Under the Weather and Thank You's!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! I'm feeling rather sick lately- just the common cold, but you know, still a pain with the lack of the ability to breathe, sore throat, headache, etc. I don't mean to be pessimistic (really, I promise!). I just wanted to explain why Em never finished Part 2 of her first guest post. Given that our human has been sick too, us dolls haven't really had a chance to go online. :( Emma asked me to finish up her post for her, so here you go:

Emma and Becca have begun a new YouTube series on our channel, AGNonstop (p.s. Check out our new layout and let us know what you think!). The series is called TwinVlogz and you can watch Episode 1 by clicking HERE! Or viewing down there ------>

Emma and Becca are both excited about this series! It's been three weeks since the first episode aired, but we hope to film another episode when we are all feeling better. (I use the term "we" as a surprise- can you guess what Episode 2 might be about?) Emma and Becca both hope to blog about their series when Episode 2 airs.

As the filmers/ producers, Emma and Becca (and the human ;)) can't promise when each episode will air. Because life just tends to get in the way sometimes, they don't want to make any false promises. Summer's just around the corner though (our last day of school, including finals, is June 22!) and we hope that summer will give us more chances to film.

Moving on.... ;)
Thank you Sabine and Elizabeth!

We (the human and I) would like to personally thank our friends Sabine at Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis and Elizabeth at Anthropology for the gift of two awards! Woah, thanks so much! Sabine nominated the blog with the Brilliant Blogger Award and Elizabeth nominated our blog for a tag. We hope to have both of these posts up soon, again, when we all have energy to spare.

Until next time dear readers....

Love,
Reese <3

P.S. On a random side note, happy Cinco de mayo! (In Spanish Cinco de mayo [months aren't capitalized in Spanish] means the Fifth of May!) My sisters and I all take Spanish as our second language in school (Next year, I'm starting French as well!). We are enrolled in Spanish 3 Honors and we've been learning for six years. Have a wonderful day everyone!

The Best Blogger Award!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Welcome to my second post of the day! I hope to be blogging a lot more with guest posts from my sisters.

My friend Sabine over at Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis nominated me for the Best Blogger Award! Thank you so much Sabine! Please go check out Sabine's blog- it is amazing!

For the first part of the award, I will answer these five questions:

1. What is your favorite post that you've ever created?

Well, I've only had this blog for a year and I'm already at 51 posts. Wow! My favorite post/ blog series would have to be Fighting for Emma. Emma is my best friend, so naturally, it is very important to me to have these posts which led up to our wonderful friendship. I also love my post, Meet Becca Abigail! Becca is such a wonderful part of our family and it wouldn't be the same without her. I'm so glad that Emma and Becca are a part of my family! :)

2. What is your favorite photostory that you have ever taken part in?

In my house, we do more stop motions and photoshoots than photostories. With that said, my favorite stop motion is Welcome Summer! This one was so fun to film and it was great because it really showed all of our personalities well. My favorite photoshoot is Mayflower Beach! We actually filmed this on a beach in Dennis (Cape Cod). The sun was shining, and while this isn't our best photoshoot, it was so much fun to create!

3. Why do you blog?

When I began blogging, I thought of it as a way to connect with my YouTube account, AGNonstop. As time went on, I eventually began to document my life in more detail, I have so many great memories, from the adoption of Emma and Becca to simple little joys in life such as my hiking trips, vacations, etc. I also love communicating with my readers and talking to all of my wonderful friends in the blogging world!

4. How many followers do you have?

I currently have 31 followers, which is great; I never thought I'd have so many! :) I love and thank all of our followers, as well as our readers who don't follow our blog. Be sure to leave a comment- I'd love to chat!

5. Do you like being nominated for awards?

Of course, and another thank you to Sabine! I have found that awards (this is my second one) give me an extra boost of motivation, as do comments and followers. Thanks for dropping by, and if you like my blog, please let me know!

Now, the moment I have been waiting for is here! I get to now nominate five other blogs in turn who haven't been nominated yet. I nominate:

1. Tess and Maggie at Jane Austin and Unicorns

2. The girls at ~~ Bolton Girls Travel Journal!! ~~

3. Inky at Super Inky!

4. Steampunk Addie at The Adventures of Steampunk Addie

5. Holly Pino and Kay Jun at The Spicys!

Thank you Sabine! Be sure to head over to Sabine's blog after you read this post! It was an honor to be nominated for this award. Thank you dear readers! Until next time,

Love,

Reese <3

Happy Easter!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Happy Easter Sunday to all of you who celebrate! If not, I hope you have a wonderful day! :) Can you believe Easter is in March this year? It feels so strange, seeing that Easter is usually in April. I encourage you to always remember that the true meaning of Easter is to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus.

I spent the entire day with my family, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures. I will tell you all about my day though- it was wonderful! To begin the day, my cousins, Maggie, Anna, Katie, and Grace came to our house (they're visiting from Boston!) and we had breakfast together. Our parents cooked us a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast, hash browns, bacon, and fresh orange juice. Imagine 14 people together under one roof! Our home is fairly large, but that's a lot of people! XD Afterwards, we got our Easter baskets from the front step. They were filled with candy and small little toys. Thank you mom and dad! :) After we all got a little crazy on candy, we went on an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. There were 50 eggs hidden and Becca found the most- 21! Wow!

For the rest of the day, we relaxed and hung out together until we had dinner around 2:30 pm. It's been a while since my sisters and I have seen our cousins, so we had a lot to catch up on. Our dinner consisted of ham, vegetables, rolls, and some other food. For dessert, we all decorated sugar cookies and Emma and I made cake pops! The food tasted amazing after a long day of Easter-egg hunting and snacking on candy and treats. :)

What did you all do for Easter? We had a wonderful day!

Love,
Reese <3

P.S. Look for a guest post from Emma coming up within the next three days! :)

Welcome to My Home!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! If you've been reading my blog, you know that I make a lot of references to my house. I just wanted to make a quick post to let you know that we finally filmed a video showing you our home. Just in case you were wondering. ;)

Love,
Reese <3

P.S. My blog's 1 year anniversary is on Tuesday, January 8th! :D

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas! *insert music here*

Hi everyone, it's Reese! MERRY CHRISTMAS! (Or Happy Holidays to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas) Yes, I know that I'm a day late, but I was busy with my family yesterday. Here is our family Christmas portrait for 2012:

And here is a fun little behind-the-scenes shot:

As you can most likely tell, the theme of this year's Christmas portrait was historical eras. We all chose one era to dress like, just for fun and to make a bright and merry Christmas card as well. We wanted to represent how Christmas has been through all of the ages. Nellie and Samantha represented our very own era of 2012. Isabella represented the mid-19th century. Emma, Becca, and I dressed as girls from the early 20th century.

On Christmas Day, we all awoke to the sound of what we believed to be sleigh bells on our roof. The sound was so wonderful that it couldn't have been anything else! Running downstairs, arm in arm, we saw a pile of presents under the Christmas tree! It was a truly magical Christmas morning to see the joy and excitement on the faces of my five beloved sisters. Nellie received a pair of winter boots and the newest Taylor Swift CD, Red. Samantha received a pair of new pink pointe shoes and an IOU for a summer intensive of ballet in New York for a month! Isabella received a new camera and tripod for filming...  What will she be filming? I suppose you'll just have to wait and see! Emma received a brand new set of art supplies- a brown sketch pad, new pencils (her former ones were worn down to the bone!), and a set of new paints along with some new baking supplies. Becca received a pair of pink ballet shoes and an offer to travel with Samantha to a summer intensive ballet course in June! Becca gladly accepted the offer and Samantha was delighted to share the journey was someone. I received some new clothes as well as an Apples to Apples card game.

The rest of Christmas Day was filled with excitement and fun as presents were tried out and played with. Nellie blasted her new CD on her iPod all day as she and Isabella sang together loudly. Samantha was teaching Becca the perfect pirouette as Becca helped Samantha to perfect her left split. Emma and I were in the kitchen trying to perfect a new recipe of Emma's for pecan shortbread cookies (They actually turned out quite yummy!) and making hot chocolate for everyone. By the time that bedtime hit, we all trudged upstairs to have sweet dreams of happy Christmas days.

I had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did as well! Did you receive a present on your Christmas list?

Love,
Reese <3

Meet Becca Abigail!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! I know that this has been a long-awaited post, so I apologize for the delay in posting this. We've all been pretty busy around here adapting to a new school and getting to know our new sister. Here's a photo of my gorgeous sister Becca:

Can you tell Becca apart from Emma? (Becca is on the left, Emma is on the right). The girls are pretty easy to tell apart for my family, mainly because Becca has hazel eyes and has curly hair, while Emma has aqua-colored eyes and straight her. Still, when their hair is in a bun and Becca is wearing her glasses, it can be a challenge to tell Becca and Emma apart! ;) One day, Becca and Emma decided to dress exactly alike in white shirts and blue jeans with their hair tied back. Most of us were able to tell them apart by their eyes, but it was a challenge!

Becca is outgoing and has a strong personality. She loves photography, reading, and competing in dance competitions for ballet. However, like Emma, Becca comes from a very abusive and tragic family life. She actually grew up in London, England, so she has a hint of an English accent. My mom told me that Becca was often mistreated and abused. I'm so glad that Becca is here with us now!

What do you think of Becca? Do you have any questions for her? I will be doing a combined post with Becca as soon as we find the time. Also look for the post coming soon about my new school! :)

Love,

Reese <3

Becca's Journey Part 1

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Do you remember the girl Becca from this post? Well, today, I bring you more news on our soon-to-be sister.

Early this morning, around 6 a.m., Emma couldn't sleep and neither could I. Emma has been tossing and turning all night long.

"Reese," Emma whispered in her soft voice. "will you come find mom with me?"

"Of course," I whispered. "is something wrong Emmie?"

"No. Well, yes. I am terribly worried that Becca won't like me! What is she wants nothing to do with me Reese?"

"I'm sure that Becca will love you Emma. You are sweet, kind, and an amazing friend. Now let's go talk to mom, okay?"

Emma and I walked down the hallway, quietly padding along with bare feet. When we found mom in her office, Emma and I were both surprised. Mom never starts working until at least 10 a.m. on Saturdays. This was highly unusual.

We had a very long discussion, but I won't write it out here, because some of it was very personal. It turns out that Becca is due to arrive either today or Monday. This came as an immediate shock to us both. Of course, once everyone else woke up, we told them the news.

Mom said that we should be on the look out for Becca to make her feel welcome. According to my mom, Becca has short curly brown hair, hazel eyes, glasses, and a small figure like Emma. Her full name is Rebecca Abigail. However, everyone calls her Becca as a nickname. She is from the Big Apple, New York City.

I can't believe that Becca is supposed to arrive so soon. It will be the first time that a new sister has arrived at our door instead of us going to her. It's no wonder that Emma has been so quiet and worried lately. I don't know what to think! I wonder what Becca will be like...

Love,
Reese <3

A New Girl In and My World Out

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Sorry for long time no see, but this post should explain why I left on a mini hiatus. This post is exciting to write, and hopefully just as exciting to read!

Yesterday afternoon, I was working on some last minute Algebra II homework in my bedroom. (Yes, we are home from Ridgeway for Thanksgiving!) As my brain was focused on perfect squares and quadratic equations, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Quietly pacing in the hallway was my mom. She looked extremely stressed out and worried. This is what I heard:

"Yes, but if Becca is able to come here, we will not be able to afford Ridgeway anymore. It's just too much with six girls."

One thing from these two sentences stuck out at me. There were only five girls in our family, not six. I don't know who Becca is either. I could easily be wrong, but it sounds as if we are getting a new sister whose name is Becca.

Upon realizing this, I immediately went to talk to my mom in her office. I wanted to tell my sisters the news desperately, but I wanted to check my facts first.

"Hey mom... Can I talk to you?" I asked, peeking my head into the door.

"Sure dear. Have a seat." My mom smiled, pointing at one of the large leather chairs in the office.

"Mom..." I began reluctantly. "Who is Becca and why are we leaving Ridgeway?"

"Well my little Reese's," She began, using my nickname. "you are always the first to find out new information. I don't want this information given to your sisters yet. Do you understand?"

"Yes, of course."

"Okay Reese. You know well how I work for an adoption agency." I nodded. "I recently found a girl who appears to have a connection to Emma."

"Emma? So Becca is Emma's sister?"

"Yes, Becca is Emma's fraternal twin sister." My mom said.

I was stunned. Emma never told me that she had a sister!

"What? I didn't know that Emma had- is a twin!"

"Neither did Emma." My mom said slowly. "Becca has been abused and in foster homes her entire life."

"How were they separated?" I asked.

"At birth, I presume, although there is no way to be certain. Emma and Becca were both born in New Orleans, but Emma lived in Washington State and Becca is from New York."

"Does Emma know about this?"

"Yes, she does. Now about Ridgeway..."

"Mom, you don't have to-"

"It's okay Reese. We can not afford to send you six girls to Ridgeway anymore. And even if we had the money, Ridgeway is closing due to limited enrollment in the past year."

"What?" I exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. "Ridgeway is closing?"

"Yes."

Before my mom had time to say anything else, I ran back into my bedroom and shut the door. I loved Ridgeway and I loved all of my friends there. I'll miss the dorm system, the independence, seeing national monuments everyday, and most of all, the staff and my friends.

As an attempt to stop my rambling, I will end this post. According to my mom, Becca will be here in a few weeks.

I'm not sure how to take all of this in. What should I do? While I feel excited about Becca, I am heartbroken about Ridgeway.

Love,
Reese <3

Back to School at Ridgeway!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Aveline has arrived safely, but I will do another post on that later. :)

Right now, I am typing this from our boarding school Ridgeway Academy in Washington D.C. We live very far away from Ridgeway, but we traveled here yesterday evening. I will tell you about our travels.

At the crack of dawn yesterday, we began to pack. Because we live on campus, our living space is only about the size of a small dorm. We can't bring more than what we need, as there are 6 of us including Aveline. We wear uniforms, so the only other clothes we packed were pajamas and some causal clothing. Our clothes were waiting for us when we arrived.

Yesterday we arrived at the airport at about 5 p.m. for a 6 p.m. flight. I'm sure you know all too well about the not so lovely airport security, so I won't bore you with details. On the plane, we luckily arranged for six seats together. Emma and I sat the furthest away from a window, as being up so high sometimes makes us motion sick. The plane ride was about 5 hours. I've grown much more accustomed to the take off of airplanes, but I still hate it none the less. The actual flight was very pleasant; it was very smooth and we arrived at Ridgeway around 11 p.m. Most of us had slept on the plane, so we weren't overly exhausted. Isabella and I immediately went down to the main office on campus to retrieve our room keys and uniforms. The rest of the girls waited about the campus. With bags full of uniforms and 2 room keys later, we were off to find our dorm.

When we arrived at our cozy (and surprisingly larger than last year) dorm, we immediately called mom to let her know of our arrival. We then proceeded to put away our suitcases until we had more time to unpack and went to bed. Classes begin on Wednesday, September 5. Until then, we will just be in our dorms and around campus.

Have you gone back to school yet?

Love,
Reese <3

P.S. A post of welcoming Aveline will be up soon. She is also planning a post to introduce herself to you, so stay tuned!

Adventures with Aveline: Part 1

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Today I bring you the first part in the blog series called Adventures with Aveline. Although Ava isn't here yet, I wanted to give you some general facts about her.

-Aveline is from Paris, France and she speaks fluent English.
-She is 15 years old.
-Aveline has two younger sisters, one of whom is going to study in Colorado.
-In Paris, she owns a family-run bakery with her family.

We will be going to the airport to pick up Aveline tomorrow! All of our family is coming to greet her. Shortly after, at the beginning of September, we will leave to Washington D.C. for Ridgeway Academy.

Everyone is really excited, but also nervous. Have you ever visited another country before?

Love,
Reese <3

A Foreign Exchange Student!

Hi everyone, it's Reese, and I have some pretty major news! I know that this is my second post in one day, but I can't help but share this news. We are hosting a foreign exchange student!

Her name is Aveline and she is from France! Aveline is 15 years old and she has light skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair. She actually looks a lot like me! This is a picture of her that she sent to us:

Isn't she gorgeous?

Aveline will be arriving in a few days before we go back to school. If you don't remember, we go to a boarding school in Washington D.C. called Ridgeway Academy. It is similar to the high school equivalent of college.

I suppose that this can be a blog series similar to Fighting for Emma.  I will call it, hmm, Adventures with Aveline. Yes, I know it's cheesy. XD

I am so excited! Our mom has only told us this information, but we are all so excited for Ava to arrive soon! She will be with us for the 2012-2013 school year. You will be seeing her in many blog posts and videos. I can't wait!

Love,

Reese <3

Summertime and Shows Part 4

Hi everyone, it's Reese and Emma! Today we will be discussing tech week and our show, Beauty and the Beast. I (Reese) will be typing in purple and I (Emma) will be typing in pink. The black represents both of us talking.

Where should we begin Emma?

Um, let's start with the last few days of tech week.

Okay! You might remember tech week from Summertime and Shows Part 3. I talked about it a little in that post, but not much. We'll tell you more about it now.

Tech week was so crazy! It was so difficult to run back and forth to the theater downtown. We had to be in full costume everyday. Most days, we didn't even eat dinner!

When you are living tech week, you just want it to end. However, now I kinda miss it...

On Friday, August 10, we had to be at the theater at 5 pm for a 7 pm performance. You might be wondering, what takes 2 hours? Well, we have to get into costumes, do hair and makeup, and do mic checks.

People began arriving at the theater around 6:30 pm. By 7 pm, the theater was packed! It was nervewracking to have so many people there, but at the same time, it was so exciting!

Backstage that night, I had no idea where my costume was, as it was not where I had left it backstage the day before. The "Belle" number was about to begin and I would have missed my cue if it wasn't my my understudy Courtney. She had found my costume with Mr. R. and quickly helped me change. I rushed backstage, right in time for my cue! :)

The performance was absolutely wonderful! :) Being my first show, I made so many new friends and I am so excited for the large fall show. 

Before we went on, everyone was so nervous. I was especially worried about my "Beauty and the Beast" scene at the end. Luckily Reese would be in that scene as well and she and Courtney reassured me.

The other two shows on Saturday were just as wonderful! To be perfectly honest though, I think out best performance was on opening night!

One of the problems that always strikes is the microphones. We have to make sure the mics are on and working. It was a pain to put a mic on with my yellow Belle dress!

We were prepared for a few of the mics to go out. Unfortunately, some did. It was the closing scene of Beauty and the Beast when it happened. The curtain was about to open when a buzzing noise came from my mic and it died. I did not have enough time to go get another mic from the sound table and by that time, the curtain was rising. We were in our places and I had to sing at the top of our lungs to be heard.

At the end of each performance, we all took bows. When Chris (Beast/Adam) was bowing with me, Courtney joined us as well. She definitely deserved it as much as the rest of us. Courtney and I are now great friends!

The show was such an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Belle is actually my favorite Disney princess!

After the final show, it is always a tradition to go out to eat. The cast decided on Friendly's. It was so much fun to be there at 9 p.m.! :)

Yeah, that was so much fun Reese! 

I am so glad that we participated in the production!

Me too! I made a few new friends and had so many amazing times!

Thank you to all of the cast and crew, and of course, Mr. R.!

Love,
Reese <3 and Emma :)

P.S. Anna's 14th birthday is tomorrow! Our cousins are visiting us tomorrow through Sunday! :) Happy early birthday Anna!

Summertime and Shows Part 3

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Sorry I haven't been blogging lately, but this should explain why.

Tech week (the week before opening night)is this week for Beauty and the Beast is this week! It is so crazy busy, fun, and exhausting all at once. One of our biggest problems seems to be microphones. It's hard to find mics for your scene because there are only about 8 usable mics. The sound stage crew is working really hard to fix it though!

I am so proud of Emma! She and her understudy Courtney are working so hard. It must be difficult to be in almost every scene.

I am really happy with my role as Mrs. Potts. It is a good sized role for my first show. This is Emma's first show here at Ridgeway, but she has been in shows in the past with other theater groups. I get to sing Beauty and the Beast at the end of the show, which I love.

Mr. R. is going insane over getting the final parts of the show ready. Everyone is putting in so much work for 3 shows. I love the little community formed by the students that do the show.

I am typing this on my iPod right now, as we have rehearsal every day for 4 hours. I need to go get in costume now and rehearse. I'll update you after this weekend!

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day 6: Wellfleet, Chatham, and Dennis!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Here's what we did today (Yay, it's on time!):

This morning around 11:30, we drove about 45 minutes (with traffic) to Wellfleet. We went to the flea  market. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything doll-sized! :( We were there for about 30 minutes.

Next, we drove about 20 minutes to Chatham. After taking 15 minutes to find a parking spot, we walked to the upper deck of the pier. We saw seven seals and many boats. It was so amazing; I loved it! :)

We were going to eat lunch there, but none of us really were in a fish mood, so we decided to head home and eat there. By this time, it was 2:30 p.m., and we were all starving! After we drove home, we made lunch.

Around 5 p.m., we decided to head to our favorite beach, Mayflower Beach in Dennis. (We were actually going to go to a place called Breakwater Landing in Brewster, but we couldn't see any water. It might have just been low tide, but we went to Mayflower Beach.) Unlike Monday, the tide was very low this time. I think we walked about two football fields just to reach the ocean! Low tide is my favorite because there is so much sand! We took some photos there and we will eventually compile them into a photoshoot for YouTube. I think they are some of our best photos yet! :D

By the time we left around 8 p.m., we were all getting pretty hungry. After driving around Dennis, we found a pizza place (that I can't remember the name of). We ordered a cheese pizza and decided to drive around Dennis during the 20 minute wait time. Our first stop was driving past the house my mom and her family rented in 2008 and 2010. (Fun fact: Maggie went to Cape Cod in 2008! :)) We then drove to Scargo Tower, a tall tower on the shores of Scargo Lake. We climbed the spiral stairs inside and reached the 20 feet top. The view never gets less amazing! It is truly breathtaking. :) After we took some photos at Scargo Tower, we headed back to pick up the pizza and drove home.

It was a pretty long day, but it was a lot of fun! We plan to go back to Skull Island before we leave on Saturday. We don't know what we are doing tomorrow, but I'll keep you posted. I miss everyone back home, but I don't want to leave on Saturday!

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day 5: Yarmouth!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! :) Sorry for the lag, I've been trying to catch up! Here's what we did yesterday:

Around 11:30, we decided to go to a place called Skull Island in south Yarmouth. It has go-karts, adventure mini golf, an arcade, and batting cages. Yarmouth is only about 30 minutes away, so we decided to go.

First, the boys in my mom's family decided to go on the go-karts, I however, did not, because I am a doll. None the less, it seems like something Anna would love. xD There was an hour-long wait just to ride the go-karts! According to the boys, it was very fun.

Next, we ate lunch in the car since it was so windy outside. It was fun to hang out and chat. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich with chips. Yummy! :)

After lunch, we decided to play the adventure mini golf. It was very fun! However, around hole 5 we began to feel rain drops. Around hole 6, it began to drizzle. Then at hole 7, it was pouring. Chaos ensued as most of the mini-golfers ran inside and received wooden coins for another free play of mini golf.

Back at home, we all got into our pajamas, as the rest of our clothes were soaking wet. We watched television and I played on my laptop. For dinner, we wanted to cook chicken on a stick (that's what we call skewered marinated barbecue chicken. It's one of my favorite dishes!), but tit was still pouring outside. None the less, we resorted to Plan B. In the end, we cooked the marinated chicken pieces in a frying pan and served them over pasta. They were still delicious though! :) Afterwards, we ate ice cream and relaxed until bed.

Today we went to Wellfleet, Chatham, and Dennis! Look for that post tonight as well! :)

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day 4: Provincetown!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Here's what we did yesterday:

Around 11 a.m., we decided to visit the very end of Cape Cod- Provincetown! It was an hour drive from Brewster and we got there around noon.

In Provincetown, we walked around and went to different little shops. We went to a stores that sold shells, sweatshirts, and even shoes! After walking around for a bit, we got pizza for lunch. We then went to an ice cream place and visited the beach. After spending our afternoon in Provincetown, we drove to the end of Cape Cod and then headed home.

After dinner, we went to Mayflower Beach in Dennis, my mom's favorite beach. We played in the sand and walked in the cool ocean. We even played on the lifeguard chair!

Today we are going to the beach again! :)

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day 3: Exploring Brewster

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Sorry for no update yesterday, but I wanted Emma to have her blog post at the top. This is what we did yesterday.

Around noon, we headed out with no destination in mind, just to see a bit of Brewster, the town we're staying in. We went to a pond near our house, drove around in our car, and went to a small craft show. Afterwards, we headed home for lunch.

Yesterday we just relaxed a lot, because we were all tired from driving for 2 days. My mom and I filmed part of a video that will hopefully be up next week sometime. We also played the game "Sorry!" and ate snacks.

Around dinnertime, we decided to go to a seafood place called JT's near where we're staying. The food was excellent and I enjoyed my chicken strips. ;) We then headed to Dennis to visit a souvenir shop called Cuffy's. Mom was looking for a hoodie, but none of them were the right size.

After some shopping around, we drove home. I am loving Cape Cod! Today we are going to Provincetown, and I'll tell you all about it tonight (or maybe tomorrow)!

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day 2: Brewster!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! We made it to Cape Cod! :)

This morning I was rushed out of bed and scrambled to get ready before eating breakfast. I was still pretty tired. Down at the hotel lobby, I ate some cereal and a yogurt.

After we ate, we decided to visit Harvard in Cambridge. It was only a 20 minute drive from our Natick hotel, so we got there at 10:30 a.m. The campus is ginormous! So many buildings in such a busy city!

We then walked to another part of the campus to a t-shirt shop. It was a very small space with far too many people!

Today we also drove to the house we are renting in Brewster, a part of Cape Cod. There were many traffic issues and the drivers were crazy. Instead of 1.5 hours, the drive took 3. :( We made it to Brewster by 3 p.m.. Our rental home is large, 2 floors and lots of new places to explore!

I'm sorry for the short post, but it's 10:30 and I'm pretty exhausted. Good night! :)

Love,
Reese <3

Massachusetts Vacation Day One: Natick!

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Right now, I am sitting in a hotel in Boston! Tomorrow we'll head to Cape Cod. :)

This morning at 8:30 a.m., we (my family and I) left on a long drive to Boston. Luckily, the drive seemed to go by quickly because we had a lot of fun. We watched Modern Family on the portable DVD player, ate lunch, and relaxed.

At 1:30 p.m., we arrived at our destination: Natick, Massachusetts! For an hour, we relaxed at the hotel.   At 2:30 p.m., we drove across the street (literally!) to the Natick Mall.

Our first stop was the American Girl store!!! We spent an hour walking around the two levels, taking pictures and admiring other dolls. I made a good friend named McKenna, but unfortunately we did not chat for long. I met many other kind dolls as well and I even saw some animals such as horses and a cat that looked similar to Katie's cat Licorice. My favorite item in the store was easily McKenna's fabulous loft bed! I begged my mom to buy it and even reasoned with the fact that more than one of us dolls back home could use it. However, she decided that she was not going to spend that much money. At American Girl Place, I got a pair of pink pajamas, logo jeans, a Boston t-shirt, and...

Okay, now here's the big surprise- I got my ears pierced! I also bought the Birthstone Earrings separately. Right now, I am wearing the star-shaped silver earrings. My ears are sore, but it is so worth it! I am so happy to finally have pierced ears! :)

Afterwards, we went shopping at XXI Forever (a.k.a. Forever 21). We also went to the Lego store. We also went to another small toy store. One of the boys got a strawberry smoothie at Red Mango. There were other stores that we went to, but these are just a few.

For dinner, we went to P.F. Chang's for Chinese food. I ate pork dumplings and they were delicious! Another 10 minute AG stop took place. We also got two slices of cheesecake to eat in our hotel room later, Hershey's and Snickers. Yum!

The Natick Mall is so ginormous! It has 2 floors and it is amazing! The decorations were beautiful. They had food from sushi to frozen yogurt!

Back at our hotel called the Hampton Inn on Speen Street, I received an AG bed! It is a pink flip bed with a pillow and a blanket. I love it so much! It is so wonderful to be able to sleep in a bed just my size.

Right now, I am typing this blog post while I am cuddling with my unicorn pillow pet. I miss my sisters and pets, but I'll see them soon. Emma was going to come with me, but she found out last-minute that she had to stay home for rehearsals. I really wish that she had came, but I know that she is having fun with all of our sisters and the people at Beauty and the Beast musical practices.

I am so glad and grateful to be able to have come along on this amazing trip and I am having the time of my life. I miss everyone at home a lot, but mom is here and I'll be home in a week. Oh, I have also claimed mom's stuffed animal bear mine, mwahaha! (lol) :) I am working on a vlog of my trip. It should be posted when we get home next week.

Tomorrow we are going to downtown Boston to see Harvard and then drive to our house in Brewster in Cape Cod! :)

Love,
Reese <3

Summertime and Shows: Part 1

Hi everyone, it's Reese! Welcome to my summer blog series! Do you remember when I told you that I was going to be in my school's summer show? Well, Emma and I are gaining show experience in our first show. Our school Ridgeway is located a good distance from where we live. And because kids from all over the world attend Ridgeway in Washington D.C., Ridgeway is putting on separate shows across the country.

Our show is (insert drum roll here) Beauty and the Beast! Auditions took place in late June ad rehearsal has been everyday since at the local theater. Tech week (The week before a performance with lots of dress rehearsals and testing) begins right when we return from Cape Cod. We have three performances following tech week.

Now I suppose you are wondering about the auditions and roles we received.

When I attended my audition, I was so nervous. I met my Theater teacher on the stage of our local theater. I was the first to audition. I sang A Place in This World by Taylor Swift. At first, I was so nervous. However, by the second verse, I got really into the music and my nervous feelings faded away. Meanwhile, Mr. R. (I'm not allowed to say his full name) wrote in a notebook and nodded. Afterwards, I read some lines. I read the scene in the library as Belle and the scene where Beast turns back into a man. Mr. R. wrote down a few more things and then dismissed me. I was not allowed to watch Emma's audition after mine. However, I could hear Emma sing Untouchable by Taylor Swift and read about five sets of lines as Belle. When her audition was over, we walked the short distance home.

We did not find out our roles until three days later, but Emma and I both got callbacks! This was so surprising and wonderful, since we are only in tenth grade. However, only five juniors and two seniors are in the production. (It's usually more, but the summer show usually has less people due to people traveling.)

The next day at rehearsal, we found our our roles.

The lead of Belle was cast as Emma! I am so happy for my sister. :) Emma repeatedly read lines as Belle and Mr. R. always smiles when Emma reads lines and sings. She has a wonderful voice and is a very talented actress! Most of the juniors and seniors are so happy for Emma because it is so rare for a sophomore to be cast as the lead. Emma has been working so hard as Belle and practicing lines nonstop.

I was cast as Mrs. Potts! I didn't want a super large role, as this is my first show. Coincidentally, Emma and I have a bunch of roles together, which is wonderful! I am so excited for the finale number when I sing Beauty and the Beast. I am so happy with my role! :)

That's all for part one of Summertime and Shows. Part 2 will talk about our beginning rehearsals and getting to know our characters.

Love,

Reese <3