Olympic Garden Volleyball

Ever since we went to see Olympic Volleyball on 31st July, Nicholas James (my sporty Gregor) has been clamouring for a volleyball game.  So yesterday the girls and I obliged.  We didn't have enough sports wear for 2 teams of 6 for the team volleyball we had seen, so went for 2 teams of 2, more like beach volleyball, but played on grass.  So it was Florence and Jakob playing Nicholas James and Miranda, with a great supportive crowd.

girls helping the dolls get ready for volleyball

Jakob does the first serve

while Florence gets ready to receive the ball back over the net

The Aussie girls sit on deck chairs with a tea party to watch

Miranda all ready to hit the ball

Jakob serves again

Nicholas James has a chance to serve

Florence serves

Miranda and Nicholas James do a great block near the net

Harriet, Peter and Samantha provide music to get the crowd in the mood

Volleyball spectators

Volleyball game in full swing

Nicholas James serves...

the ball comes flying over the net

Jakob hits it back again

the ball flies over the net again

Miranda gets ready to hit it back

and it goes back to the other side

In the end Jakob and Florence narrowly won the game,
so they got the medals but Miranda and Nicholas James got the cakes!

The crowd cheers the great Olympic Volleyball players on a bright summer's day!

Doll Olympic spirit

Yesterday afternoon the dolls all changed outfits to get into the Olympic spirit.  We had clothes all over the double bed, ironed a few things and brushed hair. I had ordered some union flag fabric for sewing which arrived a few days ago, but haven't had any time to do sewing during the week, so the material became useful background for the dolls who all came downstairs to watch the Olympic Opening ceremony. 

All the dolls dressed for the London 2012 Olympics

Central over the fireplace is the home made union flag my elder daughter made for the Queen's Jubilee and just below that is the commemorative coin my younger girl received from her school.

back row l-r: Elizabeth, Diana, Anna, Susie, Miranda, Peter
front row l-r: baby Mabel, Matroushka, Amelia, Jakob, Nicholas James and Florence

Florence and Nicholas James are wearing their Sasha Doll Festival Souvenir outfits (well NJ had never really changed out of his since the festival) and the other two pairs of festival trainers I'd got from Dawn Law found their way onto the feet of Miranda, who wears one of her raffle outfits and Jakob my Kids 'N Kats doll, who is all ready for sport in his boxer shorts and running top. My Susie wears the blue corduroy set which was the gift my younger daughter received for helping at the Sasha Festival Auction.  Anna wears her silver and red party outfit and a white cardigan I knitted for her.  Elizabeth wears clothes slightly to big for her, a spotty skirt which belongs to Anna and a white top, and Diana, the unmarked Palitoy doll who is my Susie's younger sister (I had bought her in my quest to identify Susie) wears the red and white running top and tracksuit bottoms which are a bit too big for her. Peter chose his check red shirt and jeans.

l-r: Belle, Jayne, Matilda, Harriet, Harry, Ron, Samantha, Hermoine,
Elizabeth, baby Mabel, Matroushka, Diana, Anna, Amelia

Harriet and Samantha wanted to rock it up for the Opening ceremony, so changed into their Rockstar outfits.  The Aussie girls made different choices, Belle went for a sundress and Matilda for her blue dungarees. Jayne got changed from her pink skating outfit into a red top and white crop trousers and wears her hair in pigtails.

Rocking it up for the Olympics

Matroushka  wears the other blue party dress and cradles baby Mabel who wears a blue and white check dress which is actually a bit too big for her, because it was made a long time ago for Amelia, who wears a red and blue and white check dress. 

Matroushka cuddles baby Mabel with Amelia nearby

Hermoine wears one of the blue party dresses and her Christmas white shoes, Harry and Ron didn't change much - Harry took off his green sweater to show his stripy rugby shirt and Ron put on his sweater, none of the other red clothes we had would fit him as he has big hands and is the tallest of the dolls. 

Rocking it up for the Olympics

And what an awesome spectacle the opening ceremony turned out to be.  My younger daughter slept during the afternoon so she could stay up and watch the whole thing with the rest of us and we all enjoyed it.  And this afternoon Diana doll is already practicing her backflips while the others look on, maybe she is hoping to win a medal.

Many of the gang ready for the Olympics

The Great Britain team coming into the stadium

The awesome copper petals of the Olympic cauldron -
what an imaginative way to do the flame

Still sewing

I've been so busy with sewing and knitting projects during April (a new dress for Susie, and some more Sasha clothes), the rain has kept me out of the garden and indoors sewing.

I'll post some photos soon.

Have you guessed yet?

Sorry, since posting at the end of January, February flew by with so much to do in our new home, my younger daughter's birthday and my full-time job, so blogging and the dolls have had little of my attention.  But I did mention a new addition to the skating doll family in the 26th January post, and I have managed to photograph him when I took some photos of the Greenleaf Westville house (which will appear here soon).

Ever since the first 6 Kidz 'n Catz dolls came out in 2009, I've had my eye on this little lad.  Maybe it was because he reminds me of my elder nephew at a certain age, maybe it was because of the jointed elbows and knees, or his beautiful clothes, including a sweatshirt featuring the Eiffel tower.  Even after seeing the more recent boys in the KnC range on-line, he is still my favourite of the boys.  I finally purchased him in a 10% off sale from Bambolina in about September last year, but kept him hidden from the girls until after our move.  I also got lucky on ebay about 6 weeks before our house move, as I managed to purchase the KnC ice skating outfit for £10 (it normally retails at £36), and although it smelled slightly smoky (brand new), 2 days in the sealed bag with a washing powder tablet soon removed the smell.  This meant that his first outing was on the second night of the new Dancing on Ice series, when we'd only been in the house for 5 days and were still surrounded by boxes of books etc.  I introduced him as my doll - they can play with him, but he lives with Susie and Anna in my room with Panda, Bruin and my husband's bear in the doll corner of the bedroom (my doll cabinet is now hanging on the wall above the chest of drawers where the bigger dolls sit, and my Westville house is on its table nearby).

Jakob sitting in his skates

I have kept his KnC name of Jakob.  His original trousers don't really go very well with the KnC skating outfit, so he now wears Peter's spare black skating leggings with his burnt orange skates.  I haven't had time to make him any other clothes, and will not be buying the KnC outfits as they are much more expensive than the Gotz clothes and I'm capable of sewing them myself.  His feet are a little smaller than the Gotz dolls, but he can wear their shoes with socks.

Jakob

Jakob is 18" high, so is shorter than the Gotz girls, Peter and Ron, though is about the same height as Harry and Hermoine.  His jointed arms and legs do make him a little easier to dress than the Gotz girls, though the elastic in them can pull into funny poses, which means reposing him to look more natural.  His hair is a wig rather than rooted, but looks very natural, his face is beautifully sculpted and tinted.  The girls like him because he is flexible so can really look like he is doing skating moves.

 Jakob with Anna and Susie in their skates