The Last of Summer

The days are getting shorter, and the dolls know that it will soon be cold again. There are some games they would like to play while it's still warm outside. 
"Let's go play outside," said Charlotte. Soon all the dolls were outside in the sunshine.

The first thing Charlotte and Billy did was to play catch with the tennis ball.

Jolena and Mariah decided to ride bicycles. They are happy to have a place to ride where there are no cars.

Later, Billy showed everyone how he had learned to ride a skateboard. He didn't do any fancy tricks, because he didn't have his helmet, and his knee and elbow pads. He just showed them how to balance and make the skateboard roll.

Each of the girls tried Billy's skateboard, while he gave them tips on keeping their balance. It was nice to have a place to use the skateboard where there were no cars. Billy thought it was fun to teach his sisters how to use the skateboard.

Some of the dolls climbed up to play on the backyard play set.
"Watch this!" Billy cried. "I can swing on the monkey rings like a circus act!" He began to climb up the other end of the play set.
The monkey rings are very high up. Billy was not wearing a helmet. I was not wearing elbow and knee pads.
"Be careful, Billy," Veronika cried. "It would be a lot of trouble to have to replace your head!"
Jolena, Mariah and Veronika watched anxiously.

Billy climbed the rope to get up to the monkey rings.

When he reached the monkey rings, he swung from the first ring to the second and hung upside-down from it. His hat fell down to the ground, but he didn't care. He was having fun. He did not fall. He did not break his head. We did not have to replace it.

After he was across to the girls, Billy climbed down and picked up his hat. The other dolls were so relieved that Billy was safe that they each went down the slide, yelling, "Wheeeee!"

Mandy went for a walk on the trail to enjoy the birds and animals. She saw some jaybirds and squirrels. The trail is a safe place where there are always plenty of real people around. Some of them seemed surprised to see a doll walking alone on the trail. Mandy didn't mind.

Mariah and Charlotte spent some time throwing the frisbee in the backyard. They can't throw it very far yet, but their form is good, and they thought it was fun.

While they were doing that, Jolena and Veronika sat in the chairs on the deck. As they sat there, some geese flew over, making honking noises. The big birds flew in a pattern that looked like a big V, with one bird in the front.

When Mandy came back, the dolls all played hide-and-seek together for a while. Each one had a turn being 'it' while the others hid. Each one had a turn counting to 100 before looking for the others.

"What should we do now?" Mariah asked while Mandy, Veronika and Charlotte went to pretend to use the bathroom.
"How about jump rope?" Jolena suggested.
"Or maybe we could play hopscotch," Mariah said.

"I thought jump rope and hopscotch were games for girls," Billy said.

"There are no games just for girls or just for boys," Jolena said. "If girls can play football, boys can play jump rope and hopscotch."

"Girls play football?" Billy asked.
"Some girls do," Mariah said. "It can be dangerous, like some other games," but boys and girls can do it. They just have to learn how to be careful."

"Then I want to learn jump rope and hopscotch," Billy said. "I'm the only boy, and it's more fun to play together than all alone."

When the other dolls came back outside, they all played jump rope. Billy learned how. He thought it was fun. He was glad boys can play jump rope.

Then they played hopscotch. They drew some squares on the pavement with sidewalk chalk. Then they wrote a number in each square. The girls explained the game to Billy. Billy decided that hopscotch is fun, too. He learned that he was good at it.

Soon it was suppertime, so the dolls all went into the house.
"While we pretend to eat supper," Veronika suggested to Mandy, "let's talk with the others about all the fun things we did today."

"Our mouths don't open when we talk," Mandy said, "and they don't open when we pretend to eat. We should be able to eat and talk at the same time."

So the dolls went into the dining room to pretend to eat supper and talk about all the fun things they had done during the day.

Can you remember all the things the dolls did without looking back at the story? See how many you can name. What do you like to do outdoors?



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

There are lots of ways to play hopscotch. Here are some suggestions, if you don't know how.

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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.
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