Welcome Summer and Bring on the Heat!

Bring on the scorching heat, it's summer! Woo-hoo!
In the mornings at 7:30 it's already 80 degrees! Ouch! But I'm cool with it. How can anyone mind when it's summer, and therefore water time?
Yep! I am using too many exclamation points. ^-^

Ha ha ha, well, this morning, we took some pictures for our Blogger readers, and here they are:

My 4 special friends and I. Marie and I forgot to look at the camera, silly us!
Now here's a funny picture below...

3 Friends guild! Except none of us looked at the camera. Whoops. XD Joy was looking at a dragonfly, Jubilee was getting squished, and I forgot that Mama was taking the picture. Hey, that's my banner! Do you like it? I worked hard on it.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYBODY!

Yeah.

Low exposure. It was way too bright outside! You can see that Jubilee and Marie are still sticking with their barefoot thing. :)

Yep, put on your sunblock folks, for it's time for some fun in the sun! Hooray!

Holding hands. Awwwwwww. :)

Oh, remember how Joy was looking at a dragonfly? We snapped a pic of it before it flew away! Really!

How pretty!

Anyway, I must go. I gotta put on some shorts for wading! Since I'm a doll, I can't swim, but I can wade! So...see you later!

~Sunshiny Ivy

Tips for a Painless Summer

You know Chinese dolls. We're always a little competitive! Mama did a post on how to keep cool and safe this summer. My tips are slightly different. :)

1. Tips on Mosquito Bites
You've probably all gotten mosquito bites. You also know that the sun is murderous towards an insect bite! Along with a light layer of sunscreen, brush on some insect repellent (http://www.aromaweb.com/recipes/insectrepellent.asp)
This may seem weird, but swimming in a chlorinated pool helps to dry up the bite so that it's not as itchy, red, and moist when you come out. :)

2. Tips on Sunburn
Some sunburns are red. Some sunburns are red and hurt. And some sunburns are red, sore, and even very painful! You don't want that, do you? No sir! Mama got a red sunburn without the pain on Sunday. She feels fine, but her shoulders look funny when they're red!
So! Choose sunscreen with at least 15 SPF. 50 is best. Also, make sure the label says "broad-spectrum" on it. This will give you best results. Be sure to reapply every couple of hours! 'Cause FYI, Mama had 50 SPF broad-spectrum sunscreen, and still got the sunburn (she didn't reapply). :) 
Here's the page I got this info from...
http://www.skincancer.org/Sunscreen/


3. Tips on Bruises
A bruise is so easy to get. I have a nice blue one on my arm, and Mama's whole lower left leg has a lovely line of dark bruises. It's hard to offer tips on this... except just don't do too many daredevil things. :) When you DO get a bruise here's a page full of tips for you all...
http://www.practicenaturalcures.com/2007/09/natural-cures-for-bruises.html


4. Sunstroke
Ooo, ouch! You don't want this. It feels like a flu, and comes when you get just too much sun exposure. Please limit your time in the sun! My recommendation if you want to spend your day outside: spend the morning outside, then come inside for lunch. Refresh your sunscreen, and hydrate! Big glass of water, dolls and people! Then go outside for a few hours, then come back in. :)


That's all the tips I have to offer! I'm sorry we haven't had any pictures lately, but we've been busy! I promise I'll post tomorrow with photos. :)

~Sunshiny Ivy





P.S. Okay, I just couldn't leave without giving you photos of...something!

 A great big red dragonfly. So noble!

And guess what this is? Yup, a hydrangea!
NOW I'm going. See you!

I got a new swimsuit!

Sorry for not posting in a dreadful long while! I've been having a great time! (aside from having to clean my room)
Since the weather is beginning to warm up, Mama made me a spanking new swimsuit from Beach Baby Doll's swimsuit pattern. I think we'll need to use a different pattern next time we make a swimsuit, though!

Here it is...

 Yay!  A nice burgundy swimsuit. I like how red looks on me.

 A rather blurry close up. :D

 Here is the body of the swimsuit. As you can see, I didn't iron it yet.

 Yes, despite the fact that Mama followed the pattern carefully, it was hard to get on!! I pulled it so much that the stitches are beginning to show.

 The scoop neckline. :) I seriously don't know why this pic was taken, but I wanted to put it here anyway.

 Another angle. I LOVE MY SWIMSUIT! Erm. Sorry bout that!

 I think this might become my new gymnastics outfit! Those things I'm holding are fabric rosettes.

I'm planning on sewing them on. :)

Do you have your swimsuits ready for summer?

~Sunshiny Ivy