the lake before dinner.
pretty cute
I had to leave for home really early the next morning. A few photos from the journey home:
You don’t need this much legroom when you’re 18 inches tallchanging planes at O’Hareand finally on a ferry
And that’s what I remember from a trip I took 3 years ago! I hope you liked reading about it, and I hope you’ll like reading what I have in mind to post tomorrow. Until then!
On Saturday we headed to another community event, the Native American Dance and Music Festival at the Ganondagan State Historic Site. Like the name says, we celebrated Native American music and dance, and other visual arts too.
It was fascinating to learn from Native Americans in this area of the country, because my only other exposure has been out here in Washington. This region of New York is the home of the Haudenosaunee (historically called the Iroquois League), made up of the tribes Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk and Tuscarora. Preparing this post inspired me to think about what these tribes were up to in the early 19th century, like when the Book of Mormon was published or during Caroline’s times in the War of 1812. Here’s a timeline I’ve put together:
1775-1783 Revolutionary War, Great Britain loses its claims to lands east of the Mississippi River. Indigenous people fight on both British and American sides.
1788 The Phelps and Gorham purchase makes this land part of the state of New York (rather than the commonwealth of Massachusetts)
1794 The Treaty of Canandaigua gives official boundaries to tribal land
1812-1815 War of 1812 (the setting for Caroline’s stories), again indigenous people are divided and fighting on both American and British sides
1830 The Indian Removal Act becomes law, nullifying the land boundaries of the Treaty of Canandaigua
1830 Book of Mormon first printed (just to tie you in to the events from my last post)
Speaking of Canandaigua, that’s where we headed for dinner, my last dinner of the trip. I’ll end my report in the next post. For now, I encourage you to take some time to learn something new about the indigenous people in your area.
My name is Marjorie. In most respects I am a grown up, in that I'm old enough to be a grown up and I have a full time job. I'm Marjorie. I'm a grown up. I love my dolls.
I'm back from quite a hiatus, and I'm not sure how long I'll stick around. Thanks for stopping by!
my dolly addiction 
