Summer Break

 

Hello all!  We're taking a late summer break to take of family business and re-energize.

We'll be back soon with further adventures of Team Gregoropolis!

Existential Thoughts

 

Nathan: Summer's going fast.

Nathan: Normally, that makes me sad, but this summer has frankly been a bummer.

I'll be glad to see it go.  Will the future be better or worse?  Who knows?

Holly Belle: I neither regret the past nor fear the future.

I just keep barreling ahead!

Holly Belle: It's just the way I am.

Nathan: Yes, I've noticed that.

Holly Belle: What about you, Dan Ryan?  What do you think?

Dan Ryan: Well, I think I could really go for a bowl of chocolate mint ice cream.

Holly Belle: You know, sometimes you actually make a lot of sense.

Dan Ryan: It comes and goes, Ma'am.

Alice DOES Live Here

Daddy Steve: Gotz Alice meets Old Alice.  Old Alice is my mom's childhood doll.

Old Alice: I'm no spring chicken, dearie.

Alice: But you look good for your age!

Old Alice wasn't always old.  Here she is with Mom in about 1952.

A little girl's prized possession.

Although she's always been known as Alice, she's actually a doll called Sweet Sue made by the American Character Doll Company.  Sweet Sue dolls came dressed in a variety of costumes, including the classic blue dress and white pinafore inspired by the 1951 Walt Disney film Alice in Wonderland.

This is actually her second Alice dress.  The original wore out long ago.  The present one was made by my grandmother in the early 1970s.  Grandma liked challenges, and I believe she recreated the dress entirely from memory.

Alice is in good shape for her age.  Mom must have been very careful with her, as I doubt her hard plastic body would have withstood much rough play.  Her dress was quite dirty from sitting out for decades, so I gave it a hand wash and it cleaned up quite nicely.  Her wig definitely needs some attention and cleaning, but that will have to be a winter project.

All cleaned up.

Alice is very much what I call a 'Dolly-Doll.'  Compared to the Sashas, her proportions seem odd;  her overall look a bit stilted.  While she's not really to my taste, she has always been mom's prized possession.  That alone entitles her to a permanent home in Gregoropolis!

While her dress was being cleaned, I had to find something for her to wear (all dolls have a right to their dignity, you know).  Fortunately, the girls had a number of dresses that were a tad on the large size and they were happy to share.  In fact, Holly Belle immediately recognized advantages of the situation.

Old Alice: Oh, yes, I quite like these.

Holly Belle: We never wear those dresses anyway, 

and now we can say we need more clothes because we're 'sharing.'

Meghan:  Oh, Holly Belle, you're brilliant!

Nathan: I think you mean 'sneaky.'

Holly Belle: >Ahem<  It's not sneaky if everyone benefits from it.

Alas, none of our shoes would work on Old Alice's undersized feet!  However, we were able to find another pair exactly like the ones she's worn for ages.

Her original (or, at least, long time) shoes were made by the 

Fairyland Toy Products Company, Size 1.

Through the miracle of eBay, we were able to find a white pair that had never been used.

Old Alice is quite pleased to be wearing something else for a change...

Old Alice: One gets tired of the same old frock year in and year out.

Louisette: Oh mais oui, mademoiselle!  I completely agree!

Everyone in Gregoropolis likes Old Alice, but she seems to have formed an especially close friendship with Anthony.  Not surprising since he's the other 'different' (i.e. non-Sasha) family member.

Old Alice: It's been ages since I've had a gentleman caller!

Anthony: Actually, I find older women fascinating.

Old Alice: Well, just call me Mrs. Robinson, dearie.