Girl's weekend out

Hey everyone! 
So last night, Rose came up with the idea that, starting Saturday, we'd have a 'girl's weekend out'. 
"We'd explore all over the place, and watch movies or something, and ride Maximus, and maybe Merida could teach us how to shoot her bow, if she wants, and Rapunzel could show us the world of blogging...and we'll just get to know each other!  We'd be back Sunday night."  Rose explained. 
"All of us?  You, Rayne, me, Merida, Blondie, and Lacey?"  I asked, quirking my brow. 
"Yeah!  It'll be fun!" 
Merida glanced at me - she knew what I was thinking.  "What about the kiddos?"
"Well..Flynn could watch them," Blondie said.  "I think it's an awesome idea!" 
Flynn walked over.  "What are you girls scheming?  Or do I want to know?"  He joked, and I gave him a playful punch on the arm before I took him by the hand. 
"A girl's weekend out!"  Rose told him excitedly.  "Wait..you could watch the kids, couldn't you?" 
Flynn shrugged.  "How long is the weekend out?" 
"Tomorrow morning, bright and early, until Sunday night." 
I looked up at Flynn.  I wasn't sure I wanted to be away from my girls or my hubby for that long.  I mean, yeah, it's not that long, but still.  "I'll stay here and help with the kids - the rest of you can go!"  I offered. 
Please say yes, please say yes, please say-
"If I'm goin', yer goin', too."  Merida informed me. 
"I can watch the girls, that's no problem," Flynn said.  "They're not that bad - but I probably just jinxed myself, there." 
Everyone chuckled, and then I heaved a sigh.  "Maybe ALL of us could go.  Like literally all of us." 
"Then it wouldn't be a girl's weekend out."  Lacey pointed out. 
"It's not a problem for me to watch the girls.  It'll give me some good father/daughter time with Lexi and Jase."  My hubby said. 

I wasn't going to get out of this...was I. 
"Then it's all set!"  Rose clapped excitedly. "We'll get up at six tomorrow!" 
What was it with Rose and getting up at six?  She ALWAYS did...I don't know how the girl does it, but she does. 
Murmers of 'okay' scattered through our little group, and we parted ways to get ready for bed. 
After the girls were asleep, Flynn and I headed to bed. 

I didn't lay down, though.  I sat and pulled my knees to my chest, biting my lip.  I admit that I was really nervous about our weekend out thing.  What if something happened?  What if Flynn ended up with a migraine, didn't tell anyone, and it got really bad, and he had to keep the girls?  What if...what if...what if. 
"Hey...what's wrong?" Flynn had lain down and shut his eyes, but when he realized I wasn't beside him, he scooted over to me and sat up, putting an arm round my shoulders. 
"Just me being weird and paranoid," I shrugged, not wanting to admit my concerns. 
"Spit it out, dearest girl," he peered down at my face, a concerned look on his. 
"Just...I have my reservations about going with the girls.  I don't really want to stay away from you or the girls for that long.  And what if you end up with a bad migraine?  What if something happens to US?  I mean, seriously.  We're just twelve inch hunks of plastic.  Anything could happen.  And-"
He took my chin in his hand and pulled me into  a gentle kiss.  I put my arms around him and returned it.  When I pulled away, I leaned my head on his shoulder and stared up at him, not taking my arms from him.  He drew in a deep breath before pulling me onto his lap.  For once, I didn't grumble about it. 
"You can't worry about that.  And you can't just be a stick-in-the-mud.  So take risks, take chances...go have fun with life.  And don't worry about me, baby.  Worrying is silly.  If it makes you feel better, I'll be a nervous wreck, too." 
"Then I won't go!"  I exclaimed, pulling my head up from his shoulder and leaning back to look at him.  "If you're nervous, too, I just won't go!  Problem solved!" 
"By that, I meant that you're not weird or paranoid.  I didn't mean to give you an out," he said with a chuckle. 
I sighed and rolled my eyes.  "I suppose they won't let me stay back." 
"Probably not.  Merida's pretty convincing, and Rose is dead-set, to be frank."  Flynn told me.  I nodded, and he pulled me close again.  "It'll be fine.  Now, you need to go to sleep - early start for you, by the sounds of things.  I get to sleep in until the girls get up!" 
I shook my head, giggling to myself.  "You're mean." 
He chuckled and kissed my forehead.  "But it made you giggle, and that's what matters!" 
I gave him one last squeeze, and then laid down to go to sleep. 


Six A.M. came wayyyy too early.  When everyone else started moving around, I woke up as well. 
Flynn was still fast asleep, and I smiled at his peaceful face.  Wishing I could wait until him and the girls were up, so I could tell them bye, I sighed.  I carefully set the handkerchief over him and then crawled out from under the bench. 
"Oh, good!  You're up.  Here, help me carry this, and this, oh-and this, and these rubber bands.  Oh, and-" Rose promptly started handing things at me. 
"I can't carry anything else," I broke her off. 
"There isn't anything else.  I was going to ask if you were ready." 
"Oh, sorry!  Um...yeah, I'm ready," I cast a glance over my girls and then nodded. 
"They'll be fine - I'm sure Flynn will take excellent care of them."  Lacey said. 
"I know," I smiled, and then we left. 

First things first  - where were  we going to sleep?  Rose didn't want to go back to the dresser to sleep, so we had to scout out a safe location to sleep at. 
Merida led the way, and pretty soon, we'd found a pretty good spot to sleep at.  We left all the stuff there, and then we all turned to Rose. 
"What're we going to do first?" 
"Well...hmm.  We could watch movies?" 
"Let's save that for when we're tired," Merida suggested.  "Let's go see the 18 inchers." 
"18...inchers?"  Rose asked, quirking a brow.
"Yeah.  Dolls.  They're pretty cool!"  Merida explained, and I nodded in agreement. 

Merida, Rose, and I led the way, while Blondie, Rayne, and Lacey lagged behind.
We made quick work of climbing up the shelving unit, and then we went from shelf to shelf, talking with everyone. 
As always, Kailey was snooty towards us.
When I tried to include her in a conversation, she didn't even look at me. 
Finally, since Hailey was on the same shelf as Kailey, I walked over and whispered in her ear. 
"What's the deal with Kailey?" 
"Oh..." Hailey glanced towards her, and then whispered in my ear.  "She's shy because she's afraid you won't like her.  She's got hearing disabilities, so you have to speak up a bit around her, or let her read your lips.  And she doesn't like to talk because of it, too." 
I felt horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  "Oh my gosh...I-"
"It's fine.  Just keep that in mind," Hailey told me, and I nodded. 
"Thanks for...for informing me on that," I told her. 
I wanted to hug Kailey, or do something, but I knew it would only upset her, so I didn't. 
Pretty soon, we left that shelf, and moved onto the next, which was right beside the other one. 

We talked with them for a good long while, but finally, Rose got antsy and we left. 
Next, I suggested we ride Maximus, and then blog. 

We rode for quite a while, and Maximus was VERY well behaved. 
Rose fell in absolute, positive love with Max, and Lacey even showed some reserved affection towards him, which he was very pleased to recieve (:
Rayne, knowing of Max's shenanigans, was very concerned about riding him. 
"What if he bucks me off?  I do NOT want to get this dress-"
"He's fine.  I promise...if he would've been planning on acting up, he would have done so already."  I told her.
 "But I've never ridden before!"
"Everyone's gotta start somewhere.  But if you don't want to..." Merida trailed off. 
"Oh, fine..." she grumbled, accepting Merida's help up into the saddle. 
When she got off of him half an hour later, her eyes were shining. 
"I must admit that this is very fun!  Thanks, Maximus, for being a good boy!"  she leaned down to give him a hug around the neck before she reluctantly dismounted. 
Blondie went next, and then we headed off to blog. 

By the time  we were done with that, night was falling and Rose was dead-set on creating a blog with Lacey. 
Lacey had her reservations, as she usually did, but I'm pretty sure that Rose will figure out how to talk her into it one way or another ;)
We got back to our 'camping' spot, and we all brushed out our hair and went to bed.  (Well, except for Rayne and Merida - they're the lucky ones to not have tons of hair to brush  out!) 
I tossed and turned a LOT.  I wasn't used to the unfamiliar surroundings, and for the first time in over 2 months, my hubby wasn't right there beside me.  I wondered how he'd fared with the four girls.  He was probably having a blast with Jase, and Lexi was probably going along with whatever Jase told her to do...and hopefully, the babies were being good. 
Either that, or Flynn was a nervous wreck, Jase and Lexi were fighting over something, and the babies were screaming their heads off. 
I curled up in a ball on my side, sighed, and FINALLY went to sleep. 


The next morning, we got up at nine.  Thank goodness - Rose had been tuckered out enough not to get us all up at six AM!  I was groggy from my un-restful night, and it seemed like everyone else was pretty foggy as well.  Merida stood up too quickly, and stumbled into me.  Laughing, I grabbed her arm and held her upright. 
"I did NOT sleep well," she moaned, rubbing at her eyes. 
"Me neither." 
"I miss my baby girl, too," she added in a whisper. 
"I miss my kids AND Flynn," I agreed.  "But we'll see them tonight!" 
"I can't wait," she said, and then we were off. 

First thing's first - we went to visit Punzie and her friend Addison. 
"Oh, Rapunzel!  How's Jase doing?" Punzie immediately asked me, a bright smile on her face. 
"Hi, Punzie!  Jase is doing great.  How are you?" 
"I've been good," she nodded.  "Who are your friends?  I recognize Merida, but.."
"Rose, Lacey, Rayne, and Blondie," I pointed each of them out.
'Nice to meet yous' murmered throughout our group, and then we  sat down for a good long chat.
It was probably around eleven before we finally got away.  Punzie was quite the talkative one! 
"Now...let the games begin.  Why don't we shoot?"  Merida asked. 
"Oh, great!"  Rose exclaimed. "I can't wait!" 

Merida, being the awesome archery teacher she is, demonstrated for everyone how to do it. 
Blondie sat out on this one, because of her arms, which lacked articulation....and, she added, she wanted to stay out of harm's way.  I can't say I blame her.  :P
Rose was surprisingly really good at shooting.  Lacey and Rayne...not so much.  And you all know me...I'm horrible. 
We got several good laughs over our combined lack of shooting capabilities...and we all marveled at Rose and Merida's obvious talent. 
"I didn't know you were a world-class archer, Rose!  I knew Merida was, but.." I joked. 
"Oh, well thank you, milady!"  Rose giggled, curtsying. 
I laughed, and Lacey slung an arm around her sister's shoulders.  "So, little sis...what'cha say?  Why don't you rub some of your awesome-ness onto me?" 
We all laughed harder, and I grinned, excited to see Lacey was starting to get along better with Rose.  Maybe this girls' weekend out had been just the thing for the two of them.  I really hoped so! 

After that, we showed Lacey and Rose around the room.  After we'd explored every nook and cranny, we sprawled out on the windowsill for awhile, enjoying the sunshine.  
"This view is amazing," Rose exclaimed, peering out the window. 
"Isn't it?  This is probably my favorite place to sit at," I said, and she grinned. 
"I can see why!" 
"The sun is hitting just perfectly on this window right now...it's nice and warm, but not so warm that it will make our  plastic all squishy."  Rayne said, closing her eyes and tipping her head up towards the sunlight. 
We all stuck around for awhile, and then in the afternoon, we got Tangled, Tangled Ever After, and Brave and watched it on Tangled Fan's laptop. 
Rose and Lacey had never seen Tangled; none of us had seen Tangled Ever After, and Brave was new to all of us. 
At the lantern scene in Tangled, I think just about all of us burst forth in song, except for Blondie and Merida xD  Lacey has a very clear and high singing voice, and her and Rose singing together?  They're beautiful!  Rayne's not too shabby either...and then there's me :P  And at the end, I think even Merida had to sniffle back a few tears.  Then came Tangled Ever After...we all laughed sooo hard!  It's only, like, six minutes long, but it's packed full of hilariousness!  :D  At the end, I couldn't help but have a little 'squee' moment, thinking back to my own marriage.  Which made me want to get back to the kiddos and Flynn even more so.. =]  And then we watched Brave. 
It had quite a few funny scenes, but it has a more dark theme than Tangled does.  Mor'du actually scared me the first time they showed him...I jumped all over and almost fell backwards.  And then everyone laughed at me :P  We were all getting pretty sniffly at the end, when Merida's trying to 'mend the bond torn by pride' with her mother...rather, Mum-Bear.  Merida's chin was wobbling, and Rose made me burst out laughing by whispering in my ear. 
"I'm not gonna cry.  I'm not gonna cry.  Are you gonna cry?  I'm not gonna cry."
When I laughed, everyone else turned to give me a 'what-on-earth?' expression. 
"Sorry...Rose started it," I giggled, and Rose gave me a playful shove. 

After the movies, it was growing dark, so we finally went back to our 'campsite' to gather our stuff, and we went back to the dresser. 
It was ten before we got back, and I was the very last one to fumble up onto the dresser in the dark. 
All was quiet, the kiddos were sleeping, and it seems to me that as soon  as everyone had crawled up onto the dresser, they'd promptly gone to bed.  I heard Merida, who was in line in front of me, flop down with a thud and a loud, tired yawn. 
I grinned to myself, but then I saw a silhouette staring at me, watching my every movement.  I gasped, putting a hand over my heart in immediate fear, but then as I peered through the darkness, I saw a certain grin on a certain somebody's face. 
I'd thought he had been asleep!  As soon as I realized it was my hubby, my heart fluttered and I hurried over towards him before launching myself into his waiting arms.  He chuckled to himself and lifted me off the ground, swung me in a quick circle, and then left my feet go back onto the floor.  I looked up at his face, a broad smile across my face as I was finally able to somewhat see one of the faces I'd missed so much this weekend...sappy, I know.  :D He gave me the same kind of smile, and I buried my face into his shoulder, tightening my arms around him; and then he nuzzled my hair for a  few seconds before he left go of me.  I reluctantly did the same, but then his hand slid down my arm to find my hand, and he grasped it tightly before leading me over to bed. 
I flopped down to face him, and he did the same, and I smiled. 
Brushing my hair from my face with a gentle hand before he set it on my waist, he whispered, "So, how was your weekend?" 
"Interesting.  Tiring"-I said as I stifled a yawn-"and funny.  We got archery lessons from Merida, rode, talked with the 18 inchers and Punzie...watched Tangled, Tangled Ever After, and Brave - you HAVE to watch Tangled Ever After with me.  It's so adorable and funny!  You should've heard Rayne, Rose, and Lacey sing during I See the Light.  Oh my goodness, their voices are gorgeous...and then there's me, warbling along and ruining everything, but singing it because I love it so much!  And we showed Lacey and Rose around the room.  Oh, and I introduced everyone to the Blogiverse." 
He chuckled.  "Well...I bet the archery lessons were really funny.  You'll have to tell me about them tomorrow!  It seems like you had a good time..I'm glad.  And I'd be pleased to watch it with you, anytime you want to, just let me know!  But wait.  You introduced ROSE to the Blogiverse?" 
"She says she's always wanted one," I said. 
"Those poor people if she begins a blog.  Her posts would be so long that the readers' eyes would fall out before they even got halfway through!" 
I stifled a giggle.  "Yeah...probably." 
He thought for a moment, and then spoke again.  "And what's this about you 'warbling along and ruining everything'?  Your voice is fine." 
"Oh, but you've never heard Rose sing.  She's positively stunning!  And her sister isn't bad, either.  They sound just as good as Mandy Moore!  I'm sorry you ended up with the single Rapunzel doll ever manufactured, who cannot sing her own songs to save her life...the girl who can't sing, yet likes to, to some extent." 
Pulling me close, he whispered in my ear, "But I wouldn't trade her for the world.  You're just fine.  In fact...I think you're perfect.  And  I love you...and I missed you this weekend!" 
I teared up at that.  Maybe it was because I was so tired, I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.  Or maybe it was because I'm a complete and utter, sappy freak.  But regardless.  I buried my face into his chest and he held me until I got my teary eyes under control and then I pulled away from him.  He found my hand and held it loosely, and my heart squeezed. 
"I missed you, too.  Love you bunches," I gave him a smile and then quickly pulled my hand away to cover my mouth, yawning. 
He grinned, and then stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.  "Why don't we go for a walk tomorrow, and we can catch up then, okay?  Much as I'd like to stay up and talk, you're tired and you need to shut those gorgeous eyes of yours before too much longer." 
"Sounds like a great plan," I trailed off, and I heard him start to say something, but I was out before he was done. 

Tangled and Duck Dynasty.... :D

The next morning, I woke up around four in the morning.  I tried to just go back to sleep, but I couldn't...and by the sounds of things, Flynn was up too. 
My face mashed into the top of the dresser, I sighed and drearily lifted my head up to look at Flynn through the dimness. 
"Did I wake you up, hon?"  he asked immediately, situating himself on his side. 
"I guess not...why are you up anyway?" 
"I got one of Tangled Fan's shirts out of the dresser drawer to use as a blanket.  I was even starting to get chilly, so I figured you definitely would be cold.  She forgot to shut the window last night.  Oh, and I checked up on the girls.  They're still warm.  And I was kind of marveling at the fact that you were sleeping in the position you were, faceplanted into the dresser, without being uncomfortable." he whispered. 
I suddenly became aware of the fact that there was, indeed, a shirt spread over me.  I nodded and laughed through my nose. "I dunno..I was pretty comfy..until I woke up and realized I couldn't breathe."  I joked. 
He gave me a grin and then kissed my forehead, pulling me close to him.  I wiggled down into the makeshift blanket and enjoyed the warmth from both the shirt and his gentle arm around me. 


When I woke up again around eight thirty....(not even the vibrating phone woke me!) I smiled to myself and turned to look at Flynn.  Only...he wasn't there. 
Wait a minute.  Where was he? 
I jumped up, narrowly missing the bench before I remembered to duck, and then I scrambled out from under it. 
Rayne was the only one up. 
"Do you know where Flynn is?"  I asked her, wide-eyed. 
She shrugged.  "I thought he was with you?" 
"He..." Panic gripped my heart, knotted my stomach, and I trailed off, covering my mouth with my hand.  "What do you think happened to...do you think Tangled Fan..."
I cast a quick, careless glance around the room, but couldn't see him. 
"The girls are still asleep, so I'm going to go look for him.  If they wake up, do you mind watching them until I come back?"  I asked. 
"Yeah, that's fine.  Go," Rayne said, eyebrows furrowed with concern. 
I wheeled around to begin my search...and he was just climbing up onto the dresser. 
I gasped and dove for him, grabbing him into a relieved hug. 
He caught me (luckily.  If he hadn't, I would've gone over the edge of the dresser!  Why am I so accident prone??  Disney princesses just aren't that accident prone in the movies...) Anyway.  He caught me and held me close for a moment, chuckling. 
I pulled away from him.  "Where on earth were you?!  You scared the tar out of me!" 
"I went and asked Tangled Fan if we could have the laptop back here.  She said she'd bring it back in a few minutes...And then I invited the 18 inchers to come to Tangled Fan's bed and we'd all watch Tangled, and some Duck Dynasty.  Why were you scared?"
"Oh, okay.  You could've told me..but oh well.  That sounds like a lot of fun!  I was just scared because I woke up..and you weren't there, and then I couldn't see you anywhere...and I just sort of freaked out, I guess."  I laughed at myself thinking about it now. 
He nodded.  "I'm sorry...I was going to tell you, but I looked at you and you were sleeping so peacefully...so I figured I'd be back before you were up.  Sorry," he repeated. 
"It's fine.  I'm just overreactive," I chuckled, and he pulled me close into another hug. 
After a couple seconds, though, the door burst open and Tangled Fan came in, plugged the computer on, and set the Tangled DVD into the dvd port. 
"It's all set up for you guys, Flynn.  Enjoy,"  she said, and before anyone could answer, she was gone.

After awhile, once everyone else was up, we made our way onto the bed. 

Elizabeth, Hailey, Julie, and Christy were already sitting there, waiting for us to start the movie.  Even Punzie was there!  I smiled and while I waited for everyone else to get settled, I talked with them. 

Here's our decently-sized crowd! :P  I laid on my stomach with Hallie, to make sure that little Julie could see... :D 

The movie was awesome!  I guess I'm just about as indecisive as the movie character.  We all got several good laughs out of it.  At one point, I laughed so hard I cried!  And during the lantern scene, I almost accidentally started warbling along with "I See the Light".  I'm not the greatest singer...not the worst, but I'm not as good as Mandy Moore, who voiced Rapunzel in the movie, let's just put it that way! :D  Flynn started up too...he's not too bad a singer!  Merida just laughed at us.  Hey, at least we didn't make the babies cry or break anything from our singing. 
Oh, and then there was the scene where Mother Gothel kills Eugene in the movie.  Rayne was crying, Hailey and Elizabeth were crying, Blondie sniffled a bit...and then I was bawling like a baby...and Merida just rolled her eyes and muttered something about 'us Rapunzels being overreactive'.  She may be right.  :D  I was a little concerned that Jase would get scared at the end of the movie, but she seemed fine. 

Sometime during the scene where Eugene cuts Rapunzel's hair off and then he dies in her arms, my Flynn started stroking my hair.  I turned to look at him, about to tease him and ask if he was thinking about cutting my hair..and then I saw he was teary eyed.  Ohhh boy.  Even HE was going to cry about his character dying?  I dunno.  Regardless, I gave him a small smile and turned back to the movie in time to cry my eyes out to Rapunzel crying out the rest of the healing incantation song. 

 

Whew.  I'm glad we watched the movie before we watched Duck Dynasty...at least we could get light-hearted again after watching that movie!  I liked it, but the end is so sad...I mean, until Eugene's healed and everything.  :D 
We watched about an hour of Duck Dynasty.  EVERYONE got a kick out of it!  I laughed...Our Jase was beyond excited to see the person who shares the same nickname as she does. 

After that, and everyone had left, Eugene--whoops.  My FLYNN*...I'm going to have problems not calling my husband Eugene now, because in the movie, his name  *technically* was Eugene Fitzherbert..or however you spell that last name... :D  Anyway...my FLYNN and I decided that we definitely really needed to work on the month in review posts now...how long has it been since we posted them, seriously??  We're hoping to get at least 1 or two done today...but we'll see! 

Quick check in

Hey everyone .... sorry I haven't been able to update anything lately - I've been sooooo impossibly busy with the girls, and helping Merida with Allie.  Friday, Merida's legs were bothering her something awful, so I took care of Allie for the day whilst she rested them - despite her grumbling!

Thursday, I decided to take Jase and Hallie with me to visit the 18 inchers.  Merida stayed home, and I suspect her legs were bothering her a bit then, too.
Elizabeth, Hayley, Christy, and I had a good visit...Kailey's still being unwelcoming towards us.  I'd like to find out sometime why she's that way.

Wednesday was spent with two very finicky little babies and Jase, who hadn't gotten much sleep because of the babies, was Little Miss Grumpy Pants as well.

Tuesday, Merida and I went out shooting for awhile, whilst Rayne and Blondie babysat for us.  It was a very much welcomed outing, because I was still bummed out about Flynn.

I know, I know.  It's pretty silly that I'm so bummed out about him being gone - it will only be about three more weeks -  UGH!  THREE more weeks?  ONLY?  :( - anyway...it's not like he'll be gone forever.  But there's still a small worry in my mind that sleep deprivation isn't what the problem is, and he'll have to be away even longer, and me or Jase or Hallie won't be able to visit.  I wonder how he's been doing, and I worry all the time about it.  Tangled Fan hasn't been around in her room a lot this past week so I haven't been able to ask her about him!  I'm going to be a basket-case soon!  I soo need to get my mind off of things.  I suppose in a little while I'll maybe see if Jase wants to do anything special so we can have a 'girl's day out' or whatever today...it'd do her good!

Quick drop in...

Hey everyone (:  Refreshed after sleeping in after a longggg night up with Hallie - thank goodness she didn't wake up much, after 3AM.  Anyway.

Today, Tangled Fan got it into her wonderful little head to totally rearrange EVERYTHING.  We're on a complete opposite side of the room, on a bookshelf.  Rayne, Merida, and Blondie are all on the same shelf as Flynn and I - and let's not forget Allie, Hallie and Jase!  

I'm a bit..okay...a LOT disturbed by this.  About a month or a month and a half ago, I would've LOVED to have been on the same shelf as Rayne, Blondie and Merida.  But now that I'm married with Jase AND Hallie, I would kind of like a bit of privacy.  Our shelf was where we were able to talk wholeheartedly and display affection.  But now that we're up with EVERYONE ELSE, it's kind of embarrassing!  Make that a LOT embarrassing.  I have no clue where we're all gonna sleep!  Ugh.  :(  The only plus side is that we're closer to the 18 inchers.  But we're the whole room away from the chair and the window!  :[ 

So, when Tangled Fan randomly snagged me, Merida, Rayne, Hayley, the two toddler dolls, and Punzie, to have a photoshoot to get a picture for her A Dolly A Day blog, we decided to forget what the word cooperate was.  

Cooperate?  Uh...no habla Ingles!  ;} 

At first glance, this one might be okay.  But none of us are looking at the camera, or at least in the same direction.  Scratch that one!  

This one might look okay enough at first glance, but then there's this dilemma:  

Merida decided to pull some of my hair over her face at last minute.  

Scratch that one too!  

I guess she just gave up and used this one for her blog banner.  We got tired of being away from everyone else and being dragged around into different positions every ten seconds...so we randomly all remembered what 'cooperate' meant. 

By the time we were done, I was sooo ready to get back to Flynn.  I was mad that he wasn't brought with for the banner.  But oh well... 

Here's the 'new' bookshelf.  

Toddler Merida & Toddler Rapunzel are right below us, and Punzie and her friend, BFC Ink Addison (Aka Addi) are below them.  

And this is the top level.  

At least Flynn can stand up without being all hunched over - it was really doing a number on his back!  So I guess there's that.  

Several times after I got back, Flynn started to lean down as if to kiss me, but realized everyone was up there and half were looking in our general direction, so he would freeze and stand upright again.  I suppose I'll wait until it's dark out and just dim enough that nobody else can see, and then I'll just give him a kiss so he can quit looking odd, bending over, looking around, and then standing back up.  Heehee..poor guy.  Well, this new display shelf is awkward.  Sooo soooo soooo awkward.  I figure Flynn will have a rant posted here within the near future...if he doesn't, I'll be surprised!  =D  

Wedding Day!!!!! (=

Hi everyone!!

It's the moment you've all been waiting for...well, at least..the moment WE'VE all been waiting for over here!!  

The morning of July 4th dawned horribly muggy and rainy.  Again.  But that didn't dampen our spirits!

I also finally decided - Merida would be my maid of honor.  Rayne agreed and was actually relieved that I chose Merida.  Win-win!

I had spent the night with them up on the shelf, to keep tradition - The bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other the day of the wedding.  I think that you humans have that tradition as well?

We rummaged around in the dresser for a good while.  Blondie found a hair clip that matched PERFECTLY with Merida's dress -we'd found a fancy Barbie dress lying in one of the drawers back over at our shelf, and decided Merida should wear it to my wedding because she was the maid of honor.  Merida was not amused, but she's such a good friend that she agreed to wear it anyway.

Rayne pulled Merida's hair up (which was NOT an easy task! :P)  and clipped it carefully with the hair clip.

Blondie's hair was braided, and Merida wrapped a necklace around her neck several times until it was short enough for her to wear.  

And then Rayne and I exchanged dresses.  

Although they'd all seen me in Rayne's wedding dress before, Merida gasped, pointed, and said, "Now THAT is perfection!"  

Blondie gave a little, excited giggle, and Rayne clasped her hands in excitement as well.  I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment - I wasn't used to so much attention!  

"C'mere," Merida said, gesturing.  I did, and sat down.

Merida knelt behind me and got to work with the hairbrush.  She's actually quite the hairdresser!  

We tried two different looks.  The first one was having my hair loose, and me holding the engagement ribbon...

And what we were planning to do anyway - braided hair with the engagement ribbon tied in place.  

We decided that the braid worked the best.  

Annnd here's a picture of all us gorgeous gals.  I think Merida looks best - I heard that pink doesn't look good on redheads, but I think she looks AMAZING in that dress!  I think she was starting to even like it.  

Suddenly, though, we heard familiar whistling.  Flynn!

"Oh no!" I squeaked, pulling the veil off, crouching and twisting the skirts around my legs so the skirt wouldn't poof out so much.  

Merida and Rayne stepped in front of me, and Blondie in front of them.  

It must have looked pretty amusing to Flynn, - Blondie's pretty small compared to the rest of us.  

I heard Flynn ask where I was at, and they said that he couldn't see me anyway, because of tradition.  

"The ceremony's about to start, and the 18 inchers" - I peeked upwards towards the dresser, and saw that Elizabeth, Christy, and Hailey were watching us with smiles.  Oh, and there was Julie! I wanted to wave but didn't want to be seen by Flynn.  -"are getting a bit restless."  

"Okay.  Well, turn around, then."  

He did, and with a lot of skirt rustling, Merida and I slipped around a corner until Flynn 'assumed the position'.  

Rayne and Blondie walked down the aisle side by side, and then turned off to the side to sit and wait for the ceremony.  As we waited to make our grand entrance, Merida talked.  I was starting to feel queasy. 

"Should I be doing this?"

"Yes!  Of course."  Merida said.  "Ya like him, don't you?"  (Oh - you may notice that I've been typing Merida's monologue without the Scottish accent attempt - it's to make it easier for everyone else to read.  :P)

"Yes.  I love him.  But still - we've only known each other a little while since we've been out of our boxes."

"But you've known him for a good while overall?"

"Yeah..."

"Then you're good to go.  No secrets?"

"No..."

Suddenly, we heard Blondie call out a question as to where we were.  

"Showtime," Merida said.  

I followed her out, clasping at my stomach when I felt nauseated.  "I can't do this."  I mumbled quietly.  I tried to turn around, but Merida kept me snug at her side.

"We're right in front of Flynn, and he's seeing every move you make, so don't do anything 'less you mean it.  Rapunzel, we all know how you are with important decisions.  Do you want this guy, or do you not?  Because I think you're about as ready as you can be.  But if you don't want to, better decide now, or forever hold your peace."  she whispered.

I finally looked up and saw Flynn waiting.  For me.  Just a few steps and I would be a married doll, to the doll I did, in fact, love dearly.  

With a deep breath, I took a sudden step forward.  Merida was a bit surprised, I think, but she tried to keep in step with me.  

When we were in front of Flynn, Merida gave my arm a squeeze and then went to sit by the others.  

Flynn gave me that adorable grin of his and held his hands out.  I took them and grinned too.  Merida jumped back up, untied the ribbon from my braid, and handed it to us. 

The doll marriage tradition is that the engagement ribbon is held in both the male and the female dolls' left hand, then tied in a knot.  

And here's the knot!!  We managed to get it right in the center of the ribbon, which was pretty cool :D

As soon as the knot was made, Flynn dropped it, tipped me back, and we kissed.  

After that, I scooped up the ribbon and Flynn linked his arm in mine, before we walked side by side back down the aisle.  He took the ribbon from me and set it in a safe place.

And then after that, we had to have a quick photoshoot, of course.  We didn't get as many pics in as what I was hoping, but oh well!  

I just noticed that I didn't get a picture with Rayne and I! :(  

Then I gave everyone hugs and thanked them for participating and making the best day ever even better! :P

After that, Flynn and I headed back to our shelf and just sat and talked...   

..For a little while, anyway.  After a short amount of time, Tangled Fan suddenly bustled into the room, picked us both up, and tossed us onto the bed, asking us to model for her while she drew.  (See...she even DRAWS Tangled stuff. It's a bit creepy, actually; how much of a Tangled Fan she really is.)  

I was a bit miffed, naturally.  Well, wouldn't you be, if you had just gotten married less than two hours ago, and were recruited, quite quickly, to model for drawings, rather than relax?!  Regardless...I requested some more pics - since she had her cell phone with her anyway.  And she told us that whatever sketches were good enough to finish up, we would be allowed to have hung up in our little shelf spot.  

So this was our first modeled position.  I guess it was supposed to be like from the movie, where Rapunzel and Flynn are dancing in the Kingdom Dance, and finally run into each other just as the music ends?  I'm not sure, though.

And I guess this was supposed to be like in the movie, where Rapunzel finally realizes that Flynn isn't coming back for her.  We had a bit too much fun with this one.  I kept giggling.  

"Oh, Rapunzel, Rapunzel, what is wrong, my dearest?"  Flynn joked.  I have no clue how he kept a straight face, because I couldn't!  

Still keeping my position, I busted out laughing so hard I had to lean up against him.  

That's when Tangled Fan glanced over.  She looked at us, looked at her paper...looked at us...with a confused look on her face.  If I would have had tears to run down my face from laughter, that's what would have been happening.  Even Flynn lost his composure.  

"Very funny, guys..."  I guess she finally ditched that position idea, because she erased a lot off her page and explained to me what she wanted for the next one.

I actually liked this pose, and she showed me the final sketch, which was also good.  

Then we were able to have some picture taken.  

As you can see in this picture, I have to stand on Flynn's boots, on my tiptoes, and Flynn STILL has to ben down some in order for us to kiss.  It stinks being short!  =P

And this one looks funny.  In reality, Flynn was just holding my hair.  But at the angle in which it was taken, it almost looks like he's wrapped in my hair.  Like in the movie :D

'Stargazing'...only there weren't any stars to gaze at.  

Suddenly, Tangled Fan dashed for her window and slammed it shut.  

"Rain was coming in," she explained. 

She left the room, and we clambered up onto the windowsill to look out the window. 

"I so wish it would stop raining so much.." I grumbled.  

Flynn nodded, and then stepped aside.  

"What?"  I turned my head to ask him.

"I have...well, that is..."

"Spit it out," I urged with a chuckle.  

"Tangled Fan came to me this morning before the ceremony, and said that she'd found some little five-year-old girl in her closet that would make the perfect first kid for us."  He said quickly, then grinned.

"Note how she told you, not me," I muttered quietly.  

Sure, I'd thought about kids.  I wanted kids.  But that was definitely moving too quickly.  Not only were we married already, but having a kid around already, too?! 

"Flynn."  I wasn't sure what to say, to explain myself, so I just gestured.  

He caught my hand mid-gesture, and pulled me in to him.  "It's fine.  I can understand why you don't want to. I just would really like a family, and when she said that she'd likely be either selling her on eBay or sending her to Goodwill, I just thought it would be a great opportunity.  She said it would take quite a while before we would actually become the guardians of her, so it's not like we'll be parents by TONIGHT or anything.  Even I know that that would be moving too quickly!"  Flynn explained.  "But if you don't want to, that's perfectly fine as well." 

"She'll be gone soon? Like if we don't say we'll take her, she'll be gone by the weekend?"  

"Likely, but I'm not sure."

I shrugged my shoulders and pressed my chin up against my one shoulder, turning away from Flynn to think.  

I remembered how I'd felt when I'd held Julie.  I'd suddenly felt the need to have a little child to tend to - it would sure take the dullness out of the days.  But then I wouldn't be able to go exploring the room with Merida anymore.  Unless, of course, those days would be when Flynn watched her.  And an older child would be perfect to start parenthood off with - not a wee baby, although I wouldn't mind having one of those, either!  Oh, goodness.  There I go again with the big decisions!  I needed to talk with Merida, or Rayne, or someone.  I could talk with my own husband,  (oh, he can be a bit of a risk taker, but I still love the guy - enough to  'squee' when I typed that!) Anyway, but Flynn was pretty biased.  Och.  

Finally, I turned back to him and looked at his face.  He looked like an excited little kid himself.  I imagined Tangled Fan telling that little girl she might have found a home for her.  I bet she had looked just as excited.  And then maybe I could take her with me and Merida when we went to visit with the 18 inchers, so she could play with Samantha, Julie, and Nell - they'd love that!  How disappointing would it be to Flynn if I told him no?  Would he hate me forever, for giving up the chance to save a doll who'd likely been here for a long time?  Us dolls have to stick together, you know.  I know he would probably respect my decision as his wife, but then would I hate MYSELF if I told him no?  Maybe I'm thinking into it too much.  I tend to do that, in case you haven't noticed already :P  I had to say something.  

"Why don't we sleep on it?  And I want to talk to Merida or Rayne, as well." 

"What is your personal opinion?"  Flynn asked, still looking a little hopeful.  

"I don't know, hon.  I just don't know...it's been a really long day and I just need to sit and think - you don't make life-changing decisions on a whim-" 

"But we've already made two of those life-changing decisions on whims within the past two weeks or so."  Flynn finished for me.  "I understand, and respect that."

We started to go back to our shelf.  

With a sigh, I asked him if he'd hate me forever for not wanting to take her in.  

"Rapunzel, I just took you as my wife today.  If I would hate you forever over something like that, I don't think I would be being a very good husband, do you?"  He asked, half-joking.  Then he turned serious.  "I love you.  Whatever decision you make is fine with me.  Just remember that I'm here if you want to talk about it, and I'll try not to be biased."  He put an arm around my shoulder and kissed my hair.  

Leaning my head against him as I walked, I told him I loved him too.  

What a day it was...I'm going to leave it at that and try to think about it some on my own before I go talk to Merida and Rayne tomorrow.

And on another note, happy 4th of July to all my readers!  I hope you all have a safe and wonderful day.  I know I had probably the best 4th of July a doll could ever have!!  (=