Hugh's Hamilton Holiday

Hugh Grunt adores the theatre - reading plays, watching plays, even acting in them himself!  His teachers say he has some talent in this area, and he is almost always chosen as the lead in the school musical.

So when his mother, Constance Grunt, found out that a very famous musical would be playing soon, she really felt that seeing it would be a valuable experience for her son.  Of course, there were problems with the plan:  the musical was not being shown in Macadamia Grove - they would have to travel a long way to see it.  The triplets, she felt, were too young for the play, and would not cope with a long journey.  Also, there was no way the whole family could leave the farm for so long anyway - there were just too many things to do, and the crops would suffer.

When she raised the idea with her husband, he thought carefully for a moment, and then said, "I don't see that it is a big problem.  Why don't you just take Hugh yourself?  And Olivia too, if she is interested?  I can hold the fort for a week or so, and I'm sure Sacharissa will help with the triplets if necessary."  Sacharissa Pennypress was a good friend of Constance's, and was well up to the task of taming the energetic triplets.

When the children were asked, Hugh was as excited as could be imagined, but Olivia was reluctant.  

"I would really rather stay here and help Dad with the farm," she said.

And so it was decided.  One bright early morning, Constance and Hugh set off on their holiday adventure!  Neither of them had ever been in an aeroplane before...

"Whoa, look Mum, we're above the clouds!"  Hugh said, awestruck.

When they reached their destination, they checked into a hotel, and then ventured out to explore.  The city was large and very busy, and they felt quite overwhelmed at first.  It wasn't long before they started to find their feet though.  Hugh bounced along excitedly, pointing out landmarks and theatres.  Constance smiled - it was nice to see him so happy, and actually she found she was quite enjoying this break from the normal routine too!  There were a great many interesting shops in the city, and Constance took the opportunity to purchase some gifts for her family and friends.

"Hmm.. Perhaps I shall buy a pot as a thankyou for Sacharissa..."

"But oh dear... which one??"

However, they were still country Sylvanians at heart, and they both agreed that one of their favourite places in this big city was the large, beautiful Botanical Gardens.

They spent many happy hours exploring these gardens over the course of their stay - it was a perfect place to picnic, to examine all the different types of plants and trees, or just to stroll and recharge their batteries before more sightseeing.

Of course, the main event of their trip was the musical!  Hugh was so excited he could hardly hold still while his mother tied his bow tie.  She had also bought herself a fine hat for the event.  At last, they arrived at the theatre!

As the curtain rose, mother and son grinned at each other, and settled in to watch.

Afterward, they both agreed it had been wonderful, but couldn't decide which part they had liked best.  Hugh wanted a photo as a keepsake, and another theatre-goer kindly took it for them.

"Do you think I could play Hamilton one day, Mum?"  Hugh asked.  "If I work as hard as he did?"

"I'm sure you could, dear," his mother smiled proudly at him.

The next day was the end of their trip.  As they boarded the bus to take them back to the airport, Hugh said, "Mum?  Thank you for bringing me.  This was the best holiday ever."

"You're welcome, dear," Constance answered, and gave him a hug.  She knew this was a trip they would both remember always.

Summer Holidays

Wow, I can't believe it's been three months since I last posted!  I have been a bit slack with my Sylvanians in the interim, just due to real life stuff taking precedence - it's been a busy time for us.  I haven't forgotten about my Sylvanians - some of them even came with us on a recent holiday (but more on that another day!), and I have a few other photos and stories I hope to get onto soon.

Today though, I have an entry for last month's Creative Challenge on the forum (better late than never, right?)  The prompt was "Summer Holidays", but just like here in Australia, the residents of Macadamia Grove are currently experiencing some chilly Winter weather.  It seems that some of them at least are getting rather sick of it...

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Zac Patches looked gloomily out the window as the rain beat down outside.  He sighed loudly.

"What's up with you?" asked his sister Sarah, glancing up from her book.

"It's raining again," said Zac.  

It wasn't fair.  The school holidays had begun a whole three days ago, and it had rained on all three of those days.  Zac didn't much care about being cold, but he hated being cooped up inside all the time.

"I mean what's the point of having holidays if you can't go out and play?" he demanded.

Sarah shrugged.  "It won't rain forever," she said.  "Why don't you read a book or something?"

Zac looked highly affronted by this suggestion.  He did not share his sister's enthusiasm for books.

"Look at one of the photo albums then," suggested Sarah.  "You like doing that - what about the one from Australia?  Or - ooh, I know!  This one."  She handed him a big photo album.

"This one's got the Sylvania photos in it," said Zac.  "It's not as interesting."

Sarah reached over and opened the album to a particular page.  "Not even these ones?"

Zac gave her a look.  "Oh, very funny," he said, but a little smile did tug at the corner of his mouth.  Sarah had given him the photos of their last Summer holiday to look at.  They had spent a week at Starlight Cape, enjoying the beach and the endless sunshine.

"Looks like we'd been to the Fish & Chip shop that day," said Sarah, peering over.

"Those chips were so good," said Zac.  "But the ice creams were even better.  Remember that chocolate one I got?  There should be a photo... Yeah, here it is!"

"They were awesome," he sighed, reminiscing.

"Oh look at this one.  You were such a rat," said Sarah.  "You kept on trying to splash me.  I didn't know Mum had taken this photo until afterward."

"I wasn't trying to splash you," Zac protested.

"Oh really?"

"No," he said with a grin.  "I was trying to throw you in the water."  Sarah poked him.

"It was a fun holiday.  We met nice people there too.  That rabbit girl was nice - Cherrie.  I liked her," said Sarah.  "I don't see a proper picture of her - just in the background of this one of you."

"Meh - she was just a girl," Zac said dismissively.

"Excuse me?  Honey Chocolat is just a girl, too," Sarah pointed out.  Honey was one of Zac's school friends.

"Yeah, but Honey is fun," said Zac.  "Anyway, Cherrie was too old to play with."

Sarah rolled her eyes.  "Well I think she was very nice.  And anyway, that is her float you were on, if I am not mistaken.  It was very kind of her to lend it to you."

"That's true," Zac admitted.  "I guess she was alright."

"It was a fun holiday," Sarah mused.  "I wonder if we'll go back next Summer?"  

"Hope so," her brother replied.  He wandered over to the bookshelf and pulled out another photo album.  "Hey, look. Italy."

Suddenly, Sarah noticed something.

"Zac, the rain's stopped.  Mum would probably let you go out now," she said, picking her book back up and settling into a comfy chair.

"Hmmm?  Oh, yeah... okay..." Zac mumbled absently, turning the pages of another album.  Sarah smiled to herself.  There was nothing her brother liked more than looking at their family photos - well, apart from running around making mischief with his friends, of course.  She guessed it was just the nature of little brothers to be a pain sometimes, but Zac was pretty fun, mostly.  She would never have admitted it, but she often missed him when she was away at school.  She was looking forward to next Summer, too.

Meet the Coldfoots

Today I would like to introduce you to a new family.  This family came to me in an unusual way.  Some time ago, there was a competition on the Sylvanian Families Collectors Forum.  I didn't win, but a few days later I received a message from one of the people who did.  Tenchibaka (who is a fantastic miniature-food maker by the way, in addition to being one of the most active forum members) said that instead of ordering something with the prize (a Sylvanian Storekeepers voucher), they had decided to give it to me.  What a lovely thing to do!  I was very surprised, and grateful.

Once I had established that Tenchibaka was really, really sure about this, I ordered myself a lovely little family of huskies - and here they are!

I decided to rename everyone in this family, starting with the surname - the offical surname for this family is just "Husky", which I thought a bit odd.  Kind of like a person's last name being "Human".  Then I happened to discover that there is a tiny town in Alaska named Coldfoot.  Well that sounded perfect for these little fuzzies!

The Coldfoot family live in a comfortable log cabin in the foothills of the mountains, a little way out of Macadamia Grove.  Whilst their home is not technically in the village, the Coldfoots are considered by everyone to be very much part of the community.  

Together, Wolfgang and Juneau Coldfoot run a business supplying ice to the local villagers - both in edible form for drinks etc, and in large blocks for food storage (most homes in Macadamia Grove do not have electricity, so iceboxes are much in use, rather than the more modern refrigerators commonly seen in Town).  

Wolfgang is the one who cuts and collects the ice from higher up the mountain, and he enjoys his job immensely.  The ice is stored in a special coldroom until it is needed, at which point it is transported down to the village by sled.  Juneau's job is to take the orders, and make sure the correct products are delivered to the customers.

The most important things in their lives though, are not cold at all - they are very warm and furry and wriggly!  The baby triplets - Katya, Luka, and Echo - were very excited today to be taken for a ride in their very own brand new sled!

"Over the hill we go!" shouted Wolfgang happily, and Juneau laughed as the babies yipped excitedly.

The babies had not seen such thick snow before, as they had never travelled this far up the mountain.  It was only early Autumn in Macadamia Grove, and also at their home, so there was no snow there.  Further around the mountain, outside the strange seasonal anomaly that existed in this part of Sylvania, Spring was beginning.  Soon it would be time for one final delivery from the Summer coldstore there, and to begin storing ice at the main coldstore closer to home.  Juneau was glad, as it meant Wolfgang would be able to spend more time with the baby puppies.

After she took a turn pulling the puppies around in their sled, Juneau heard a sneaking sort of noise behind her...

"Snowball fight!" cried Wolfgang.  Juneau let out a little shriek, and immediately returned fire with a snowball of her own.  The babies watched, wide-eyed and giggling.

"Won't it be fun when they're old enough to join in?" Juneau laughed.  

"Yes - but it's pretty fun now, too," said Wolfgang with a smile, and gathered them all in a big family hug.

Thank you again Tenchibaka for enabling the Coldfoots to move to Macadamia Grove!  They can also be found on our Meet The Families page now.  :)