Tricycle for two

 Annie and Emily received a package soon after Heather's treasure box arrived from Canada. They borrowed the Playtime Lexie and Jenny outfits from Heather's box as Jenny and Lexie were still admiring their ice skates from the treasure box and decided to go for a ride on their new transport - a tricycle!

Annie and Emily borrowed Jenny and Lexie's new 'Playtime' outfits to take the new tricycle for a spin while in the background Jenny and Lexie discussed their ice skates.

"Hold on tight Emily" said Annie

The little tricycle is metal and plastic, quite well made, though it has a screw in the back which won't tighten so it has a bit of a wobble.

Annie wearing Jenny's 'Playtime' dress

Emily wearing Lexie's 'Playtime' dungarees and 'Just like me' hat

I bought the tricycle intending to recreate a scene which had been set up by another Jenny & Lexie enthusiast in the old J&L Yahoo group but in the event Annie and Emily were keen to play instead. I used my macro lens on the camera to capture the close up photos of the vinyl girls, who have the most wonderful, delicate eye painting.

Treasure box from Canada

A box arrived (by hot air balloon?) and four very excited Heather Maciak dolls rushed downstairs to unpack it.

"Look, it is from Heather in Canada"

Emily, Lexie, Jenny and Annie looked in anticipation at the box all the way from Vancouver.

"It came quickly via airmail" said Annie to Jenny before the box was opened.

"My Elfin Jenny outfit!" said a delighted Jenny as she admired the lime green shoes, the bright floral felt tunic and the glorious cheerful stripes. 

"And your Playtime outfit" said Lexie, before discovering that Heather had sent a Playtime Lexie outfit as well, to match the one she was wearing, so the girls could dress alike.

"Your Playtime outfit is so pretty Jenny" said Lexie.

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"Thank you Heather" exclaimed Lexie

Jenny smiled her thanks to Heather, she was overwhelmed to have her Elfin outfit once more (her original outfit did not come with her box when she joined our doll family, she was wearing the Playtime Lexie outfit instead).

Annie looked on hopefully, she wondered what else was in the box.

"Try on your Elfin outfit Jenny" suggested Emily

Jenny happily showed off her Elfin Jenny outfit

Lexie delved into the box to discover ...

... two pairs of lovely shoes to go with the Playtime outfits!

But there were more surprises for the girls was in the bottom of the box - two pairs of Boneka ice skates, one pair of pink skates and two pairs of blades to add to Boneka boots they've already got, plus three pairs of white tights for skating parties.

So Emily and Annie would be able to skate as well. All four girls are clamouring for ice skating outfits - I shall be busy.

Thank you so much Heather, your parcel gave much joy today.

Skating in the snow

Inspired by the Winter Olympics and Dancing on Ice, the toddlers Edmund and Louisa have been practising their skating at a local rink.  However snowfall on the first 3 days of spring meant winter returned to the garden and with the pond frozen, they were keen to try skating outdoors.

Miranda and Timothy tested the ice first as Edmund and Louisa watched

"It seems strong enough" said Timothy

The pond was too small for much moving about but they could do a spin together

Gingerly the toddlers ventured onto the ice

The bigger children encouraged them as they started to slide across the ice

"You're doing fine Louisa" said Florence as Edmund watched

Soon they had more confidence that the ice wouldn't crack and the bank wasn't far away if they slipped over

The other children cheered them on as they skated about

Florence and Timothy joined the toddlers on the ice, though it was crowded on the small pond

Nicolas James fetched the sleigh

"Does anyone want a ride?" Nicholas James and Trendon Elliott called to the busy skaters

Louisa's legs were tired and she was keen to have a ride in the sleigh

The boys dragged the sleigh with Laura walking alongside as they went to explore the snowy wastes

The intrepid explorers set off with tired Louisa enjoying the ride

Louisa waved as the boys pulled hard through the deep snow and Laura trudged beside the sleigh

It was hard work and the boys were feeling warm despite the cold air so they didn't make the journey very long before they were pulling the sleigh back to the pond

Edmund continued practising his skating for a little longer before they all went indoors for hot chocolate and biscuits

*****

We planned this photo story as soon as we knew there was snow on the way.  We don't have a pond but that didn't stop us from inventing one from something which was normally quite hot!

The pond was actually a cast iron barbeque plate from a portable unit - it is a large round hotplate to go above the gas flames.  I laid it on the patio, made sure it was level and poured water on it which froze.  When it snowed we had to sweep the snow off it (about 2.5 inches overnight this morning after previous snowfall of about 2 inches) then watered it carefully again which froze quickly (the thaw hadn't quite started).  The doll skates did make marks on it though I didn't take close up photos to show this.

The 'pond' during the thaw later in the day

As anyone who has a Sasha toddler knows, they are notoriously hard to pose and with skates on in the snow there was an added difficulty, especially as we didn't want to spoil the snow close to where they were standing for the various parts of the story - we had to reach over untouched snow as far as possible without falling on our noses!

My younger girl was a willing helper, getting the dolls in position, moving them and attempting to get them standing and brushing the snow off when they fell over.

Setting up a sleigh shot

Toddlers on ice

Dancing on Ice has been on TV in the UK for a few weeks with Miranda and Timothy having their photos taken some weeks and featuring on the Sasha group on Facebook. 

Miranda and Timothy during Week 2 of Dancing on Ice

Harriet, Miranda and Timothy during Week 3 (Disco week) of Dancing on Ice

However our Gotz Sasha toddlers Edmund and Louisa started asking for skating lessons.  On the principle that the sooner you start children on the ice (once they can walk and run) the better, their big siblings decided they needed to find some skates to fit the toddlers little feet.

Lisa Hartley made the boots and after looking up a few methods online, my girl and I decided that making the blades with wood was probably the best solution when we don't have all the tools or materials needed to make metal blades.

So out came my stock of lolly sticks, we also ate had some ice creams of a certain brand which have shaped wooden lolly sticks for the blade mounts on the bottom of the boots.

I used the bigger Gotz / American Girl doll ice skate blades as a guide for the shape of the blades and drew onto a lolly stick to fit the size of the smaller boots.  Cutting individual lolly sticks with the slightly complicated shape was not easy if done individually (I split a couple when trying) so the portable bench vice was brought into the house and I set to work with a razer saw, fine carving chisels and sandpaper.

Four lolly sticks side by side in the bench vice were cut and carved to shape while clamped together to make the ice skate blades

The blades glued to the base plates to make the skates

Once the glue was dry, I sprayed many layers (over several hours to allow drying time) of chrome coloured paint to try and get the wooden blades to look like metal blades.

The spray painted skate blades

This morning, with the paint dry, I glued the finished blades onto the base of the boots.

The Toddler Ice Skates

At Christmas time I knitted Louisa the long tunic sweater with front pocket (number 18 in the book by Jane Woodbridge and Patricia Evans), I used 4 ply wool but smaller needles to scale it down to suit a toddler rather than a Sasha.  Today, on the car drive to and from a birthday celebration walk and meal with family, I knitted a hat to match.  Edmund is wearing the hat and cardigan I made for him when he arrived a couple of years ago.

Toddlers Edmund and Louisa take to the ice in their new skates

Now they need to have fun on the ice getting their balance and learning some basic moves.