A Ski Trip for Jolena!

"Why is Jolena packing?" Emil asked as he and Billy looked in through the door of the workroom. "Is she going somewhere?"

"It's time for her yearly ski trip," Billy replied.
The boys got up on the table to watch Jolena pack. They could see that she had her pajamas and sleep mask in a small bag, and was putting her ski clothes in the larger bag, with her ski boots. Her skis were sticking out of a long, black bag. They thought her poles must be in there, too. Jolena was looking at her special T-shirt. All the dolls would be wearing their Ski Team T-shirts under their ski clothes. She was thinking about seeing her friends.

Emil was confused. "Doesn't she need snow to ski?" he asked. "It's summertime. There's no snow right now."

"She's going to Chile (CHILL-eh)," Billy explained. "It's winter there right now. They have lots of snow."
The boys left Jolena to her packing and went down the stairs. It took a while, and while they were making their way down the stairs, Emil was thinking.

"It must be chilly in Chilly if they have snow." he said.
Billy laughed. It's chilly there," he said, but the country is named Chile," and he pronounced it again for Emil, CHILL-eh. "It's winter there now. It's in South America," Billy added. "South America is a continent, like North America, where we live. Come, and I'll show you on a map where Chile is."


The Writer's computer moves around the house a lot. Sometimes it goes outside, too, but Billy always seems to know where it is. Emil followed Billy Into the dining room, and there was the computer. Billy turned it on. Then he hit a few keys on the keyboard. (Billy is allowed to use the computer whenever The Writer isn't using it. He knows to be careful with it.)

A map of South America appeared on the computer screen. Billy pointed to where Chile was on the map. "That's Chile," he said. "It's this very long, skinny country on the western side of the continent, right along the coast." 

The boys looked at the map. The map looked like this. The people who made the map made each country a different color, so you could see where they were.

If you look at the map you can see Chile. It is colored purple on this map.
"There are some mountains along almost the whole coast of South America," Billy explained. "They are some of the highest mountains on earth. They are called the Andes (AN-dees). 

"Jolena is going to a ski resort here," Billy continued, as he pointed to a place on the map about halfway down the country. "It's very high up in the mountains, and they have snow to ski on right now."
"Wow!" Emil exclaimed. "Is she going all alone?"

"She's going with the whole US Doll Ski Team," Billy replied. "They're all flying together in a plane to Chile to practice. While they are there, Jolena will fly through the air on her skis."
"That's a lot of flying," Emil said.

"I'm wondering, though, how can it be winter there when it's summer here?" Emil wanted to know.

"Mandy explained it to us when spring came last year," Billy said. Billy hit a few keys on the computer. It went to The Doll's Storybook blog. Billy found the story "It's Spring."

"Let's read it again," Emil suggested.
"That's a great idea," Billy said, "but let's use the iPad to read it, so we can get comfortable. The boys settled down in the big beanbag chair and read the story. Emil paid special attention to the part about how the earth goes around the sun and how that makes the seasons.

(You can click here and read that story, too.)
When they were done reading the story, Emil understood how it could be winter in part of the world when it was summer in another part.

While the boys were reading the story, Jolena had finished packing. Jolena will need to take warm clothes with her, as well as her skis and ski equipment. That means a lot of luggage. The boys had just finished reading the story, when Jolena appeared in the living room. "It's almost time for my ride to get here," she said. "I want to say goodbye."

Jolena said goodbye to each of her sisters and brothers. Each doll got a hug, because they all like hugs.

"I think your ride is here," Billy said, looking out the window.

"I think I'm missing something," Jolena said, putting her skis down and looking around. "I am! I forgot my helmet and my goggles! I can't ski without those."

"We'll put your things into the car," Mandy suggested, "while you go get them. That way your ride won't have to wait."

As the dolls were finishing putting Jolena's luggage into the car, Jolena was just rushing to the door with her helmet. "My mittens were in my helmet," she cried. "If I had left those behind I would have frozen my little vinyl fingers off!"

After Jolena got into the car, the girls started back up the stairs, but the boys watched as the car drove away.

Emil watched out the window for a long time after the car was gone.
The other dolls would miss Jolena, but it would be nice imagine her in all that snow in Chile.

"Who's going to cook for us while Jolena is away?" Emil asked Billy.


Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mandy: Götz Happy Kidz Katie 2015
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Map of South America is from Geology.com and is found here.
Photo of skier by Felipe Giacometti on Unsplash.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Do you like our stories? Some of them are available in print:

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

Coming soon: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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Copyright © 2020, 2025 by Peggy Stuart

Snow!

It snowed. It snowed and snowed and snowed. It snowed so much that school was canceled.

Mariah and Charlotte were disappointed. They were looking forward to school.

"Well, I guess we have more time to study for the arithmetic test we were supposed to have today," Mariah said.
"I think I already know my times tables well enough," said Charlotte, "but a little more study won't hurt, I guess."

Two of the other dolls were not sad. Jolena and Billy were happy for a snow day. They like to play outdoors in the snow.
"Maybe I can go skiing," said Jolena. She climbed the stairs and put on her ski clothes. She found her skis, ski poles and ski boots. She picked up her goggles and her helmet.
"Maybe I can go sledding," Billy said. He put on his hat and his jacket. He picked up his sled.
Both dolls were excited. "I will need a ride to the ski slopes," Jolena said, as she looked out the window at the snow.

"I will need a ride to the park, where the hills are," said Billy, looking out at the snow.

"Let's take our stuff to the front porch, so we will be ready," Jolena said.
The two dolls went out the front door. Jolena carried her skis and Billy took his sled. They stopped and looked at the driveway.

"I think we may have a problem," Jolena said. It had snowed so much that the cars were buried. They could hardly find them. Can you find the cars in the driveway?

Billy sat down on his sled. He knew it was going to take a long time to get all the snow off of one of the cars, so someone could drive them. Jolena was disappointed, too. By the time the driveway was cleared, it would be too late to go to the ski slopes.

"Maybe we can go sledding and skiing in the backyard," suggested Billy. The two dolls went back into the house. They wiped their feet and went to look out the back window.

"There is a lot of snow out there, too" said Jolena.
"You're right," agreed Billy. 

"What's that big lump out there?" Billy asked, as he pointed to a little hill in the backyard. 

Jolena looked. "I think there is a bush under that lump," she said. "That could be dangerous if you don't know it's there. You could fall through and get hurt if you climbed on the lump. Snow could fall in after you, and you could be buried in the snow until it melts! Your vinyl could freeze!"
"I don't think I would like that," said Billy.

"I don't think I can ski on the slide where I gave Bella her first skiing lesson," Jolena sighed. "There is too much snow." There was so much snow on the branches of the trees, it was even hard to find the slide.

"I think the snow is over our heads," said Billy. "That's too deep for sledding, too."

"I don't think we're going to be able to ski or go sledding today, Billy," Jolena said. "I guess we got on our snow suits for nothing!"
"Maybe not for nothing," said Billy. "I have been wanting to get a photo of you in your ski clothes. I never get to go to the ski area when you go skiing. Maybe we could go out in back, but on the deck, where the snow isn't too deep," he suggested. "We could pretend that you are ready to ski, and I could take photos of you."

"That sounds like fun," Jolena agreed. She went to get her skis while Billy went to get the phone camera and his tripod.
The two dolls went out through the dog door to the back deck. Billy set up his tripod close to the house, where the roof protected him, so his phone camera wouldn't get wet from all the snow coming down.

Jolena stood where the deck had been cleared, but where there was a lot of snow. "It's still snowing," she said.

"That makes the photos better," Billy said. Billy took several pictures. The snowflakes made little streaks in the photos as they fell. Billy liked that and said that it was interesting. He said that you could tell it was snowing.

"Here's one that looks like you can see your breath," Billy said, looking at the screen on his phone camera. "That's funny, because dolls don't breathe."
Jolena wanted to see it. Billy showed Jolena the screen.
"I think a snowflake fell right in front of my phone camera when I took the photo," Billy said.
"You can tell that my face is wet, too, from the snow," Jolena said. "The snow must melt when it hits my vinyl, but it doesn't melt quickly on my clothes."

"Maybe your vinyl is still warm from being indoors," Billy suggested. After Billy thought he had enough photos, the two dolls went back through the dog door into the house. They wiped their feet and took off their boots, which were covered with snow. They put their boots on a towel. Then they took off their jackets and hung them up. When they were back in their indoor clothes, Billy sent his photos of Jolena to the computer.
Billy let Jolena help him select the photos. They picked out their favorite. Billy used the computer to make it look right.
"I like it best, because you can see my skis, and I love my skis," Jolena said.

"I like that you can see your helmet," Billy said. "Your helmet keeps you safe."
"Yes," agreed Jolena. "We should always wear a helmet when we ski or ride a bicycle or skateboard or horse! It protects your brain if you fall." 
"I also like that you're smiling," Billy added. "You look happy, even though we had a big disappointment."
"It was disappointing not to be able to ski today," agreed Jolena, "but we have had a good time anyway, haven't we?"
Here is the photo they liked best.

Mariah and Charlotte were finished studying for the arithmetic test. They were ready for it. They decided to get out the cards for a card game and invited Jolena and Billy to play, too.

  
"This is fun," Jolena said. "I like to ski, but it's fun to stay in where it's warm, too." 

Cast--
Charlotte: Götz Happy Kidz Anna in Paris
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook and More Classic Tales Untold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

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Copyright © 2019, 2025 by Peggy Stuart

Good Friends

The doorbell was ringing and there was tapping on the door, both at the same time!  Billy rushed to the door. It must be some kind of emergency, for someone to ring the bell AND knock on the door.

When he got the door open, there was Nico, and Pam was climbing carefully down from the porch couch. Billy figured out who had been ringing the doorbell and who was tapping on the door.

“I have big news!” Nico exclaimed after the visitors had been let into the front hall.

“What’s up, Nico,” Billy asked.

“I was so excited,” he said, “I had to tell you right away!”

“He wouldn’t even tell me until we got here,” Pam said, “He said he wanted to tell us all at once.”

By then. Mariah and Pippa had shown up in the hallway. They could hear the excited voices and wanted to know what it was all about.

Veronika came in next and invited Nico and Pam to come and sit in the living room. “I’ll get us some tea,” she said. 

From what she had heard from the kitchen, Veronika had a feeling Nico wasn’t going to be able to say what he wanted to say in a couple of words and then leave.

Nico can get up onto the couch by himself, but it takes him a long time, because his knees and elbows don't bend, so he let Billy help him climb up. By the time the dolls had settled in the living room with the others, Veronika had the tea ready; it doesn't take long to fix pretend tea.

“Well, it's about Frankie’s family,” Nico began when they were all settled and everyone had some pretend tea just the way they like it. (Frankie is the boy Nico lives with.) “You know how Frankie’s dad runs a landscaping business. The people who work for him cut the grass for people. They plant things and prune their bushes. In the winter, they come and remove the snow from the walks and driveway.”

The dolls remembered this.

“And you know,” Nico added, “that he has lots of customers and the employees who work for him depend on his business.”

The others agreed that they remembered this, too.

“And you know,” Nico went on, “that Frankie’s dad was afraid he going to have to leave his business, and we would have to leave our home because Frankie’s parents don’t have something called ‘papers.’ They were afraid they would have to pack up and move away.”

The other dolls nodded. Some of them imagined the family would have a lot of bags to pack, even more than Jolena has when she travels for skiing.

“It isn’t like the papers that go into the recycling,” he explained, because that was what he had thought at first. He had wondered why they couldn’t just keep these papers instead of throwing them out.

“These are special papers that say they are allowed to be here in town and live in our home,” he explained. “It has something to do with laws. I found out that laws are like rules everyone has to obey, not just the dolls in your class.”

“So this is where the big news comes in,” Nico went on. “One of the customers of Frankie’s dad,” he said, “is something called a lawyer (LAW-yer).” He said it carefully, because it was a new word for him. 

Pam thought he was staring at something across the room. She looked to try to figure out what he was looking at that was so interesting, but she realized he was really just trying to concentrate, so he could remember how it was explained to him.

“A lawyer is a person whose job it is to know all about laws,” Nico explained when he had his thoughts collected. “If someone breaks a law and gets into trouble, or if they didn’t break the law, and the police think they did, they might need a lawyer to help them, or if they need to do something and want to be sure that what they do doesn’t break any laws, a lawyer can tell them if they can do it and how to do it without breaking any laws. You go to their office and sit in a chair. You answer their questions, and then they tell you if there is a way they can help.”

“So this lawyer is going to help?” Billy asked.

“Sort of,” Nico agreed. “I found out that there are lots of different kinds of lawyers, just like lots of different kinds of doctors. This customer is the kind of lawyer who works with people who have problems with their taxes (TAK-ses).” 

“Taxes are money human people pay the government so the government can take care of things everyone needs,” Nico explained. Nico’s boy, Frankie, had explained all this to him, and Nico knew someone had explained it to Frankie. “Taxes aren't a problem for Frankie’s dad, though.”

“So how can this lawyer help Frankie’s dad?” Pippa wanted to know.

“Well,” Nico said again, “this lawyer knows another lawyer who is the kind that does immigration (im-uh-GRAY-shun) law. She helps people who want to come to this country or who are here and don’t have the right kind of papers to stay or who don’t have any papers at all.”

“It will cost some money,” Nico told them. “It isn’t just the lawyer, but the court costs something. (The court is the part of the government that takes care of making sure everyone obeys the law.) It could cost more money than Frankie’s family has, unless they sell their car.”

“The lawyer who is a customer,” Nico went on, “talked with the other customers he knows, and they are all going to donate some money to help pay the costs of the immigration lawyer.”“Then,” Nico continued, “I found out that the people who work for Frankie’s dad are going to have a car wash to raise money to help pay, too. People whose cars need washing can pay them to do it.”

“It sounds to me like Frankie’s dad has a lot of friends,” Veronika pointed out.

“Yes,” Nico agreed, “but it’s more than just being friends. The landscaping business looks after people’s trees, bushes and lawns in the spring and summer,” he said. “If Frankie's family has to go away, people might have to mow their own lawns. If they’re to busy or can’t do that kind of work, they have to pay someone to do it for them.”

“The company makes sure the sprinkler system is working in the spring, too,” Nico explained, “and in the fall, they come and blow all the water out, so it won’t freeze and bust the pipes. I don’t know how people can do that for themselves. You need special equipment, I think.”

“In the winter, they come to your house and plow the snow,” Nico continued, while everyone listened. “Sometimes the city pays them to plow the streets, too, if we get more snow than the city snowplows can handle.”

“The customers and the city would have to find someone else to do that, if Frankie’s family moves away, or do it themselves. That’s hard work, if you don't have your own snow blower machine,” Nico pointed out.

“You told us the employees need Frankie’s dad, too,” Billy pointed out. “They would have to get new jobs. Most of them have families to feed.”

“Yes,” Nico agreed, “and they really like working for Frankie’s dad.”

“When is the carwash?” came a voice from the kitchen. It was The Writer. She had been listening to the conversation going on in the living room.

“It’s next Saturday,” Nico called out. They’re doing it in the driveway in front of our house, where the office is.”

“My car needs washing,” said the voice. “I’ll be there!”

“Thank you!” Nico called out.

“I see why you’re so excited, Nico,” Veronika said. “It’s a big problem, and it looks like Frankie’s family might have some hope of a solution now.”

All of the dolls thought about that. It would be nice to know Nico would still be here for a while. They all liked Nico, but also it would be nice to know that Frankie’s family might not have to worry about having to leave.

It would be nice to know that the people who worked for the landscaping business wouldn’t need to look for new jobs.

It would be nice to know that the customers of the landscaping business wouldn’t have to cut their own grass in the summer or shovel their own snow in the winter.

It would be nice to know that sprinkler systems all over town wouldn't burst when winter comes again and everything freezes.

It was nice to know that lots of people were kind and liked to help. 

Those people must have grown up with wonderful dolls who set good examples for all of them.

“Let’s tell all our neighbors about the car wash,” Mariah suggested then. “I’ll make some flyers for us to share. Those are sheets of paper with information on them,” she told the other dolls. “If we let lots of people know about it, the carwash will make lots of money! I’ll run them off on the printer, and Pippa and Pam can help me fold them.”

The two smaller dolls nodded and said that they would love to help.

Nico said he would see if Pauly would help him take the flyers to the houses he could walk to around his home (you have to bend your knees to ride a bike, and Pauly was too small for a bike), and Billy said that he and Emil could put the flyers into the baskets of their bicycles and deliver them to all the houses in the neighborhood that were farther away, on the other side of the woods. They could take their favorite shortcut through the woods.

It made all the dolls feel good to know that they could help Nico’s family!

Cast--
Veronika: Götz Classic Kidz Vroni
Mariah: Götz Happy Kidz Mariah, "Chosen" from My Doll Best Friend
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia

Pippa: Götz Little Kidz Lotta

Nico: Götz Hannah-Zoé at the Ballet

Pam: Götz Little Kidz Springtime, from My Doll Best Friend

Packed bags photo from Missy’s Weblog, cropped.  

Newspapers photo from Recycling Works, cropped. 

Immigration law office photo from Woog Law, cropped. 

Money photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash.

Carwash photo from Automobile Hive, cropped.

Man mowing lawn photo from Live Strong, cropped.

Sprinkler blow out photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

Truck plowing snow photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

Landscaping truck in front of house photo from 4 Seasonal Services, cropped.

You can follow The Doll's Storybook here.

Do you have questions or comments for us? Would you like to order an autographed copy of one of our books? You can email us at thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Note: No dolls were harmed during production of this blog. All dolls shown are Götz Happy Kidz, Classic Kidz or Little Kidz. If you like these stories and are willing, please make a donation of any amount to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or any organization that supports pediatric cancer research and treatment. We are not affiliated with St. Jude in any way other than these donations.

"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
Watch for the next story each Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook are available from BookBaby and other booksellers worldwide, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Author's page on Amazon. 

Royalties (net proceeds) go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. If you don't get free shipping elsewhere, buy from Book Baby. Half of the price goes to charity (specific information available upon request). Autographed copies of all three books are available from the author. (Multiple books to the same address have a discount on shipping.) To inquire, email thedollsstorybook@icloud.com.

Image on Mariah's yellow T-shirt used with permission, from Free To Be Kids, where human-size shirts with this image are available.

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Copyright © 2024 by Peggy Stuart