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We were down visiting our grandmother in Florida in February, which happened to coincide with the release of the American Girl Disney Princess dolls. Especially nice since our Columbus AGP store was closing about one week later. It was great getting to see the dolls, and we ended up bringing two of them home . . . plus one of the new Truly Me dolls, #127. While #127 hasn't settled on a name yet (we're trying Carmen, after Lucy and Viera didn't suit), the two Princesses have left their castles and settled into the Islandshire crowd pretty quickly. Meet Zale (aka Ariel) and Cambridge (aka Tiana)! Zale has been a bit of an elusive character on Islandshire. She's been a variety of dolls so far, ranging from a customized Jule, customized Marie-Grace and even a customized Nicki Hoffman. Originally, we purchased Ariel with the idea of customization. I wanted the wig, Nanea wanted the outfit, and we thought we might do something fun with the doll. But the minute that she came out of the box and shed the Mermaid costume, Sis was hooked. She was Zale. When we went over to the Orlando AGP, we didn't actually plan on buying a doll. If anything, we were thinking of Ariel. Certainly not Tiana. None of the three of us had cared for the Claudie face mold, and we've never been particularly keen on Tiana. That is . . . until we saw the display. Mom fell in love with the costume, but she wasn't sold on the doll. I was totally sold. In the end, we picked out a Tiana doll for and with a friend and went back to Gramma's house. But it stuck with me. Two days later, we were back at the store picking out my Tiana doll -- already called "Cambridge". She's named for the fabulous Police Sergeant character in the 1990s mystery show, Pie in the Sky. More pictures coming in the following post to compare the unique skin tones of both Tiana and Ariel!
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After almost two years of blogging on a self-hosted site, Islandshire Gazette will be returning to this Weebly blog. Prices of hosting have just gone up too much to maintain the other site, which means things will be migrating back here over the Summer. We're also hoping to get back into the swing of posting more regularly, so please check back!
We’ve been blogging for almost three years here on Weebly, and it’s been a blast. But with all the photo stories and albums, we definitely need to move to self-hosting with capability to share higher-quality images. Now, on the new blog, you can click on any image to view at an enlarged size. Another exciting new feature is the “Subscribe” option (something that a lot of readers have asked for over the years). Just think — you’ll never have to miss a future edition of The Gazette. Please check out the new site and subscribe here: www.SarahBethOnline.com/IslandshireGazette The new Gazette office is still a work in progress, but we're moving all photo stories, major doll comparisons, and customizing entries — in their entirety — over to the new place. So far, though, we’ve only managed to migrate the entries posted since the beginning of November 2021. Everyone here is hard at work to make the move as seamless as possible, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it any faster (smile). Wondering what the big deal is? We’ve already moved over 1,000 photos to the new blog, and that only covers the last two months of 2021!
The Photo Stories index page here is still fully linked. Eventually, all of those posts will find their way over to the new blog. Until then, any photo stories listed on the index page here without an asterisk (*) in front of the title still link to the original posts here. As stories/entries get transferred, those links will be updated and asterisks added to signify moved posts. Because of the sheer magnitude of this project, we made a decision to leave all AGP store walk-throughs, item/set reviews and other minor posts where they are here. This Weebly blog will stay available for reference, but you’ll find all the old fun and latest Islandshire news at the new blog from now on. Thanks! Trudy here with a BIG announcement -- Islandshire has just opened a shop on Etsy! You've probably been wondering why there was so little news coming from us for the past few weeks. Well, that's because everyone on the Island has been busy helping with the new shop. Please, have a look around and spread the word about our new place! There are lots of new things that will be added in the coming weeks, and you can probably spot some well-known faces modelling the fun stuff. And if you're looking for anything in particular, don't hesitate to send us a note. We love new ideas! As a preview, here are a few pictures showing some of the kids modelling items that are available in the shop: Liv and Bethany at the Library with Magazines Jill and Silver Playing Vintage Sheet Music Vesey and the Stamp Collection There's a lot more fun to be found in the shop, and be sure to check back regularly for new additions.
Thanks! Personally, this is a dream doll for me and one that I never expected to be able to purchase. Since the first photos started leaking for Corinne, I have been so excited. Thankfully, the dolls were released into stores a bit earlier than usual (Dec. 30th), and we were able to go to the Columbus American Girl store to pick her out of the many waiting to be adopted. The Columbus store had all the displays out and everything available. except for the two big items. They were on display, but they were not in stock. (Pictures of the displays coming in another entry.) In fact, they are only in stock at AGP New York and Chicago, so the bad boy here is AG Corporate, and not the store. I've only got time for a quick overview, because I want to make sure that all of you who want to order her soon will have some basic info to help you decide what to order. She definitely looks even cuter in person than the photos (particularly the stock photos). I liked her from pictures and totally loved her in real life. The face mold is definitely a modified Nanea with almond shaped eyes, rather than the very round look of Nanea. And they made Corinne's chin appear pointier by eliminating a bit of the "puffy cheek" of the Nanea mold. The size of her head is definitely larger than Nanea, and the crown is rounder and filled out. I think the shape of the back of the head looks a lot like the old #4. In fact, I feel like this mold is a sort of combination of the new #4 being sent out by the AG doll hospital right now and Nanea. Here's a slideshow of photos comparing the dolls wearing their original wigs and dewigged (this is a newer Nanea doll purchased in May 2021). As far as picking a doll out, I looked at every Corinne box in the store. Her face shape was very consistent. There aren't really huge differences of a "round" face and a "thin" face, as most of their other dolls have, though there's always a slight variety from doll to doll. Where the big variety was for Corinne was in the mouth paint. Yikes! A LOT of off-center or skimpy (only half the bottom lip had paint) mouth paint, so a heads-up there for anyone that's bothered by that. I'd say that a good two out of three, at least, had bad lip paint. The only other thing that seemed particularly noticeable was the fact that a number of the dolls had a slightly wider socket on the doll's left eye. This caused some of them to look like the doll's left eye was open wider than the right, which sometimes fouled the gaze (something I've noticed on a number of the newer revised Classic mold dolls, too). Eyebrow paint and wig line/glue were pretty consistent, and I didn't notice much difference there. Corinne's wig is a combination of black and turquoise hair. The black is the top layer of the wig, with the full underpart being solid turquoise. The fiber of the black hair is very typical of AG wigs and just what you expect. The colored fiber is the same type used in the wigs of TM #87, 88 and 90 (presumably the same fiber in the blue, purple and pink CYO wig options). This feels quite different from the usual wig fiber. In the original meet hairstyle, the wig is quite cute. However, some of the styles shown in stock photos and store displays did not flatter the two-tone combination, creating a very harsh look. I think this is due to the solidness of the turquoise layer, and the fact that the black top layers are trimmed about 1/3 shorter than the lower colored hair. This causes a thinness in a lot of hairstyles where the wig is pulled up in any way. Her meet outfit is actually much nicer in person than it looked in the stock photos. The white sweater is rather thin and needs a small white shirt under it to prevent seeing the body/pants fabric, but it fits the doll quite well. Sleeves are a super length, not like the short ones in the AG stock photos. It also fits under the jacket of Corinne's Ski Outfit perfectly, even allowing for the jacket to be zipped! The pants are a very shiny, thicker, stretchy fabric and actually quite nice. They fit the doll well, are nice and long, and have a good waist band. They'll look great with a Mermaid-themed outfit for Nanea! The boots match Corinne's hair in two shades of turquoise with dyed fur-rimmed tops. They're not the best not the worst as far as AG boots go. Pretty nice for meet shoes. The soles are black plastic. The slideshow below shows close-ups of the different pieces. One interesting thing about Corinne is the fact that she has a newly-updated body tag! She's the first doll we've gotten with a 2018 copyright date. And as a final comparison here, I've taken a close-up of her face with the eye makeup as she comes . . . . . . and then removed it in Photoshop to show what she would look like without the painted upper eyelashes. There is no corner or lower-lid paint like Nanea. FLASH-- If you're thinking to order this doll right now with the intent to do an eye swap, you might want to wait. We've been measuring things, right before posting this, and there's a good chance that Corinne's actual eyeballs are larger than previous AG dolls. This would prohibit eye swapping. We'll get back to you on this, one way or the other. While we're at it, the wig took a bit of coaxing to remove but was certainly do-able with patience. The wig cap is a thinner fabric than other AG wigs. Nothing bad about it, because it's nice and stretchy. But removal of this wig is probably not recommended for beginners, if you want to preserve the wig for later use. Hope this helps everyone who doesn't have the option to see this doll in person at a store. Keep watching over the next couple of days for a lot of wig photos and customizing ideas with this doll! I can't tell you how happy I am! She's really quite beautiful and just what I've been hoping for since I saw the light Nanea mini doll in the boxes!
In a rather spontaneous way, we decided to go down to AGP Columbus yesterday afternoon to bring home one of each of the three new AG dolls -- mostly so that we could post pictures here and use them as wig models. Of course, it seems that two (maybe even all three) of them are going to stay around! There are all kinds of reviews and articles online about this new line of dolls, their stories, their authors, etc. So, I'm not going into any of that. There will be a number of blog entries coming -- all reviewing these dolls from a doll customizing perspective. The stock photos released by AG were really giving a mixed message about which vinyl skin tone these dolls have. Having taken photos of them, I can see why some of the photos don't match. However, they are definitely the tones as follows: Maritza (Joss face mold, long dark hair) is the #25-tone -- the "new medium." Makena (unique face mold, dark twisted hair) is the #35-tone -- the "new dark." Evette (Josefina face mold, caramel curly hair) is the #20-tone -- the "old medium." First off, here's a photo of the girls in their boxes when we brought them home. I am totally not a fan of the boxes of design here. From a color matching perspective, these are awful. The typical AG-logo pinkish-red tone that forms the printed band and sides of the boxes is completely wrong with the mix of colors on the box tops. The colors don't compliment the dolls' outfits, either. So, if you're into collecting dolls in their boxes, this would be a detraction, in my opinion. However, once you get the dolls out of the boxes, the real fun starts. Here are some quick photos of the dolls as soon as they were unboxed -- their wigs hadn't even had time to really relax yet! Click on images below to enlarge. ~ Meet Outfits ~A few words on the meet outfits -- going from the bottom up as seen in the photos above. Evette's dress is rayon (or feels just like rayon), very drapey. It is very orange in a nice, bright way -- not gold as suggested in some of the stock photos. There are little cotton thread belt loops on the side (one on each side) to hold the black vinyl belt. The belt has a real metal bright-gold-tone "buckle" (it's the kind you feed the belt through, but there are no holes). I was surprised, because the belt feels a lot nicer than I had expected. It's black vinyl on both sides. The boots are a thin printed vinyl with plastic soles. If you've had Blaire's brown boots (from the casual dress outfit), they're very similar in feel -- though no heels. Maritza's shirt is a sort of thin textured knit -- but not a t-shirt knit style. It's not a slinky or shiny fabric at all. The black pants are a shiny, stretchy fabric. Thicker than the salmon-colored CYO pants that were shiny -- more sort of like Courtney's blue leggings. Her shoes have black plastic soles (they're the same type soles as the knitted sneakers from the athletic mix-and-match), and the multi-tone uppers on the shoes are colored vinyl pieces stitched together. They're padded inside with white soft fabric. The shoes are lower quality than those seen a couple years ago, but they're a similar feel to the CYO outfits or the last several Mix-and-Match releases, I'd say. Makena's meet outfit was my least favorite of the lot. It's really quite low in quality and seems like something you'd expect from My Life as . . . or Our Generation. The T-shirt was fine, typical modern AG t-shirt. But the skirt was very thin with a small glitter-elastic band and just a plain surged edge at the bottom. The shoes are plastic with an elastic ankle band. Not the usual type of AG quality. Inside the box (under the book) was a little package holding three plastic butterfly hair clips. They are a gold color, flat plastic. ~ Wigs and Dolls ~Now that they were out of the boxes and had posed for a few photos in their meet outfits, the girls were ready to change. We create our own characters for all of our dolls, and I thought it would be good to show them in some other clothes. Left to right: Maritza, Makena and Evette These dolls have completely unique face paint, when it comes to American Girl dolls. Their eyebrows are thicker/fuller, and they have eye makeup (eyelashes) painted along the edge of their eye sockets. Each doll has her own unique pattern. Here are some photos that, I hope, show the face paint well. MaritzaMakena (pronounced: muh-KA-nuh)EvetteClick thumbnails above to enlarge. [Added on Oct. 3rd: Several people have asked what the eye makeup looks like when the dolls' eyes are closed, so here is a photo of each -- Maritza and Makena were in the middle of modelling wigs, which is why their hair is different!] Sis is completely thrilled with Maritza, who will be getting a new name and soon becoming a character on Islandshire. Mom and I were totally taken with Evette as soon as we got into the store. This was a bit of a surprise, because I have not been very keen on the Josefina face mold for awhile. But there's something about this doll. She's amazing and has already decided that her new name is "Dinah". We're still contemplating Makena's new face mold, and after trying some different wigs on her, she may just end up staying on the Island as well! Entries will be following with more photos of each doll, as well as slideshows featuring them each modelling all kinds of wigs. However, here are just a few fun photos to show how cute they are! Sis picked out the Maritza doll, and there were a lot to choose from at the store. She didn't have trouble finding nice ones. The face mold seems to be pretty consistent. I think there was a bit of variance in the face paint, but nothing very major. Her wig is very long with curly waves at the end. It's a two-tone dark brown wig with copper/mahogany highlights. The highlighting is very well done and spread evenly throughout the wig. It's very beautiful and probably amazing in various styles. The color is hard to capture in photos. There are several pictures in the slideshow below that attempt to show her wig, but I'll be working to take more pictures of it in the next few days. Picking out Makena was not too difficult. There were plenty in the store to choose from (twenty boxes, at least), and she seems to be a very consistent face mold. Her face paint was also very similar from doll to doll. I think you'd be pretty safe ordering her online. Makena's wig was a lot nicer in person than any of us had expected from the initial photos. It's dark brown (definitely not black) with two tones in there. The hair is textured, but not the most textured or coarse like the older Addy dolls. I think the hair in this wig would be similar to TM #80 or the CYO textured hair. The wig also fits very well on Addy-mold dolls -- stay tuned for another entry about Makena and wigs! Photos of Makena's wig are in the slideshow above. It's hard to capture the color, since it's very dark but not actually black. The final photo above is probably pretty close, though the doll herself isn't quite right due to the odd lighting. Picking out Evette was funny! We were looking through boxes, and there she was in the back corner of a shelf. I knew the minute we spied the box that we'd found the "perfect" one. Definitely a doll best chosen in person, just like any other Josefina face mold. She has the typical issues with eye placement, thin/full face, etc. But this is an amazing doll! She has the normal/old/regular medium skin tone, but something about the combination of her grey eyes and golden caramel hair makes her photograph like she has much lighter skin. It's almost impossible to get her to appear true to medium tone. Evette's wig is the same exact two-tone color as GOTY 2016 Lea Clark. If you like Lea's wig, then you'll like the color of Evette's wig. The only differences are the perm-style curls (versus Lea's gentle waves) and the fact that Evette's hair has just a little more highlighting than Lea's hair. Photos below show the two wigs together for comparison. Well, I hope this is a good start to reviewing these three dolls. Entries coming soon to compare the dolls to other AG dolls. Also, all three dolls will model a variety of wigs!
Stay tuned, and don't hesitate to ask questions via the contact button or by leaving a comment on this entry. With the long weekend, I was able to snag an hour for some quick doll photos -- so, here are a couple of them! Jill and Silver got a bit of a hair trim a week or two ago (not to mention new outfits as well), and they wanted to show off a bit. Thanks to someone on a doll forum (who actually gifted us with a trimmed Joss wig), I got the idea for the hair trim. Most of you will probably remember Jill and Silver with the first small trim of their original wigs (they were Joss dolls) -- here's their old look: Well, they really wanted something more . . . unique. Jill and Silver are like that. And then, they found these really cool and colorful outfits just in time for our American Girl Rewards certificate. Not only will these match their upcoming Goofy's Candy Company venture, but they also have a very Sabine Wren feel to them. According to Silver, there was no way they could have such cool outfits with their rather dull hair-cut. Time for a new trim! That meant a couple nerve-racking hours for me (I am not very confident when it comes to cutting hair), but the girls were very happy with the end result. And just to confuse everyone, the girls switched places in the photo above. Jill is now on the left, and Silver is on the right. Truth-be-told, I needed to adjust their outfits and put them back in the wrong spots for the last half of the photo session!
Hope everyone had a nice weekend, and plans are that there will be more doll photos coming soon. Now, if we could just get the lawn mower fixed . . . Trudy here. It's time to welcome two new residents to the Islandshire community. You'll be seeing a lot of them at coming events, because these sisters love to have fun! So, without keeping you waiting, I'd like to introduce Bethany (left) and Olivia (right). The girls are best friends of Jill and Silver -- who seem to have impressed their pals with all the wonders of Islandshire. Bethany and Olivia like art in a BIG way, so you'll probably be seeing them carrying paint brushes and pencils around while sketching things they happen to notice. But don't stop there! They like a lot of other things, too . . . yes, yes, I know . . . Silver wants me to be sure to mention that they also love Baby Yoda . . . oh, I mean "Grogu". You can probably tell from her choice of fashion that Olivia is crazy about all things galaxy and starry skies, not to mention those holographic fashion accessories. Bethany likes to knit, and you'll probably see her running around in a really cute wool hat one of these days that she just might have made herself! Oh, and they're also crazy about cats and dogs. Click photo thumbnails to enlarge. And some real-life photos of the amazing sisters! Sarah's Note: For anyone interested in the customizing aspect of these dolls, here are some of the fun facts!
Bethany is a TM #62 head with dark brown eyes and TM #82's wig. Olivia is a Nanea doll wearing a Monique "Doris" wig in black. Since Jill and Silver are based on Elizabeth and me, we wanted to have our friends as part of the Islandshire group. The real life Bethany and Olivia are truly amazing artists, and you can check out a small portion of their work on their site here: https://www.oliviamoyart.com/little-sisters-home-page Benny and Nanea wanted Raito's last day on Islandshire to be memorable. The boys had decided to spend the morning giving those fishing rods one last performance trial, while Nanea prepped for a special evening at home. After lunch, Raito's friends surprised him with a quick lesson in diving for "rainbow pearls" in the natural bed they had in their lagoon. The boys were having so much fun together that they barely heard Nanea calling to them from the beach. "Boys! I need to get back to the house now and get that taro root cooking, or we'll have no poi tonight. Benny! Did you hear me? Okay! Have fun, but don't be too late." Flossie and Aulani (Benny's pet turtle) were happy to see Nanea as she rounded the corner. Neither of them is bilingual, so they usually just sit around in companionable silence. Besides, Nanea was fiddling with the fire and the big pot. That meant dinner wasn't far off. Cornbread. Cluck. Flossie didn't know what Aulani ate or how to ask for it. Maybe Nanea would know. Cluck. "Hi, girls! Did you miss me? We've had ever so much fun today. Let me fill my pot with water, and I'll tell you all about it. Oho, so you noticed my flowers, did you? How do you like my new haku lei*? The flowers were in perfect bloom today, and a girl never can have too many fashion accessories, you know. Back in a minute! Wait right there!" *Hawaiian for 'flower crown'. "Oh, girls! Isn't that brother of mine the sweetest ever? Look! He peeled and cut the taro root before he left. All I have to do is drop it in the boiling water, and then we can start setting up for tonight. What do you hear, Flossie? Must be the boys . . . I'd better hurry and get showered before they get here. Let me know if the water starts to boil over, okay?" Nanea doesn't really think that Flossie and Aulani understand her. But she loves them so. And besides. How do you know they don't? "Man, was that fun?! Raito didn't want to stop diving, but I thought you might need some help." "Did you guys get all the pearls sorted and stowed away already? Wow, maybe we should have Raito over more often. I've got the root almost ready for you to pound, so hurry and get showered. On your way, would you give a quick stir to the pot for me? Thanks! . . . What? I don't care if you are dry already. It won't hurt you to clean up a little. Now where did I put that poi bowl . . . hmm . . . Flossie, have you seen it?" Cluck. "Why do you have to shower when you've been in the water all day? Hey, man. If we just get our hair wet, she'll think we took a shower. You hold the showerhead for me and vice versa. There, now just a little bit more over here, Raito. Man, that's cold!" Nanaea never noticed that only their hair was wet. "Raito, would you please hold this bowl for me? Once I get all the root in, it's pretty heavy. Hey, Benny. Could you please see if Flossie needs anything before we start making the poi. Is her water bowl full? No, I'm going to feed her later. Just check her water bowl for now. Do you boys want to change before dinner? My, those swim trunks dried quickly. Well, that's it for now, Raito. Let's get this over to Benny before it gets cold." "When you're done mashing the poi, how would you like to build a campfire? I thought that dinner outside would be a little cooler than inside tonight. And it's a perfect way to end Raito's visit. Just like a campout, only more comfortable. Pardon me? Oh, I made some nice Hawaiian bread rolls to go with the poi, and Janie brought over a bag of marshmallows for us to roast. No, she can't come by tonight, but she wanted to make sure that Raito had a fun last night on Islandshire!" Giggle, giggle. "No, they are NOT chocolate marshmallows. Funny boy!" Raito had mixed emotions about leaving Islandshire. "This is the life . . . ah . . . I'm going to have a campfire and roast marshmallows just as soon as I get back home to Pleasant Island. And I'm going to ask my sister to make Poi and Hawaiian Bread. Mind sharing your recipes, Nanea?" Nanea excused herself and went inside to write a "recipe" down. How does one write a recipe for poi? It's just . . . well . . . it's poi. You just . . . make it. Meanwhile, Raito was still going on about the swell time he'd had with his new friends. "Hey, Benny. One thing I can't do at home is have dinner with a chicken. A chicken who walks on a leash and sits in a camp chair. A chicken who acts like she understands what your sister is saying. My family is NEVER going to believe this one. Wonder if she'd sit with me. Does Flossie like marshmallows? I didn't think so, but I thought it might tempt her to come over here. There, you have ME doing it now. Glad to meet you, Miss Flossie. Would you like a marshmallow?" The boys laughed until their sides hurt. "It's a good thing Nanea's inside, Raito. She's very sensitive about Flossie and worries about her like a mother hen." That did it. The boys were sick with laughing when Nanea returned. And every time she asked them what was so funny, the laughter started up again. "Oh, well, Flossie. You sit on my lap, and we'll roast a marshmallow together. Are you comfortable, little girl?" Benny and Raito stared at each other for one full second before the laughing overwhelmed them again. "Oh, boys. Let me in on the joke. And Flossie, too. She's wondering what's so funny." It was too much for a chappie to endure. Raito didn't even care that his marshmallows had disintegrated into ash. Neither boy could look in Nanea's direction for many minutes. Many loooooong minutes. Nanea told Flossie to wait while she got more marshmallows from the house. She would have excused herself, but the boys weren't listening anyway. It didn't take long to get everything set up. There was fresh poi, Hawaiian bread rolls and even some coconut lemonade to go with the marshmallows. Flossie was hopeful that the cornbread was coming on the next trip out. "Man, this is the life! That cool breeze from the lagoon is just what we need. Let's really get the fire going! I like 'em crisp on the outside and melted inside." "Hey, Benny! How 'bout giving me the scoop on that shark tooth? You said "before you leave" enough times. Well, it's tonight or never. Look, even Flossie's ready!" Benny just stared at Raito in disbelief. "Whoa, man! There you go again! The chicken does NOT understand us!" Their laughter was cut short before it really got going by Nanea's coming around the corner of the house. "Who won't understand what?" The boys laughed until Benny's stomach hurt and Raito dropped his marshmallow in the fire. Poor Nanea knew she was in for a long evening. "Flossie, we'll just pretend it's the two of us here tonight. I have a feeling I know what's coming. We don't have to listen, do we, girl? Ooh, are you getting too warm so close to the fire, my little one? Let's scootch over here . . . Why are you boys always laughing? What's so funny? Okay, Flossie, come over here and eat your cornbread." Flossie moved to where Nanea pointed and ate her cornbread. Raito had to walk to the beach to regain his composure. Oh, horrors. Nanea was right. It was . . . the Shark Story. Gandalf had nothing on Benny with his "Every good story deserves embellishment." This is going to be a long night. I'm so tired. Maybe if I lie here quietly I can just kinda drift off and no one will think me rude. Flossie left to sit with Raito. He was further from the fire, and the cornbread had made her quite sleepy. Cluck. "Are you ready, man? You just sit there and roast your marshmallows while I set the stage. Man, I wish you'd been there." Benny liked nothing better than to tell his Shark Story. Nanea liked nothing better than the thought that she'd never have to hear it again. She snuggled into the warm grass and tried not to listen . . . It wasn't working. "Boys, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to change into jammies. I'm really quite tired and feel like getting comfy. I sure hope I don't fall asleep before the exciting part . . ." Benny halfheartedly muttered, "Sure, okay . . . what? Um, sure . . . Anyway, where was I?" Raito didn't hear a word that Nanea said. After all, a talking chicken asleep in your lap and a thrilling fireside story from your best friend . . . Okay, so the chicken doesn't talk. You see if you can get a chicken to fall asleep in your lap . . . "Before I get started, would you like to see the tooth up close?" "Keep your eyes on the tooth, while I set the scene . . . It was getting late in the day, and clouds were starting to form over the mainland. It hadn't been the best day for pearls, and I was ready for dinner. So, I decided to make my way home around the edge of the lagoon near the open water. You know the place, where we took you today. Well, that spot's usually good for an easy handful of rainbow pearls, and Nanea's especially happy when I bring those home. Little did I know that one small decision like that would bring me face-to-face with danger." Nanea was inside the house changing into her comfy jammies, or she would have smiled at his kind thoughts for her happiness. Raito just sat there, glued to Benny's every word. Flossie never heard a word. Even her sleepy breathing didn't break the mood of the moment. "The water was as smooth as glass when I got to the edge of the lagoon. No little birds on the shore digging for crabs. No seagulls singing that ear-piercing, screeching song of theirs. I was thinking about dinner, though, and not paying much attention to what was going on around me. Yep, you're right, man. It WAS the first thing I taught you. NEVER lose sight of what's going on around you when you're in the water. The ocean -- yes, even our quiet lagoon -- is teeming with dangerous creatures. And you can dive every day without having an encounter. But you never know what's lurking out there, watching your every move . . ." Raito was there, in his mind. The setting of the sun, the clear blue water with not a ripple in it. No birds. "That's when I saw it." "The shark?" "No, the pearl." Benny's voice lowered in awe, remembering his first glimpse of it. "This pearl. The one hanging around my neck. The great black pearl of the lagoon. It was just sitting there. On top of a piece of coral, like it had been waiting on display for me to find. All I could think about was Nanea's face when I brought it home to her. I no longer felt tired and hungry but knew that I couldn't go home until I had that pearl. Can you see it? Just waiting to be picked like a ripe mango? And all I had to do was reach out my arm and lift it into my pearl bag." "That's when it happened!" Benny skyrocketed out of his seat and starting waving his arms around in the cool air of the dark night. Raito nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping his marshmallow stick in the fire and scaring Flossie off in the direction of the house with a flapping and clucking that brought Nanea running to the door. Even the campfire had stopped its spitting and sizzling. "I felt it before I saw it. As I reached out to grab the pearl, blinding pain seized my body. Hot pain that overcame fear and sharpened my mind to an almost superhuman state of alertness. I tried to swim away, but my efforts were useless. You see, man, I was in the jaws of the biggest and meanest NIUHI ever born! And he wanted that pearl as much as I did!" Raito stared intently at the pearl hanging around Benny's neck. He could almost feel the pain coursing through his own body. He wished something like this would happen to him. "We grappled together, boy and shark as one, for what seemed to be hours. Each time I struggled to free myself, his teeth dug deeper into my body. Blood filled the warm water all around us, making it difficult to see even the outline of my enemy. Inflicting blow after blow on the head of the Great Tiger Niuhi, I hoped to slacken his viselike grip and escape those jaws of death. On and on we fought over that pearl. But even an experienced diver like myself can't go on forever with a niuhi attached to him like a remora on a whale. Alertness had dwindled, and I desperately needed to surface for air. All seemed lost in the epic struggle. And then, when all seemed lost . . ." Benny drew a deep breath. Raito was too engrossed in the mystery of it all to even offer his friend a drink of the lemonade. "The pain was gone. The struggle had ended. The warm body of the enemy was no longer pressing on my head and chest. The bloody water continued to roil around me, as I instinctively dove to the surface for that lifesaving breath of air. Then I remembered the pearl. The beautiful black pearl that had been waiting for centuries for ME to find it. Unmindful of the possible danger still lurking below, I made one final dive to retrieve the treasure. Hoping against hope, I searched through the shadowy water for the reef. There it was! Waiting for me! I snatched the pearl and put it in my bag (which was tattered but still unbelievably full of the day's harvest). This time, however, I was alert and watchful, as a good diver should be. The enemy was nowhere in sight, so I made a quick retreat to the shore of our lagoon, acutely aware of God's having smiled on us that day." Benny takes his brotherly responsibilities very seriously and knows that his well-being is directly linked to that of his sister's. "The closer I got to shore, the more alive I became to the pain in my middle. Freedom from the enemy's mouthful of sharp teeth had wiped all thought of pain from my mind. As calm and thankfulness returned to my whole being, the concentrated pain under my rib cage heightened. It was then that I noticed that the water around me was still clouded with a redness that meant only one thing. I stopped long enough to look around for the niuhi, knowing full well that the water was too shallow for him to have followed me in that far. What I saw astounded me! What? No, man, not the great enemy. Three dolphins were swimming back out to open water, swiftly chasing a dark shadow that never surfaced. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you. It reminded me of Harold's dog, Alton, when he's herding the sheep. I saluted my rescuers and dragged myself to shore, where a darkness came over me. A darkness mixed with pain. As I lay there, waiting for help or recovery, I groped to find the pain. The last thing I remember was the realization that the niuhi, in his speedy retreat ahead of the dolphins, had left behind one of his great teeth. Had left it embedded in my body. What a great souve . . . n . . . i . . . r . . . Blackness enveloped me." Nanea returned just in time to find Benny exhausted and staring into the campfire, sweat pouring down his face. "Oh, good, Flossie! We came just in time. It's over," she whispered to her little feathered friend. Raito was staring in awe at the pearl and tooth that Benny usually wore around his neck. "Wow, Benny! It's amazing that you got these TWO pieces of proof of your narrow escape from the jaws of death. Otherwise, no one would believe your story. I sure do wish something like that would happen to me. What happened after you passed out on the beach? You can't leave me hanging! Wow, bet ya wouldn't sell this pearl for anything . . ." "Hey! Look at your sister! She's asleep! I can't believe she could sleep through a story like that. Adventure! Danger! A man-eating shark and a great black pearl! Dolphins to the rescue! Life-threatening injury! Does it get any better?! Do you think we should wake her up and go back to the part where she fell asleep?" Benny chuckled and smiled sweetly at his sleeping sister. "I think we'll just let her sleep. She's probably all worn out from her hard work today. She so wanted to make your last day with us something you'd always remember, so that you'll want to come back. And bring your sister with you." Raito had never seen a chicken sleep snuggled up against someone's side like that. His sister would want to see this for herself. "Hey, man, how about a snack? Nanea made these Hawaiian bread rolls fresh for our dinner tonight. I love when they're soft and squishy like this. Eh? Oh, that. Well, I woke up on the beach and staggered home, holding the tooth in so that the bleeding slowed down. Nanea fainted when she saw me, so I pulled out the tooth and sewed it up myself. Wanna see the scar? Yeah, a LOT of stitches. That's probably why Nanea doesn't like to hear the story. Brings back too many scary moments. She's a pretty delicate creature, you know. Yeah . . . girls . . . Wanna touch it? Nah, it doesn't hurt anymore. Go ahead, it won't hurt. Wanna hear the part about the jaws of death again . . ." Raito goes home tomorrow, so don't forget to tune back in for the next (and last) episode of "Raito's Visit"!
SPOILER ALERT! For those of you who don't believe Benny's story about his scar (even though he does have TWO pieces of proof), Nanea would like to tell you what really happened. "Benny was born with Pyloric Stenosis, and the scar is a result of the surgery they did on him when he was one month old. Every time he tells the story, it gets grander and crazier. He did get the black pearl while diving in that part of the lagoon. And I think he found the shark's tooth out there, too (lying in the water near the shoreline). Boys . . ." In answer to the question of which Anniversary Addy doll Mom chose (mentioned in the previous post), we'd like to introduce . . . both of them! Doll #5 is now Amabel (a previously introduced Islandshire character). Doll #3 is now Marina (a brand new addition to the Islandshire family). Marina (left) and Amabel (right) Amabel (Doll #5) was the cutie used in the review/comparison photos of the previous entry. She is still wearing the original Addy hair-style, just changed into her signature outfit. Marina (Doll #3) has been customized and is now wearing a Nanea wig. Here are a few photos of the girls, just to show off their cuteness. They're a lot of fun, and we're definitely very excited for them to have arrived! More coming shortly to show what a wonderful wig is on Anniversary Addy! We had a lot of fun removing the hairstyle and trying the wig on various dolls -- it's so versatile, which is something we totally weren't expecting. Lots of photos coming . . .
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