Up In The Attic

Hello future readers!

This morning Vivienne and I got up early. We fixed ourselves some cereal and bananas, and rapped awhile. Then Vivienne had an idea.
"Hey Julie", she said. "Wanna go explore the attic?"
It was still pretty early and we hadn't gotten dressed yet.
"In our pajamas?", I asked.
"It's OK", she answered. "I probably have the only mom in the whole world that sweeps and dusts the attic."
"Far out! Let's do it!" So we tiptoed upstairs to the attic.

"You're right", I said once we were in the attic. "It is pretty clean up here."
"See? I told you",  Vivienne said. She pulled a sheet off of some stuff.  "Look, here's my old rocking horse."

"It's cute, but it sure is small", I said.
"Of course it is. I haven't played with it since I was 5."
"What are you keeping it for?",  I wanted to know.
"Well my mom always thought she'd have more kids so she was saving it...but it didn't happen that way", Vivienne said sadly.
"I know what a drag it is to be an only child sometimes." I told her. "But that's why our friendship is so special. 'Cos we can be sisters, even though we not related."
Vivienne hugged me. "Thanks, Julie."
"Hey! How would you feel about giving that rocking horse to Little G?", I asked.
"Groovy idea!" Vivienne answered smiling. "I'll have to ask my mom, but I'm sure she'll say yes."
I pointed to a big wardrobe cabinet. "What's in here?"

"I'm not sure...let's open it and see."

"Oooh look! There's all kinds of neat stuff in here!" I said all excited.
"Hey look... a wedding dress", Vivienne said as she started to pull it out. Just then Mrs. Walton came upstairs.
"I thought I heard 2 little mice up here", she said laughing. "What are you 2 up to?"
"Hi Mom, I was just showing Julie the attic."
"Is it OK, Mrs. Walton?", I asked.
"Of course it is, honey. Just be sure you leave everything just the way you found it."
"Hey Mom, whose wedding dress is this?"
"That dress belonged to your great grandma Marion, then it was passed down your grandma Rose-Marie, and then it was passed down to me. It's the one I'm wearing in the photograph in the living room."

"Oh yeah!" Vivienne said, remembering. "Can I please try it on?"
"Well"....OK. But I will have to help you into it. It's quite old and I don't want you to tear the hem."
So Mrs. Walton helped Vivienne put on the dress.

"Wow Vivienne! You look like you belong on top of a wedding cake!" I told her."
"Someday if you decide to get married, that dress will be passed down to you", Mrs. Walton explained to Vivienne.
"Oh Mom! It's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen!"Vivienne said as she looked at herself in the old mirror.
I pointed to a bright pink dress hanging in the wardrobe. "What's that dress, Mrs. Walton?"
"That is my old prom dress, Julie", she told me.
"Our camp counselor Kerry went to a prom last year", I said.
"Laura did too", Vivienne said. "You remember her? She was the counselor at Camp Falling Waters."
"Yeah, I remember. Mrs. Walton, can I try this one on if I promise to be super careful?"
"Sure sweetie, I'll help you."  Vivienne's mom helped me into her prom dress.

"Hey Julie, you look just like a fairy princess!" Vivienne said with a smile.
"I need to get a snapshot of the 2 of you together", Mrs. Walton said as she ran back downstairs. A minute later she was back with her camera.
"Smile!" she said. *click*

"Here, let me help you out of those dresses so I can cook breakfast for your dad. You 2 can try on some more clothes if you like, but remember to put everything back."
We promised as she helped us out of the dresses and hung them back inside the wardrobe. Mrs. Walton started to go downstairs when Vivienne stopped her."
"Oh Mom, can we please give Little G my old rocking horse?"
"I think that's a wonderful idea", Mrs. Walton answered. "See you 2 later."
We dug around in the wardrobe some more. Vivienne found an old cheerleader outfit.

"How do I look?" Vivienne asked.
"2...4...6...8...who do we appreciate? VIVIENNE!" I cheered. Vivienne laughed. I found an old leotard.

"My  mom used to be a really good ballet dancer. She was in recitals and everything."
"Cool."
"Hey Julie, like my wig?" Vivienne asked as she put one of the pom-poms on her head.
I pulled a feather boa from the cabinet and put it on my head. "As long as you like mine!"

We cracked ourselves up! Then we carefully put everything away and went to get dressed. Then we brought the rocking horse downstairs and put it in Vivienne's wagon.

The rocking horse may have been small for Vivienne, but it was almost too big for the wagon. I had to hold one of the runners to keep it from falling off. When we got to Betta's house, we could see her on her sun porch, bouncing Little G on her lap.

"Hi Betta!", Vivienne called. "Look who's here?"
"Julie!" Betta screamed. She gave me a hug.
"Hey Betta, it's great to see you!"
"Yeah, you too, Julie.
"Hey Betta", Vivienne said. "We've got a present for Little G."
"Wow, thanks Viv". She sat her baby brother on the rocking horse.
"Look G", Betta said to the baby. "They brought you a rocking horse."
"Hoss!" screamed Little G. He started rocking back and forth.

"Hey, he likes it!" I smiled. "Hey Little G, remember me?"
Little G looked at me and said "Mama!"
"No, Little G, that's Julie", Betta explained.
"Mama!" he said again.

"My mom says this is some kind of phase he's going through. He's calling everyone Mama, even our dad!"
We all laughed. Just then, Betta's mom came out to the sun porch.
"Hi Julie! Welcome back to your home away from home!"
"Hi Mrs. Fleagle!" I said giving her a hug. "It's nice to be back."
"I just came out to put Little G down for his nap. That was a lovely thing you did Vivienne....giving the baby your old rocking horse" She picked up Little G.. "Come on Little Buckaroo, time to hit the corral."
"Night-Night, Little G" we all called out.
"Hey you guys, how about a snack?"

We had soda and homemade cupcakes and rapped awhile. I asked where Kevin and C.J. were and Betta said they went to the park with their friend Aaron to play ball.  Betta told me that Little G doesn't put things in the toilet anymore, since he started potty training. Now he tears off his diaper and runs around with his naked tush whenever he thinks he has to go! One time he even did that in the supermarket! Oh man! How embarrassing!

It was getting pretty hot, and I reached up to wipe the sweat off my neck when I noticed that the special Winnie The Pooh necklace Vivienne gave me was gone! Oh no!

"Are you sure you had it on, Julie?", Betta asked me.
"Yes, I know I was wearing it when we left the house", I told her.
We looked all over the sun porch.

I started to panic. "We've just gotta find that necklace!" Then Betta happened to look down into the wagon...and there it was!

"How the heck did it get in there?", I wondered.
"You must have snagged it when we were putting the rocking horse into the wagon!" said Vivienne. She picked it up and put it back around my neck.

"Man, that's a relief! Thanks guys".
"We should be getting home now", Vivienne said. "Catch ya on the flipside, Betta!"
"See ya, Betta."
"Yeah, see you guys later."

When we got back to Vivienne's house, we flopped down on the couch.
"So what do you wanna do now?", I asked her.
"Well hauling that wagon around made me tired, so let's do something quiet."
She thought for a minute and said, "I know! Let's make paper dolls!"
"Hey super idea!"
So Vivienne went to get paper and crayons. First we each drew a doll.

Here' mine, I'm naming her Charlotte.

And this is Vivienne's paper doll. She named her Karen. Next we needed outfits.

Aren't they cool? We were just about to cut them out when Vivienne's dad came home from work and her mom told us to wash up for dinner. Oh well. That's OK, we've got all week.  Gotta go now, future readers. Tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel! *giggle*

Until then,
Your friend,
Julie Newman